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‘We want to go a little darker’: The mastermind behind 9 consecutive smash hit streaming mystery thrillers shows no signs of slowing down

Double figure is an inevitability.

harlan coben's shelter
Image via Prime Video

History has shown that if any streaming service is interested in acquiring a twisting and turning mystery thriller that’s guaranteed to draw in subscribers in their numbers and win strong notices from critics and audiences alike, then mining Harlan Coben‘s back catalogue for inspiration is virtually bulletrpoof.

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Having been responsible for Netflix’s Safe, The Stranger, The Woods, The Innocent, Gone for Good, Stay Close, Hold Me Tight, and the upcoming Fool Me Once, the author saw his work migrate over to Prime Video and achieve the exact same results when Shelter instantly became one of the platform’s top-viewed TV shows.

harlan-coben's-shelter
Image via Prime Video

Unlike his previous output, though, the adaptation ended on a cliffhanger that set up a second season, something that’s never happened over at Netflix. It hasn’t officially been renewed as of yet, but in an interview with Collider, Coben hinted that he’s already got an inkling of where things could head.

“There were a couple of little Easter Eggs that I’m sure people noticed, especially as the house was burning down at the end of episode 7. I certainly got a number of messages about that, and we’ll see where that’s going to lead. I think that there will probably be repercussions for what happened — without giving anything away — at that ending and how that ending took place, who is responsible, where it is. I think there’s still more to obviously do there. There’s a lot of different places to go. We’re gonna be doing some stuff with all the characters that’s going to surprise people, and we want to go even a little darker. I think it would be really kind of cool to put them through the wringer.”

The ball is in Prime Video’s court as to whether or not it chooses to pull the trigger, but based on the quality matching the quantity, it would be foolish not to take Coben’s streaming exclusives into double-figure territory.