Mickey Bolitar

Mickey Bolitar is the teenage nephew of Myron Bolitar in Harlan Coben's young adult mystery series — a high school basketball player who moves in with his uncle after a family crisis and who discovers, at his new school, that his father's fate is connected to secrets that reach further than he imagined. Coben brings his trademark plotting instincts to the YA format, delivering the twists and escalating revelations that his adult readers expect in a narrative calibrated for teenage protagonists and readers.

The connection to Coben's adult Myron Bolitar series allows readers familiar with that world to encounter familiar characters from a new perspective, while the Mickey books are fully accessible to readers coming in fresh. Mickey's basketball ability, his family situation, and his friendships at his new school give the series its character foundation alongside the mystery plotting.

Coben is one of the most reliable thriller writers in contemporary fiction, with a consistent gift for plots that move fast and twist unexpectedly. The Mickey Bolitar series brings these qualities to a teenage audience without condescending to younger readers.

Begin with Shelter (2011) and read in order.