Harlan Coben British Mystery Thrillers, Netflix: “The Stranger.” “Stay Close.” “Fool Me Once.”

HARLAN Coben’s plots of his novels often involve the resurfacing of unresolved or misinterpreted events in the past, murders, or fatal accidents and have multiple twists. Nine of his novels have been adapted into Netflix series. Here are three that I recently saw.

       <>“The Stranger.” Plot: A mysterious stranger, a woman in her 20s wearing a baseball cap, approaches Adam Price and tells him a secret. His wife goes missing as a result of the disclosure. As the story progresses, the stranger is revealed to be connected with more secrets.

       <>“Stay Close.” Plot: Megan Pierce is a suburban mum living in the fictional suburb of Livingstone, and is hiding a murky past. She has found her soulmate in Dave, and they have three great kids. Etcetera.

       <>“Fool Me Once.” Plot: Former special ops pilot Maya, home from the war, sees an unthinkable image captured by her nanny cam while she is at work: her two-year-old daughter playing with Maya's husband, Joe—who had been brutally murdered two weeks earlier.

       I am a sucker for anything that are detective thriller, police procedural, and crime drama. So I am not yet done with Mr Harlan’s stuff. His plotlines are the murder mystery equivalent of daytime soap operas. I am not saying the stories are sappy, stereotypical, or corny. No. Harlan’s materials are binge-watch baits. At that time though the substories get entangled with the backstories so you gotta focus. But then that’s what the genre is all about, isn’t it?

       Pacing is tight, editing is very structured, and acting is engaging. Pretty fine performances, especially by Richard Armitage, Cush Jumbo, and James Nesbitt. 📺🎥📺