DUBAI: The latest adaptation in bestselling thriller writer Harlan Coben’s multi-million-dollar Netflix deal, “Run Away,” is based on his 2019 book — one of his better ones.
James Nesbitt does his James Nesbitt thing as Simon, a decent man with a bit of a temper tormented by family troubles — in this case, his eldest daughter Paige, a drug addict who has disappeared following the gruesome murder of her bad-news drug-dealing boyfriend Aaron, whom Simon beat up in a park just days earlier. A video of that incident went viral. So guess who’s top of the suspect list for Aaron’s murder?
He doesn’t help himself by heading to the crime scene with his wife Ingrid (Minnie Driver, who briefly reminds us that she’s a talented actress before being consigned to a hospital bed for most of the series) to see if they can find any clues to Paige’s whereabouts. They discover that Aaron’s supplier’s headquarters are nearby. There they head. A shootout ensues, in which Ingrid is shot (hence the hospital bed for Driver). None of helps Simon’s case with the police.
That’s one convoluted plot strand. Elsewhere, private investigator Elena (an excellent and unsettling Ruth Jones) is looking into the disappearance of Henry, adoptive son of the wealthy Sebastian Thorpe. Elena is also carrying out her own investigation into the identity of a vegan café owner for personal reasons that take a while to clarify.
Oh, and there’s more — of course there’s more. In another “elsewhere,” a young woman, Dee Dee (a compellingly odd Maeve Courtier-Lilley), and a young man are on a hired murder spree killing off names on a list provided by a third party.
These three strands are woven together over the course of the series with considerable skill. The cast all do their best with what they’re given, but in Coben’s thrillers, the characters aren’t really the stars; the story is.
Yes, there are plot holes. Yes, each episode leaves us hanging. No, it’s not subtle or cerebral. But when it comes to low-maintenance, absorbing TV, Coben is hard to beat.
