Episode · Freakonomics Radio · 2026-08-05
Books mentioned on Does it Take a Twisted Mind to Write Twisted Stories? | Better In Person
Harlan Coben doesn’t think so. The mega-best-selling author talks suburbia, impostor syndrome, and what he learned from his college friend David Foster Wallace.
Harlan Coben discussed The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is one of the best-selling mystery thriller novels in history, blending cryptography, religious history, and secret societies.
Discussed“And I remember a couple of years later after I had already had a little bit of success and Dan had came to me with the manuscript for Da Vinci Code.”
Where to get it
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Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln is a 1982 pseudohistorical book that speculates on alternative Christian history, including the bloodline of Jesus and the Priory of Sion.
Discussed“And I actually read, it was based, a lot of the theory was on a nonfiction book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which I had read.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Plugged Gone Before Goodbye
“In the sense of, I just finished writing a book with Reese Witherspoon that just came out called Gone Before I Goodbye.”
Passing Barton Fink
“And then there's, you know, there's been films and Barton Fink.”
Plugged Tell No One
“So when I wrote Tell No One, there was a huge bidding war in Hollywood.”
Plugged The Innocent
“Like, I wrote one book, I don't remember, I think it's The Innocent, and I named the lead character Jeff.”