Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben Narrator: Vikas Adam
Series: Detective Sami Kierce #2
Published by Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Audio on March 25, 2025
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 352
Length: 9 hours, 30 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley
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MALAGA – 2000
Sami Kierce, a young man backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up one morning. He is covered in blood. There’s a knife in his hand. Beside him, the body of a woman. Anna. Dead. He doesn’t know what happened. He begins to scream.NEW YORK CITY – 2025
Kierce, now a disgraced detective, is teaching night classes when he recognizes a familiar face in the crowd. Anna. It’s unmistakably her. As soon as Kierce makes eye contact with her, she runs. For Kierce there is no choice. He knows he must find this woman and solve the impossible mystery that has haunted his every waking moment since that day.
I noticed Nobody’s Fool was the second in the Sami Kierce series so I decided to read Fool Me Once first. I found this very confusing since there was no character called Sami Kierce. There was a Roger Kierce and he was a minor, background sort of character. So I was surprised now to read Nobody’s Fool with Sami being the main character and the point of view for the story.
We are now about 20-25 years later. Sami is married to Molly and has a baby son, Henry. He was thrown off the police force after the events in Fool Me Once. In the meantime, he had a fiance who was murdered. He also is being sued for various things. He works as an investigator for a law firm in trade for his legal bills. He also teaches a class in criminology.
The class really are his friends and help him work cases by tracking down information or surveilling people. I really enjoy them as they are colorful characters interested in solving puzzles from grannies, to influencers, a former hedge fund manager, and other oddballs.
The story alternates between the past when he met a woman named Anna on a trip after college and thought maybe he killed her when high on drugs. It turns out she is Victoria Belmond who is a wealthy heiress who was missing for 11 years. The other big plot line is the his fiance’s murderer gets his conviction vacated and is out of prison. Sami still believes he killed her.
Everything he is investigating happened about 20 years ago but it ties in to things happening today. With the help of his students he collects good information and moves closer to the truth.  Sami works it out in the end.
The start seemed slow to me, maybe because I was distracted over the Roger / Sami. Or maybe it was because Sami, in general, was not a very compelling character for me. I enjoyed the first book more. I think you could read this without having read Fool Me Once.
Narration:
The narrator was one I have listened to and enjoyed previously. I did, however, keep thinking about Julius and Marcy! I listened at my usual1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Vikas Adam
Vikas Adam is a classically trained actor with numerous credits in stage, film, commercials, and television, in addition to his over 200 audiobooks. He’s established himself as one who creates versatile, distinct, and clear voices for characters he embodies. Equally at home with a light piece of literature or a dark thriller, a short story or an epic novel (his longest—forty-nine hours!), Vikas’s audiobooks have garnered numerous awards and nominations, including AudioFile Earphones Awards, various Best of the Year lists, and the Audie Award. When not recording, acting, or directing, he’s a lecturer in the Theater Department at UCLA. He was an inaugural inductee into the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame.
About Harlan Coben
With over 60 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben’s last seven consecutive novels, MISSING YOU, SIX YEARS, STAY CLOSE, LIVE WIRE, CAUGHT, LONG LOST and HOLD TIGHT all debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and lists around the world. His books are published in 43 languages around the globe.
Coben is the winner of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award – the first author to win all three – and he has received an eclectic variety of honors from all over the world. His novel TELL NO ONE has been turned into a hit French film of the same name. His essays and columns have appeared in many top publications.
Harlan was born in Newark, New Jersey. He still lives in New Jersey with his wife, Anne Armstrong-Coben MD, a pediatrician, and their four children.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 25-COYER
I figured out he changed the name of the character for the Fool Me Once Netflix series. I was confused at first, too.
yes, it’s just weird with the name change in the books. And it’s a reverse thing. Roger sounds more like the older guy and Sami sounds more like the younger guy who might be Sam once he got older?
Weird about the name change, but his class helping him solve crime does sound like a fun element.
yes I loved the class being involved and bringing their special interests and skills to play.
What a weird situation with the character. Was it that he changed the main character’s name or it’s a totally different character? Sounds like Sami’s life is kind of a mess.
He changed the name apparently for the tv version of Fool Me Once and then used it when he wrote this book about the character. It was totally weird to me though.
Interesting! This does sound like it could be good. 🙂
It was really interesting. I liked the students helping the best.
Oh, wow I would have been thrown by the character change too.
It’s the same character, apparently changed for the tv version so when he wrote a second book he used the “new” name.
That is odd about the Sami Kierce thing. I read this author last year and enjoyed his book but I do remember it having a slow start also.
He writes some really great books. Quite a few have gone to tv shows too.
This sounds interesting though it does sound like some of the changes were a bit confusing. This is an author I want to read!
Well his books are good. I read the Myron Bolitar books years ago and enjoyed them. He does do some over the top stuff though. I like some of the stand alone ones best. This series is good if you know the name change is going to happen, which apparently was because of the tv version.
Hmm, that is confusing. Did I see someone comment that it had to do with a tv show name change? Interesting! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one.
yes apparently they changed it for the tv version so then he took the tv name for the 2nd book. But if you don’t watch much tv it is a bit confusing.