Harlan Coben interview

You’re the master of the twist. How do you walk that fine line of giving readers an ending they didn’t see coming, while making sure they don’t feel cheated?

It has to make sense in line with the story. Sometimes it’s a little bit of a sleight of hand, where I’m showing you one thing, and then all of a sudden something else will be there.

You know, people call mystery novels or thrillers “puzzles.” I never understood that, because when I buy a puzzle, I already know what it is. It’s on the box. And even if I don’t, if it’s a 5,000-piece puzzle of the Mona Lisa, it’s not like I put the last piece in and go, “I had no idea it’s the Mona Lisa!”

I look at it more like a camera coming into focus, where the first shot is kind of blurry: You see someone kind of tall with long dark hair, and you think, Oh, it’s Cindy Crawford. Then it gets a little bit more in focus, and you see the nose is a little off, and you go, Oh, it’s Cher. And the final turn, when it becomes all clear, you see it’s Howard Stern—and you should have known it was Howard Stern right from the beginning. That’s what a good crime novelist—any good novelist—should do with you: play with your perceptions while showing you everything in plain sight.

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