Harlan Coben is known as the master of the twisty crime novel, with various of his books having been turned into series in recent years. But on Monday, the bestseller author returns to CBS and Paramount+ with season 2 of his true-crime series Harlan Coben‘s Final Twist.
As the mystery writer, who has sold more than 100 million books, did in season 1, he once again investigates real-life mysteries that are complex and full of twists and surprises. And again, each episode sees Coben guide audiences through these crime cases in seemingly ordinary suburban settings as host and narrator. At the end of each episode, you better be ready for one more final twist. After all, life can be stranger than fiction.
Season 2 consists of 12 episodes, up from five in season 1.
Monday’s season premiere of Harlan Coben’s Final Twist dives into the Betsy Faria murder case. Entitled “Betsy’s Trust,” a synopsis for the episode reads: “When church-going mother Betsy Faria is found stabbed to death in her quiet Missouri home, police initially suspect suicide. … She’d tried it before. But multiple stab wounds and the surrounding evidence point to her husband. … But then, more dead bodies and strange twists lead back to Betsy’s murder … unraveling a story everyone thought they understood.”
Coben talked to THR about what audiences can expect from season 2 of the series, how fiction has rules but reality does not, and how he feels about appearing in front of the camera.
Harlan, after season 1 earlier this year, the decision about a second season came really quickly. How easy was it for you to say yes to another season?
Well, it’s exciting and a true honor and privilege that people watch us and let us into their homes. I do think, or I hope, this season will be even better. We learned a lot from those first five episodes. It was still a feeling-out process.
I have seen the first couple of episodes of season 2. But how would you describe what awaits people?
This first episode tonight is bonkers. I can’t wait for people to see it. It’s so crazy. And I think we’re going to get better at it as we go on. The idea of being able to have somebody who writes these things in fiction can enhance things. To have me compare how I would do it in a novel versus how it goes in real life will amplify [the material] in an interesting way, I hope.
In this first case, [there is a] 911 taping that starts before [most of the emergency call]. Did you know that?
I thought I was the only idiot who didn’t know this…
I actually say it so everybody can feel better about themselves. But those are kind of things that I’m hoping the show will be able to point out things we don’t normally see.
Do the true-crime cases in Harlan Coben’s Final Twist ever inspire your writing? Have you picked up any ideas or seeds of real cases?
I haven’t yet, but they do inspire. I’m always thinking. I’m thinking, wow, is there a way this can be used in fiction as well? They do go back and forth that way.
How do you and the team on the show pick the cases? What are key criteria beyond a final twist?
Luckily, I have this great team led by Susan Zirinsky and Jeff Zimbalist, who are really very experienced documentary filmmakers, and so they whittle it down. And then we go over things and say which cases we’ll do. We want variety; we want some twists and turns.
We have two cases of the 12 where it took years to solve the case, and in both cases, they definitely would not have been solved had it not been for persistent parents. In one case, it was a father, in one case, a mother who would just not let it go. And so those stories of bravery and resilience from family members, I find those really compelling and interesting. So we’re aiming for a lot of different things.
The other thing that I want to make sure we do is I want the stories to be complete. I don’t want cliffhangers. I don’t want stories that we don’t know the answers to. So, when you finish the hour, you have all the answers. They’re very contained stories. They’re fast-paced. They’re twisty, but you do get the answers.
How is being in front of the camera for you?
Now that we are more comfortable, what we were trying to do is not just have a narration or a voiceover, but focus on what I can add. How do we make it something different? How do we amplify the stories? And one thing is that we can say, “Well, fiction probably would have worked out like this.”
There’s no question: I think I’m better this season. I think that I learned from the first season to be a little bit more myself. For the first one, I was not quite as actively involved and felt more like I was reading lines rather than trying to participate in the lines and feel comfortable with them and adding a little more insight. We wanted to make it better and elevate it.
So, yeah, I think, like anything in life, you learn as you go along. Hopefully, I’m better at it this season than I was last year. I think I’m definitely less stiff and less cautious.
One key theme of the series is that fiction can be stranger than fact. Can you talk about that a bit?
As I point out quite frequently, fiction has to follow rules. Reality doesn’t. That’s what’s crazy. If I had written Betsy Faria’s story in a novel, you would have thrown the novel at my head. “She never would have done that, and the killer would have never done this, and that ending is just gilding the lily.” I would get a million emails telling me about plot holes or whatever else. So fiction has to follow rules. Reality does not.
You also continue to do your screen adaptations and writing. How and what do you have in the works?
Well, what an honor and a privilege that is that people would want that. And right now, I’m able to do it. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do both of these things. I love it. I really love narrating and working on Final Twist. It’s been a great deal of fun.
Yeah, I’m writing another novel.
I’m also filming two series for Netflix right now as we speak. I’m filming The Woods in the U.K. with Michelle Keegan and Tom Bateman. And then I’m filming, right here in New York, Myron Bolitar, with Colin Woodell, KJ Apa, Diane Guerrero, Chloe Fineman from Saturday Night Live, Bebe Neuwirth, and Griffin Dunne — a truly all-star, wonderful cast and crew. We’re filming, I think today, at the U.S. Open, because it’s about a murder at the U.S. Open tennis, so we’re on site filming there.
