Harlan Coben, novelist

Harlan Coben is the bestselling author of 38 novels, many of which have been successfully adapted for TV. He has sold over 100 million books in 46 languages, and 115 million households have watched his shows.

Harlan was born and raised in New Jersey. He studied Political Science at Amherst College where he met his wife, Anne, a paediatrician. After graduating in 1984, Harlan spent eight years working for the travel company his mother and grandfather ran together. By that time, he had already started writing.

His first published novel, Play Dead, came out in 1990, it was the fourth novel he had written. Five years later, he published the first of twelve books to date starring his protagonist, sports agent and accidental detective Myron Bolitar. It was his tenth novel, a stand-alone thriller entitled Tell No One, however, which marked his breakthrough in 2001, hitting the New York Times bestseller list for the first time on the very day his youngest child was born.

Harlan lost both his parents at a relatively young age. He was 26 when his father died suddenly of a heart attack and 34 when his mother passed away after a slow decline with cancer. He believes their deaths, made him the writer he is. He says: “Tragedy is a good teacher — it’s just too damn harsh.”

Harlan is married to Anne. They have two sons and two daughters. He lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne

Producers: Tom Alban and Christine Pawlowsky