Having previously read Fool me once, I was initially confused about Roger versus Sami Kierce. An interview with author, Harlan Coben, explained that during the filming of the Netflix series, the excellent actor in the role of detective Kierce, saw himself more as a Sami than a Roger. Plus Adeel Akhtar was so convincing in the role, that it prompted a sequel to the Sami Kierce story, being the brand new, Nobody’s fool.
The prologue sets a young, recently graduated, Sami, in Spain, backpacking through Europe. When events take a nasty turn involving a girl named Anna, Sami leaves Spain in a hurry, returns home. Twenty-two years later, he has lost his detective badge and relies on teaching criminology to an eclectic bunch of wannabe sleuths, and doing work for a law firm in exchange for representation in a lawsuit against Sami.
In typical Coben style, the pace is fast and the plot packed with suspense, various unexpected twists and tension to keep you going until what hours to reach the conclusion. Even then, I found myself backtracking to refresh my memory, as the books sports a lengthy 418 pages.
I loved the writing style, with Sami as narrator keeping the reader close to him every step of the way. A most likeable character, as is his troop of “investigators” who takes his class. I found myself constantly expecting disaster, which happened often enough.
Harlan Coben fans can definitely invest in this new novel, distributed in South Africa by Penguin Random House and Century