Harlan Coben's Shelter: release date, cast, plot, trailer, interview and everything you need to know

Harlan Coben's Shelter is a twisty Prime Video thriller starring Jaden Michael as Mickey Bolitar, the teenage nephew of Harlan Coben's legendary sports agent and former NBA basketball star Myron Bolitar.

Bestselling author Harlan Coben’s novels have proved to be hugely successful when adapted for TV, with Safe, The Stranger and Stay Close on Netflix all leaving viewers gripped. Now, Prime Video is bringing Harlan Coben's first young adult novel Shelter, to life with Colin in Black and White star Jaden Michael in the lead role of Mickey.  Trouble follows Mickey around too, because as soon as he joins a new school, he becomes tangled up in the mysterious disappearance of another new student. The series also stars Constance Zimmer, Adrian Greensmith and Abby Corrigan. As with all Harlan Coben thrillers, it's sure to be a thrilling ride.

So here’s everything you need to know about Harlan Coben's Shelter on Prime Video…

Harlan Coben's Shelter release date

Harlan Coben's Shelter is an eight-episode thriller series that premieres worldwide on Prime Video from Friday August 18 2023. New episodes will become available weekly, on Fridays, until the season finale on Friday September 22.

Is there a trailer for Harlan Coben's Shelter?

Yes there's now a trailer for Harlan Coben's Shelter which shows Mickey Bolitar on his bed with a basketball as he explains all the strange goings on around him. Take a look below...

Harlan Coben's Shelter plot

Mickey Bolitar survives the car crash that kills his father and puts his mother in hospital. While she recovers from her injuries in rehab, he goes to live with his estranged Aunt Shira (Entourage’s Constance Zimmer) in the quiet suburban town of Kasselton, New Jersey. Struggling with his grief and trying to fit into his new surroundings,  Mickey immediately forms a connection with another new student Ashley Kent (Samantha Bugliaro).  But when she disappears before their first date, he is determined to find out what’s happened to her.

With the help of fellow students and social outcasts Spoon (Adrian Greensmith) and Ema (Abby Corrigan), Mickey starts to uncover the dark secrets beneath the sleepy facade of the town and their link to his own complex family history. His search for answers draws him to a sinister-looking mansion occupied by a reclusive creepy old woman, nicknamed Bat Lady, by locals, who stuns Mickey by telling him that his father isn’t dead. He’s not sure whether she’s a ghost or if he’s losing his mind.  He uncovers a dark underbelly that could hold the answer to decades of deaths and disappearances, and perhaps his own complex family history.

Harlan Coben's Shelter cast — Jaden Michael interview on playing Mickey Bolitar

The lead actor for Harlan Coben's Shelter is Jaden Michael who plays Mickey Bolitar, who moves to a new town after a personal tragedy. Her Jaden tells us far more about his character and part in the story...

Where do we find Mickey at the beginning of Harlan Coben's Shelter?
Jaden Michael says: "Mickey is going through the seven stages of grief and one of the first stages of  grief is guilt. Even though the stages don’t come in the same order, generally people do feel guilt initially and in the first episode there is definitely a connection between guilt and grief for Mickey.

Mickey feels an instant connection with  fellow newcomer Ashley - is that partly because she tells him she has also lost her father? 
Jaden says: "Mickey likes Ashley for typical teenager reasons and it works out because they can share that grief and they can communicate in that way. They know they’re on the same page in that way.  But I  also think that Mickey just needs someone to talk to.

Why is he drawn to the creepy house?
Jaden says: "The first episode is very much about him thinking: ‘How can I feel guilty about myself here and how can I feel like I don’t belong?’  So when he’s walking in that neighbourhood, he’s almost looking for a reason to feel ostracised and a reason to feel guilty. So when he stumbles across a house playing the music he heard in the car just before the crash that killed his father, he has an almost PTSD reaction. ‘I  need to feel that guilt again. I need to feel something.’

When Mickey is arrested for banging on the door of the house, it’s his estranged aunt who bails him out. How does that change things between them?
Jaden explains: "Mickey has spent his entire life hearing from his mother and his father that his Aunt Shira tried to destroy his family so, by default, he doesn’t like her. But she stands up for him and she turns out to be there for him. She gets him out of trouble when he makes a mistake and their relationship starts to grow from that.

Did the mix of teenage drama and mystery thriller make you want to do the series?
Jaden reveals: "Oh yeah. I always try to find stories that seem very authentic, very real and mean something to me and where I can learn something about myself. To be able to voice something through the medium of my craft is really important. I try to do that for every role, Shelter’s no different. There’s an underlying conversation about the abuse of children and there’s also a larger conversation about mental health in the show.

How important is it that the series is set in New Jersey, which is where Harlan Coben is from? 
Jaden Michael says: "There’s the backdrop of New York City, we see that motif throughout the series. We see New York City in the distance, but they never go into the city. This can be anyone living in a small town, distant from any city, but it definitely has that New Jersey magic, it definitely has that Harlan Coben life.

What do you think makes Harlan Coben such a successful mystery writer?
Jaden Michael says: "The twists in his stories are so incredible - from the very first twist that’s so huge that you think that anything can happen in this universe.  It’s also the hope and resilience in his characters who have the ability in an impossible situation to say: ‘I can do this.’

* Rising star Jaden Michael played the young Colin Kaepernick in Colin in Black and White and has also starred in Wonderstruck, Blue Bloods, The Get Down, The Bug Diaries and Atrabilious.

Who else is starring?

Castle Rock star Abby Corrigan plays Mickey’s secretive friend Ema while newcomer Adrian Greensmith is the inventive pal Spoon. Constance Zimmer plays Mickey's estranged aunt Shira Bolitar while Tovah Feldshuh, Sage Linder and Brian Altemus also star.

Behind the scenes and more on Harlan Coben's Shelter

Harlan Coben's Shelter showrunners/executive producers Harlan Coben and Allen MacDonald are joined by executive producers Edward Ornelas and Erik Barmack. Charlotte Coben serves as a producer and Patricia Cardoso as director and executive producer. This marks Harlan Coben’s first collaboration with Prime Video.

All about Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben is the bestselling novelist behind classic thrillers such as Tell No One, Fool Me Once and The Boy from the Woods. He's written 34 novels to date and has over 80 million books in print worldwide. He started his career with the seven-book Myron Bolitar series, which still has a legion of fans, before leaving sports agent Myron behind and writing the hit novel Tell No One. With Harlan at the helm, many of his thrillers have been adapted for the screen, including Stay Close, The Stranger and Safe, and he’s also created, and executive produced TV thrilers The Five, The Innocent and The Woods. An adaptation of Fool Me Once is coming to Netflix soon.