Harlan Coben is “very nervous” when it comes to adapting his beloved Myron Bolitar series. Appearing on the Table Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware, the author, whose novels, including The Stranger and Missing You, have been adapted for TV multiple times, was asked about the possibility of bringing Myron Bolitar to the small screen.
“We’re working on it,” Coben noted. “He’s harder for me to let go of than the standalone. If you don’t like Michelle Keegan in ‘Fool Me Once’, it’s one book, you know. If you don’t love Jimmy Nesbit coming out in ‘Runaway’, it’s one book, one character, I’ve only written him once, but Myron is my heart, and I’m very nervous about that series.”
A former NBA basketball star turned sports agent, Myron Bolitar is often described as hotheaded but well-meaning. The central character in 12 of Coben’s novels, starting with Deal Breaker (1995), Myron becomes something of an accidental detective, after he’s consistently drawn into strange mysteries surrounding his clients.
A beloved character, fans have voiced their love for Myron on Reddit. “I remember reading Harlan Coben’s books when I was in high school, and I pretty much ploughed through all of them in about 6 months. They’re amazing, but in particular I love the Myron Bolitar series most,” wrote one.
“Love the Myron Bolitar series. I recommend it all the time,” agreed a second.
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Revealing that elements of Myron’s life have been taken from his own, Coben told Jessie and Lenny Ware: “Not to get too heavy, but so I lost my parents at a fairly young age, and Myron’s parents are my parents, if they had survived.
“This is what I imagined my relationship would be with them, yeah. So I live vicariously through them. I get too melodramatic during those scenes. When I write them, they’re a little bit corny.”
Table Manners
While details remain limited, Deadline reported in May that Coben’s Myron Bolitar novels are in the process of being adapted for TV with David E. Kelly, who helmed The Lincoln Lawyer for Netflix, co-writing the scripts.
In a previous interview with the publication, Coben admitted that he felt particularly protective of Myron Bolitar. After striking a deal with Netflix in 2022, the author said: “I’ve written 34 books, a third of them involved Myron Bolitar; he is my most prized possession, and I’m really happy now that it’s in the Netflix camp, so that we can work hard on making it right.”
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Megan is a freelance news reporter for Digital Spy.Â