Harlan Coben Reveals He and Stephen King Play March Madness Together — and His Picks Are Downright 'Frightening'

Harlan Coben and Stephen King have a little friendly competition going when it comes to the NCAA tournament.

Coben, 63, appeared on the Monday, March 24 episode of Good Morning America to promote his latest thriller and 36th novel, Nobody’s Fool, and revealed that he and King are in the same March Madness betting pool.

GMA anchor Whit Johnson kicked off the conversation by asking Coben to confirm that he’s in a March Madness pool with the IT author. “What's that trash talk like?” Johnson asked. 

“Well, I'm terrible. Last year, I came in last place. That's why I think they invited me,” Coben confessed. “And this year I'm threatening to come in last place yet again.”

He then joked that his picks are “more frightening than anything Stephen writes.”

“I can only imagine the trash talk, impeccable prose and perfect grammar,” Johnson joked back. But Coben jokingly confirmed that they save that for their books.

During the conversation, Coben did shed some light on his latest thrilling novel, saying, “It was a blast to write this book.” 

He even guaranteed eager readers that it will only take one night to read. “Start at 10 o'clock tonight. Say, ‘I’m only gonna read for 15-20 minutes,’ 4:00 in the morning and you’re cursing me and waking up to watch [GMA],” he joked.

“A year after the devastating events that took place in Fool Me Once, a secret from former Detective Sami Kierce’s college days comes back to haunt him,” the synopsis for Nobody’s Fool reads. “Present day is hard enough for Kierce, but his past isn’t through with him yet.”

One thing Coben wouldn't confirm is whether the sequel means there will be a new season of the hit Netflix series based on Fool Me Once.

“This new book is actually about Adeel Akhtar’s character Sami Kierce in Fool Me Once one year after the events of that series,” Coben told The Hollywood Reporter. “And what’s weird is that the Sami Kierce character, and his wife, weren’t major characters in the Fool Me Once book. So it’s almost more of a sequel to the TV series than the book. I don’t know any time that’s ever happened. Certainly, it hasn’t happened in my career.”

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Nobody's Fool is available now, wherever books are sold.