Publishers Weekly
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Bestselling mystery novelist Coben (Gone Before Goodbye, with Reese Witherspoon) skillfully blends the personal and the professional in this affable memoir peppered with advice for aspiring authors. Coben details growing up in 1960s New Jersey in a household so filled with books that the decor could be described as “Early American Fire Hazard.” Enamored with writing from an early age, he worked as a travel agent for years before publishing his first thrillers in the 1990s, earning advances of $5,000 or so. As Coben details his gradual assent to bestselling author status, which took more than a decade, he attempts to demystify his process, identifying the three components of writerly success as inspiration (conceiving an idea), perspiration (the grunt work of actually writing), and desperation (“that part of you that simply has to be a writer”). He also highlights his magpie-like approach to fiction, sharing, for example, how an article about a woman who faked her pregnancy to keep her boyfriend inspired part of his 2015 novel The Stranger. Throughout, Coben’s humor and humanity shine through, making this a must-read for his many fans and aspiring writers seeking practical guidance from a literary insider. Agent: Lisa Vance, Aaron M. Priest Literary. (Sept.)

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A master thriller author explains how he does it. Having written 38 novels—“I think”—beginning at age 21 while working for his family’s travel agency as a tour guide in Spain (though that one remains in the drawer), Coben sets out to describe his process and to debunk the many instructions and shibboleths laid down by “other writers.” Should you always start with character? Nay! You can start with plot, or at least the beginnings of a plot, but you can also start with setting, as the author did withThe Boy From the Woods (2020). “It’s messy,” as he repeats many times, and also fiction is memoir and memoir is fiction; if we never do find out where to start, it’s fun and interesting to read about “the Coben Method,” a system of simultaneously writing and rewriting that produces a first draft that is actually the 10th. Amusingly, despite the scorn for the wisdom dispensed by others, the most functional piece of advice in the book comes to us via Anne Lamott, whoseBird by Bird (1994) is proclaimed the author’s favorite on the topic. (It’s good old “shitty first drafts,” here translated as a call to “accept and even embrace our suckage.”) Coben flavors his admittedly contradictory exhortations with a heaping helping of autobiography, affectionately describing his parents, his brilliant brothers (he was considered the “nice” one, “and we all know what that’s a euphemism for”), and his suburban childhood in Livingston, New Jersey. These took an exciting detour when his grandfather was investigated as a member of the Jewish mafia, and the extended family took a sudden, unplanned road trip to Canada. We do certainly learn how Coben does it, employing a writing practice so dedicated that he carries a backpack full of writing materials with him at all times and will sit down to write literally anywhere. A table in the deli section of the grocery store functioned as his study for several months, and he is “writing this paragraph right now in a boat while my four kids snorkel in a nearby cove.” No one would argue the point that, whatever it is, it works for him. A charming and personable (if not entirely useful) writing guide. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Mega-best-selling Harlan Coben, who has written series and stand-alone mysteries and thrillers, becoming the only writer to win the crime writer’s trifecta of the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony Awards, pulls back the curtain on his writing process in this breezy memoir and writer’s guide. Entertaining memories and advice are mixed together throughout, but what comes through most strongly is Coben’s discipline and dedication to his craft. For example, Coben turned down admission to the University of Chicago Law School to pursue writing. Coben’s oft-repeated advice boils down to “just keep writing” and “just keep trying” for getting published. His writing is refreshingly casual throughout. But this easygoing tone sometimes undercuts his message when he contradicts himself, such as when he describes sneaking into a shuttered New Jersey Nike missile base, then saying maybe it didn’t happen. Aspiring writers can find more salient writing advice along with a riveting memoir in Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, but for Harlan Coben fans, this could be a good hang.