Netflix has filmed 13 Harlan Coben books and skipped the one he's embarrassed by

If you follow the endless stream of Harlan Coben thrillers turning up on Netflix, you probably assume most of his books are either on screen or already in the adaptation pipeline. Truth is, even a mega-seller like Coben has early novels knocking about that you’ve never seen on telly – and there’s one in particular that’s genuinely odd to have been left out.

The Cinderella Novel

Coben’s first book, Play Dead, published way back in 1990, has never been touched by the adaptation machine. It’s about Laura Ayers, a model (yes, very ‘90s), who marries basketball star David Baskin. Within pages, David vanishes under suspicious circumstances, kicking off the sort of missing-person-mystery Coben would later build an entire Netflix mini-empire on. After this, he put out Miracle Cure (a medical thriller about AIDS), and only hit proper mainstream success with his third and fourth efforts, Tell No One (which became a French film) and Gone for Good (already made into a series).

‘Play Dead’ sat out of print for nearly twenty years before resurfacing in 2010.

What’s strange is, on paper, Play Dead seems perfect for the Netflix crowd: newlyweds, disappearance, secrets, unreliable characters, all the usual fun. Honestly, not one person in a Coben book has ever just said what’s actually going on in their life, and that’s half the point. So why’s this one missing?

Coben’s Take – You Might Be Surprised

The main obstacle seems to be the author himself. In a 2010 interview with Writer’s Digest, years after it first came out, Coben admitted he’d been uneasy about the novel for decades. When his publisher wanted to drag it out of retirement, Coben said he wanted everyone to know it was an old effort, with no attempts to paint over the rough edges. Here’s how he explained it to them:

‘I want it done honestly. I do not want to pretend it’s a new book; I want it to be a snapshot of where I was.’

He even said republishing involved 'some trepidation'. Still, fans have been oddly fond of it, telling him they love the rawness and the massive energy, even if he himself finds some bits cringe-worthy now. Coben confessed he almost misses the wildness of his debut, for all its flaws.

Given Coben is always closely involved as executive producer on his Netflix adaptations, you’d figure he could easily steer Play Dead onto the small screen now if he really wanted to (updating a few details, maybe ditching the 'model' cliché). There’s still strong drama, with Laura caught in the emotional whiplash between happily-ever-after and utter catastrophe. In fact, the main draw is surely Laura’s attempt to hold herself together and dig for the truth when nothing’s making sense.

With the recent success of I Will Find You and the constant appetite for twisty, emotionally fraught thrillers, chances are decent we’ll see every Coben novel Netflix legal can get its hands on. If Play Dead does finally get made, it’ll be fascinating to see the author revisit a book he’s both proud of and deeply ambivalent about.