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Harlan Coben’s Final Twist Debuts on CBS With a True-Crime Pivot

Early reviews describe a gripping, conventional pilot that offers limited case-specific insight from the famed novelist.

Overview

  • The six-episode series premiered January 7 and airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.
  • The debut episode examines the 2012 killings of Billy Payne and Billie Jean Hayworth in rural Tennessee without revealing case outcomes.
  • Veteran documentarian Jeff Zimbalist is the showrunner, signaling a documentary-first approach to the production.
  • A Collider review contends the series underuses Coben as host, saying his on-camera remarks are broad rather than tied to the episode’s specifics.
  • Reviewers also highlight careful treatment of victims, and Coben tells Us Weekly he avoids deep research into real cases to keep his fiction uninfluenced.