Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of murder, domestic violence, war, PTSD, and suicide.

A hallmark of Harlan Coben’s work is the unearthing of secrets and past traumas that alter his characters’ perceptions of self, family, and security. The unknowable nature of even the people to whom they are closest instigates his mystery plots, often leading to violence. In Fool Me Once, nearly every character contends with secrecy and the lingering effects of trauma. As the protagonist, Maya’s uncovering of secrets comprises the bulk of the novel. Before the first chapter, everything that Maya thought about Joe was challenged by his ostensible admission that he killed Claire and that he would be willing to kill Maya to protect the Burkett legacy. The stress of keeping her own crimes under wraps increases her paranoia and mistrust. The trauma of her actions overseas causes PTSD flashbacks, which she tries to muscle through until she can put all the pieces of Joe’s mysteries together. She cannot escape what’s she done, and that trauma challenges everything around her, including her relationship with her daughter, Lily. Lastly, having been through combat, Maya is unable to take seriously the petty complaints and triumphs of the moms around her, a limitation that leads her to turn her scrutiny toward her best friend, Eileen.