The Big Picture

  • Netflix will release the adaptation of Harlan Coben's best-selling novel Fool Me Once on January 1, 2024, making it a perfect New Year's Day binge for mystery lovers.
  • The trailer introduces Joe, played by Richard Armitage, who appears to be killed but then mysteriously shows up on his wife's nanny-cam. The series delves into a thrilling story with supernatural and deception elements.
  • Fool Me Once is the fourth Harlan Coben novel adaptation by Netflix, following the success of The Stranger, Stay Close, and Safe. Coben is excited about the collaboration and describes the series as a pulse-pounding tale of secrets and deceit tearing people apart.

Netflix has decided that we should all kick off 2024 with a Harlan Coben mystery. At least that’s what the streamer is suggesting by setting a release date for the novel adaptation of Fool Me Once for January 1, 2024. This means that, if you decide to stay home this New Year, you’ll already have a thrilling mystery series to check out as soon as the clock strikes twelve.

The trailer of Fool Me Once stars Richard Armitage (Obsession) as Joe, a man who’s ready to start a new chapter in his life after getting married and having kids. The problem is, he gets brutally killed after what seems like a robbery. As his wife Maya (Michelle Keegan) tries to move on, she gets surprised one day when her dead husband shows up in the footage of her nanny-cam.

Of course, the man’s appearance changes everything. Is this a supernatural story now? Or is he really alive and faked his death. Why would he do that? What could be more important than the family he had just started? You can see all these questions manifest in Maya’s face as she looks at the video, and Fool Me Once will then delve into a much more serious and thrilling story that seems to be extremely binge-able.

How Many Harlan Corben Novels Has Netflix Adapted?

With Fool Me Once, the slate of Harlan Coben novels adapted by Netflix goes up to four. Previously, the streamer adapted The Stranger, Stay Close (both also starred by Richard Armitage) and Safe (led by Dexter’s Michael C. Hall). As it’s common with the author’s novels, all the stories are mystery thrillers that center around murders and disappearances.

In an official statement, the author himself — who also executive produces Fool Me Once — celebrated the thriller series coming to life and teased what the story is about:

“I’m thrilled and honoured to once again be collaborating with my uber-talented partners Danny [Brocklehurst], Nicola [Shindler] and Richard [Fee, all executive producers]. ‘Fool Me Once’ will be our fourth Netflix series together, and man, it never gets old! ‘Fool Me Once’ is a pulse-pounder -- a shocking story of how secrets and deceit have the power to bring people together while simultaneously tearing them apart. I can’t wait to see how this dream cast brings these characters to life.”

Netflix premieres all eight episodes of Fool Me Once on January 1, 2024.

You can watch the trailer below: