The Stranger was published by Dutton in 2015, and it introduces one of Coben’s most compelling devices: a mysterious figure (known only as “the Stranger”) who approaches people in public places and reveals secrets about their families — information obtained from the vast digital trails that modern life generates.
Adam Price is a successful lawyer in a comfortable New Jersey suburb. A stranger approaches him at a bar and tells him that his wife, Corinne, faked a pregnancy two years ago — complete with ultrasound photos and a false miscarriage. When Adam confronts Corinne, she begs him not to say anything for a few days, then vanishes. What follows is Adam’s descent into a labyrinth of secrets: Corinne’s disappearance connects to a network of blackmail, fraud, and murder that spreads far beyond their suburb.
The novel’s most interesting element is its treatment of privacy in the digital age. The Stranger’s information comes from online databases, hacked accounts, and the data exhaust that every person generates simply by living a modern life. Coben’s argument is that the old notion of privacy — the idea that people can have secrets — is essentially dead, and that the consequences of this death are unpredictable and often violent.
The novel was adapted into a successful Netflix series in 2020, starring Richard Armitage and Jennifer Saunders.
Collecting The Stranger
First edition (Dutton, New York, 2015): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $8–$20
- Signed copies: $15–$35