Meet Harlan Coben, the author behind Netflix’s Missing You and Fool Me Once: the New Jersey-born talent is co-authoring a novel with Reese Witherspoon, and wrote The Stranger during his Uber rides
Netflix just released Missing You, adapted from powerhouse author Harlan Coben’s novel of the same name, making it the ninth such project on the platform – so who is he?
Netflix kicked off 2025 with a bang, releasing a hot new TV show from seasoned American writer Harlan Coben. On January 1, the streaming platform unveiled Missing You, a limited series adapted from Coben’s novel of the same name – and netizens can’t stop talking about the twists and turns that have kept them gripped throughout the episodes.
“I want you to turn this on on New Year’s Day and just say, ‘Well, I’ll just watch one episode.’ And before you know it, you’ve gobbled up all five,” Coben told Netflix’s Tudum. “You’re dabbing your eyes with tissues, and you feel satisfied.”
Coben was an executive producer on the project, and was satisfied with the TV series’ outcome. “I’m really happy with this cast, especially Rosalind Eleazar taking on this lead role, which is a really demanding one where she’s got to kind of go through a lot,” he said. “But I really love this entire cast – great to have Richard Armitage back and Ashley Walters and Jessica Plummer, Sir Lenny [Henry], James Nesbitt, and all the rest.”
You may have heard his name before, as Coben has collaborated with Netflix many times. Here’s what you need to know about him.
What is Harlan Coben’s background?
Coben was born in Newark, New Jersey, on January 4, 1962. He grew up Jewish, per The Guardian. “The importance of my Jewishness changes. I’m secular, but it’s the world I grew up in. It’s in my makeup. I view my Jewishness as cultural,” he told the outlet in 2022.
