Bestselling author Harlan Coben is stepping into the true-crime world as host and executive producer of the docuseries “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist,” now streaming on Paramount+.
WASHINGTON — Coben, whose suspense novels have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, is known for delivering twists readers never see coming.
For the second season of “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist,” he is applying that same instinct for unexpected turns to real-life crimes.
“We’re doing true crime with twists and turns and hoping to fool you in the end,” Coben said. “You’re going to be surprised, you’re going to be deeply moved, and I’m narrating — as a fiction writer — these true stories because we always hear truth is stranger than fiction. When I write a novel or do a TV show, I have to follow rules — reality doesn’t. These stories, a lot of them, if I had written them as novels, you would take the novel and throw it at my head and say, ‘Oh, come on, there’s no way this could happen.’ Reality doesn’t have to follow those rules. They can get away with it.”
The first season featured five episodes. Coben said Season 2 will expand the series to 12 episodes.
“We have a whole research team. We go through it. We want to make sure one, it has the twists and turns that we want to see, and two, that it has an emotional component. These are victims and their families, and so we want to make sure that we show that kind of respect. And three, we have access to new people, we have access to interviews and footage that really you haven’t seen before, and it’s going to be a compelling story,” Coben said. “We have everything from a murder story to blackmail to love triangles.”
Coben has also seen several of his books adapted into scripted series, including “I Will Find You,” “Safe,” “Missing You” and “Shelter.” He explained why he believes audiences remain so drawn to true crime.
“People are under the ultimate stress. All stories are about a person walking down the road of life and roadblocks getting in their way. These are the ultimate roadblocks. These are the ultimate stress, the ultimate test, the ultimate moments of crushing defeat and hope, and so that emotion in these kinds of crimes is raised to the 10th power,” Coben said. “The fact that we can do it in both a fictional world, which feels interestingly safe, and a true crime world, which also feels like you can take a little bit of distance, I think people find this compelling. It’s also the study of human nature. We’re all fascinated by who does this and why and how it happens.”
“Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” is streaming now on Paramount+.
