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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've read several Coben books and/or watched the TV adaptations and love the suspense and plot twists in his work. Nobody's Fool started out a bit slow for me, but once it got going, I didn't want to put it down. I was rooting for the flawed, but likable main character and kept in suspense by all of the twists and turns in the story. Sometimes I thought I had things figured out and then a new revelation would prove my theory to be wrong.
The book is listed as the second book in the Sami Kierce series. I didn't read the first book, Fool Me Once, but saw the adaptation. Since the stories are unconnected, Nobody's Fool can definitely be read as a standalone. Sami is a disgraced ex-cop who now works as an investigator for an attorney's office and teaches a criminology course part-time. I really love the relationship between Sami and his wife, Molly. She is supportive of Sami through everything even when more than one incident from his past comes back to haunt him and potentially puts his whole family in danger. In fact, I would love to read a novella told from Molly's point-of-view!
I don't want to spoil things by saying too much about the plot, but I will say again how much I enjoyed getting to know Sami. With some of the things in his past that start to come to light, I wasn't sure what to think about him at first. However, Coben does a great job of showing us how much his wife Molly loves him, his old friend supports him, and his students respect him. This quickly won me over and I liked him as a main character and from the way the story wraps up, I'm hoping this is the last we see of Sami.
I received an advance copy of this ebook from Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for review consideration. My review is voluntary and unbiased.
This is book two in the Detective Sami Kierce Series. Sami Kierse's college days come back to haunt him in the latest book by Harlan Coben.
We are following Sami Kerce as he puts the pieces together of a mystery that is connected to his college trip to Spain twenty years ago about a night he woke up next to a bloody knife and a bloody girl. Is she still alive all these years later? Possibly…you will have to read to find out!
I liked this book, but I thought sometimes it dragged just a bit for me. It was fast-paced, but also slow if that makes sense. I liked his class of amateur sleuths that he taught, they were a fun group. You find yourself rooting for Sami even though I don’t find him that likeable of a character. I found his wife to be supportive and I liked her. The ending really ramps up with some twists you won’t see coming. This was my first book by this author and I would read from him again.
Thank you to Hachette Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As a huge Harlan Coben fan, I was very excited to get this book as an ARC. To start, I did not read the prior book Fool Me Once, only watched the show. I believe this book works as a stand alone, but there were some scenes that I felt I was lacking a bit of information that I am assuming were in Fool Me Once. If this is planned to work as a standalone, then that should definitely be rectified. The plot was very good and had me on my toes. I didn't start putting the pieces together until Sami realized he knew what happened, which was towards the end of the book. So props to the author for not being too obvious with how this book ends, something that has been difficult to come by as of late. And now onto my issues with the book. The "three weeks later" chapter felt very rushed and not at all satisfactory. I was hoping for a little more revenge. I also felt that the characters weren't as deep as I had wanted them to be. I would have loved to have dived deeper into the connection between Sami and Anna, but felt we only received vague interactions to not give away the book. I had no empathy or sorrow for these characters because they were so surface level. Besides that, I did enjoy the plot and thought the ending was difficult to guess.
Thank you to Harlan Coben and Grand Central Publishing for this advance reader copy!
Thank you to Harlan Coben and Grand Central Publishing for this advance reader copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Trafficking
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
A gripping read right from the start. Can't wait for the next installment.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Finished reading: March 15th 2025
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Hachette Audio in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
There is just something about Harlan Coben's thrillers that makes them highly engaging, so I couldn't resist adding Nobody's Fool straight away. I wrongly assumed that I had already read the first Detective Sami Kierce book though... Which I ended up doing before listening to this audiobook, although I can now say that Nobody's Fool can be read as a stand-alone without any issues. Our main character Sami Kierce only plays a minor role in the first book, and this second book focuses on completely different cases instead... And I'm happy to announce that I ended up having such a great time listening to this story!
Like I said before, while Sami Kierce isn't a new character, Nobody's Fool can very easily be read as a stand-alone as we don't exactly get to learn much about his character in the first book and this story focuses on completely different cases instead. I actually preferred this sequel myself, mostly because it was easier to root for Sami Kierce as he tried to solve both cases close to him... He is no longer a detective and now works as an (unofficial) private investigator, which is always an angle I enjoy in thrillers. The fact that he teaches a crime class and uses his students in his investigations is a brilliant touch, and it also helped adding a dose of humor to lighten things up. The Sherlock Holmes references were likewise a bonus!
Nobody's Fool focuses on two cases, and both are linked to our main character's past. This made you feel more invested in the outcome, and it was interesting to learn more about past and present. I do have to say that the pace wasn't always consistent, and there were parts where the story slowed down a bit too much to my taste... But as a whole I was without doubt still entertained by this story. There were also a couple of twists involved that I definitely didn't see coming, although I do wish that the ending would have been more neatly wrapped up.
As for the audiobook itself: the narrator has a voice that is very easy to listen to. It's true that he speaks quite slowly at times, but it is done in a way that didn't make me want to speed things up just to get it over with... So I personally didn't mind the pace. His voice also fitted the main character Sami Kierce very well, and I liked how he used different voices for the other characters. True, there were one or two voices that could be a bit annoying, but as a whole they fitted the other characters well.
Nobody's Fool has quite a big cast of characters and it can take some time to keep them all apart, but it wasn't too difficult to do so even on audio. Sami Kierce makes for a great flawed main character, and I especially liked his students and how they helped the investigations along the way. The cases themselves are both intriguing, and I was very much invested in their outcomes. It's true that the way things ended didn't quite hit the mark for me personally, but there is no denying that the journey itself was very entertaining. All in all another successful Harlan Coben book!
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Hachette Audio in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
There is just something about Harlan Coben's thrillers that makes them highly engaging, so I couldn't resist adding Nobody's Fool straight away. I wrongly assumed that I had already read the first Detective Sami Kierce book though... Which I ended up doing before listening to this audiobook, although I can now say that Nobody's Fool can be read as a stand-alone without any issues. Our main character Sami Kierce only plays a minor role in the first book, and this second book focuses on completely different cases instead... And I'm happy to announce that I ended up having such a great time listening to this story!
Like I said before, while Sami Kierce isn't a new character, Nobody's Fool can very easily be read as a stand-alone as we don't exactly get to learn much about his character in the first book and this story focuses on completely different cases instead. I actually preferred this sequel myself, mostly because it was easier to root for Sami Kierce as he tried to solve both cases close to him... He is no longer a detective and now works as an (unofficial) private investigator, which is always an angle I enjoy in thrillers. The fact that he teaches a crime class and uses his students in his investigations is a brilliant touch, and it also helped adding a dose of humor to lighten things up. The Sherlock Holmes references were likewise a bonus!
Nobody's Fool focuses on two cases, and both are linked to our main character's past. This made you feel more invested in the outcome, and it was interesting to learn more about past and present. I do have to say that the pace wasn't always consistent, and there were parts where the story slowed down a bit too much to my taste... But as a whole I was without doubt still entertained by this story. There were also a couple of twists involved that I definitely didn't see coming, although I do wish that the ending would have been more neatly wrapped up.
As for the audiobook itself: the narrator has a voice that is very easy to listen to. It's true that he speaks quite slowly at times, but it is done in a way that didn't make me want to speed things up just to get it over with... So I personally didn't mind the pace. His voice also fitted the main character Sami Kierce very well, and I liked how he used different voices for the other characters. True, there were one or two voices that could be a bit annoying, but as a whole they fitted the other characters well.
Nobody's Fool has quite a big cast of characters and it can take some time to keep them all apart, but it wasn't too difficult to do so even on audio. Sami Kierce makes for a great flawed main character, and I especially liked his students and how they helped the investigations along the way. The cases themselves are both intriguing, and I was very much invested in their outcomes. It's true that the way things ended didn't quite hit the mark for me personally, but there is no denying that the journey itself was very entertaining. All in all another successful Harlan Coben book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Received an ARC via NetGalley.
I don’t remember much from Fool Me Once and this isn’t much of a sequel anyway, as it’s not a continuation of Maya’s story but one that picks up with Sami Kierce. I can’t remember him from Fool Me Once since I read it so long ago but that was fine, as far as getting into the story.
This was another wild ride but less confusing, convoluted, and implausible as some other ones (all of which I enjoyed anyway. I really liked Sami and all the characters, really. I liked the use of them and I would like to see more of all of them in the future. The story is fast paced and engaging and wraps up in a way that comes together well.
I don’t remember much from Fool Me Once and this isn’t much of a sequel anyway, as it’s not a continuation of Maya’s story but one that picks up with Sami Kierce. I can’t remember him from Fool Me Once since I read it so long ago but that was fine, as far as getting into the story.
This was another wild ride but less confusing, convoluted, and implausible as some other ones (all of which I enjoyed anyway. I really liked Sami and all the characters, really. I liked the use of them and I would like to see more of all of them in the future. The story is fast paced and engaging and wraps up in a way that comes together well.
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“Did it all go wrong the moment I saw you?”
I thought this was a standalone book but it turns out it’s a sequel to Fool Me Once, which I read way back in 2016 and virtually remember none of. Even if you go back to read that book’s summary it doesn’t really give you much information about Sami Kierce and it doesn’t seem like he’s much of a main character.
If you plan to read Nobody’s Fool, I would recommend at least looking at spoilers for Fool Me Once because a couple members from the case show up in this book but with no context other than you know Sami Kierce does not like them at all. So if you want to know what that’s all about, you’ll have to do a little research.
This was a really good, fast-paced thriller. I read it in two days, somehow. But I’m not surprised because I’ve always liked Harlan Coben’s books. And I haven’t read one in awhile so it was fun to get back to one of his.
I will say, though, that I had to keep telling myself I wasn’t reading a Myron Bolitar novel. For some reason Sami Kierce felt like the same person. But Kierce is Pakistani and I kept picturing someone else. I wish there would have been more to describe him so I could better picture who he was as a character. Especially with this book being written so long after the first one it seems like Coben should have ‘refreshed’ the readers on who Kierce was.
Other than that, I can’t think of any other critiques of this book.
In Nobody’s Fool, Kierce is a bit of a disgraced police officer, thrown off the force for a mistake on a different case. He spends some of his time teaching a somewhat ‘off the books’ criminology class to an ecclectic bunch.
It’s in one of these classes that his past comes back to haunt him. A woman shows up that looks an awful lot like a girl he had a fling with in Spain on a backpacking trip many years ago. A girl he thought he had killed. Well… killed as in: he woke up from a drug and alcohol infused night to see her dead beside him and his hands covered in blood.
This shocking cameo (and then quick departure) sends Kierce on a new mission— to find her and find out what happened to her all those years ago.
We also have a side quest which may or may not be connected that also dredges up Kierce’s past. His first wife and fellow cop was murdered by an ex-boyfriend (also many years ago). But Kierce’s recent fall from grace has spurred reinvestigations and overturned verdicts based on any evidence gathered or touched by Kierce… including the prison release of the man convicted of killing his wife.
Kierce brings real life to the classroom as he uses the help of his students to look into both of these ‘problems’.
One of the things I really like about the book, other than the suspense and action, were the characters. Even if Kierce was too similar to Bolitar professionally and humorously, he had something Bolitar didn’t: a wife and son. I loved the relationship between Kierce and his wife and that he never tried to hide anything from her or lie to her… well I guess other than what happened in Spain… but he came clean about that. Filling Molly in on his investigations reiterated that they were a team and very close to one another and I liked that.
His students are also great characters. They all kinda have their own thing and come from different walks of life, but they all have a passion for solving mysteries so they’re willing to work together and they become bonded by the class and Kierce.
While I’m not entirely sure if I LOVED the ending (because I’m a hardcore justice fan), I think I can understand it. Maybe not on a personal level, but based on the compounded circumstances, I guess the outcome makes sense.
This book does end on a bit of a question mark or an open door to another book. And I would definitely read it.
Recommendation
I’m a fan of Harlan Coben and recommend his books, including this one. They have good characters, lots of action and suspense, and even some twists and turns. I never really had this one figured out and I’m totally okay with it!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
[Content Advisory: 4 f-words, 19 s-words; not really any sexual content; mentions of child-trafficking with one of the characters]
I thought this was a standalone book but it turns out it’s a sequel to Fool Me Once, which I read way back in 2016 and virtually remember none of. Even if you go back to read that book’s summary it doesn’t really give you much information about Sami Kierce and it doesn’t seem like he’s much of a main character.
If you plan to read Nobody’s Fool, I would recommend at least looking at spoilers for Fool Me Once because a couple members from the case show up in this book but with no context other than you know Sami Kierce does not like them at all. So if you want to know what that’s all about, you’ll have to do a little research.
This was a really good, fast-paced thriller. I read it in two days, somehow. But I’m not surprised because I’ve always liked Harlan Coben’s books. And I haven’t read one in awhile so it was fun to get back to one of his.
I will say, though, that I had to keep telling myself I wasn’t reading a Myron Bolitar novel. For some reason Sami Kierce felt like the same person. But Kierce is Pakistani and I kept picturing someone else. I wish there would have been more to describe him so I could better picture who he was as a character. Especially with this book being written so long after the first one it seems like Coben should have ‘refreshed’ the readers on who Kierce was.
Other than that, I can’t think of any other critiques of this book.
In Nobody’s Fool, Kierce is a bit of a disgraced police officer, thrown off the force for a mistake on a different case. He spends some of his time teaching a somewhat ‘off the books’ criminology class to an ecclectic bunch.
It’s in one of these classes that his past comes back to haunt him. A woman shows up that looks an awful lot like a girl he had a fling with in Spain on a backpacking trip many years ago. A girl he thought he had killed. Well… killed as in: he woke up from a drug and alcohol infused night to see her dead beside him and his hands covered in blood.
This shocking cameo (and then quick departure) sends Kierce on a new mission— to find her and find out what happened to her all those years ago.
We also have a side quest which may or may not be connected that also dredges up Kierce’s past. His first wife and fellow cop was murdered by an ex-boyfriend (also many years ago). But Kierce’s recent fall from grace has spurred reinvestigations and overturned verdicts based on any evidence gathered or touched by Kierce… including the prison release of the man convicted of killing his wife.
Kierce brings real life to the classroom as he uses the help of his students to look into both of these ‘problems’.
One of the things I really like about the book, other than the suspense and action, were the characters. Even if Kierce was too similar to Bolitar professionally and humorously, he had something Bolitar didn’t: a wife and son. I loved the relationship between Kierce and his wife and that he never tried to hide anything from her or lie to her… well I guess other than what happened in Spain… but he came clean about that. Filling Molly in on his investigations reiterated that they were a team and very close to one another and I liked that.
His students are also great characters. They all kinda have their own thing and come from different walks of life, but they all have a passion for solving mysteries so they’re willing to work together and they become bonded by the class and Kierce.
While I’m not entirely sure if I LOVED the ending (because I’m a hardcore justice fan), I think I can understand it. Maybe not on a personal level, but based on the compounded circumstances, I guess the outcome makes sense.
This book does end on a bit of a question mark or an open door to another book. And I would definitely read it.
Recommendation
I’m a fan of Harlan Coben and recommend his books, including this one. They have good characters, lots of action and suspense, and even some twists and turns. I never really had this one figured out and I’m totally okay with it!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
[Content Advisory: 4 f-words, 19 s-words; not really any sexual content; mentions of child-trafficking with one of the characters]