Ben Sevier, President & Publisher of Grand Central Publishing (GCP), announced today the acquisition of a new suspense novel by two luminaries of the book and entertainment worlds, Oscar winning actor, producer, New York Times bestselling author and Reese’s Book Club/Hello Sunshine founder Reese Witherspoon and # 1 international bestselling author and TV creator Harlan Coben. Sevier brokered the North American rights deal with Cait Hoyt at CAA for Witherspoon and Lisa Erbach Vance at the Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency for Coben. Century, a division of Penguin Random House UK, will publish simultaneously in the UK and Commonwealth (excluding Canada). The book will be published around the world in the Fall of 2025 in hardcover, e-book and audio editions.
The novel is Witherspoon’s debut and is based on her original idea, while Coben’s dozens of number one bestsellers promise the inventive storytelling and signature twists his millions of readers know so well. Witherspoon and Coben have been developing the concept, creating characters, and writing pages over many months of collaboration. A screen adaptation is also in development.
Witherspoon said of the acquisition, “To say I am a fan of Harlan’s body of work is a massive understatement… the fact that he found my idea for this thriller intriguing enough to want to partner with me on it as co-author is a dream becoming a reality. Scheming with Harlan on how to thrill audiences with mysterious characters and complex narrative twists and turns has already been more fun than I can describe. I can’t wait for everyone to read what we have been imagining.”
Coben said, “I’ve been a huge Reese Witherspoon fan for years. Be it acting, producing, creating, and even book-club selecting, Reese’s instincts about storytelling across all media are unrivaled. Once we began discussing her idea, there was no turning back. Collaborating with Reese has been a pure joy and so creatively rewarding. I could not be more excited about putting this novel out into the world.”
Sevier said, “Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben working together is a powerhouse collaboration that I wouldn’t have dared to dream up. These two masters each possess a virtuoso command of character and an unrivaled reputation for suspense storytelling—across screen and page—and jaws hit the floor as they described their incredible idea to the publishing team at Grand Central. It is clear that their book will be supercharged by the combination of their enormous storytelling gifts. I am incredibly proud that these two authors chose GCP to shepherd their book into the world.”
Reese Witherspoon is an award-winning actress, producer, New York Times bestselling author and founder. In 2016, she established the media brand, Hello Sunshine, which puts women at the center of every story across all platforms– from scripted and unscripted television, feature films, animated series, podcasts, audio storytelling, and digital series. Hello Sunshine is also home to “Reese’s Book Club,” a community propelled by meaningful connections with stories, authors, and fellow members. Witherspoon is best known for her roles in feature films like WALK THE LINE, WILD, ELECTION and LEGALLY BLONDE as well as Emmy award-winning TV series “Big Little Lies,” “Little Fires Everywhere” and “The Morning Show.”
Harlan Coben is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of the world’s leading storytellers. His suspense novels are published in forty-six languages and have been number one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries, with eighty million books in print worldwide. His Myron Bolitar series has earned the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony Awards.
Coben is also the creator and executive producer of many television shows, including adaptations on Netflix of the # 1 global hit Fool Me Once, Stay Close, The Stranger, The Innocent, Gone for Good, Hold Tight, and The Woods as well as the Amazon Prime series adaptation of Shelter. His forthcoming TV series include Missing You and Run Away on Netflix, Lazarus on Amazon Prime and many more in the works.
