Prime Video premieres Lazarus, an intriguing production that marks the return of the legendary Harlan Coben, who once again abandons his classic role as a writer to shape this fiction alongside screenwriter Daniel Brocklehurst. Starring Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones & the Six) and the legendary Bill Nighy (Love Actually), the series draws a compelling thriller brimming with mystery, a hallmark of the house.
The bestselling author signs the script together with another regular in crime and mystery productions who had already collaborated with Coben on Lies, the Netflix series released in 2024 that swept audiences and sparked an international boom. Not to mention that Brocklehurst had already adapted the intriguing Don’t Talk to Strangers in 2020 and has a few other successes to his name.
Alongside Claflin and Nighy, the series features a cast including Alexandra Roach (Utopia), Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead), Karla Crome (Misfits), Jack Deam (The Long Shadow), and Roisin Gallagher (Mandrake). On the other hand, the episodes are directed by Daniel O’Hara (Safe), Nicole Volavka (The Bay), and Wayne Yip (The Rings of Power).
What Lazarus Is About
Lazarus is a mystery series that adheres to the classic atmospheres that only the author of Just One Look can conjure. The plot begins when the young Joel Lazarus (Sam Claflin) returns to his family home after his father’s suicide, the renowned Dr. Jonathan Lazarus, played by Bill Nighy.
Back in his hometown, Joel begins to experience a series of unexplained events and is overwhelmed by disturbing visions that push him to dive headlong into a sinister investigation of a string of unsolved murders that appear to be linked to his father and the murder of his sister, which occurred 25 years earlier.
Joe Lazarus (Sam Claflin) returns to his hometown to confront a highly mysterious investigation.
The series travels across different genres, managing to blend the drama of loss and the idea of redemption with the intrigue and pace of a good psychological thriller. Lazarus starts from a premise that is as interesting and mysterious as it gets, and points to become the new hit, and there have already been several, from the brilliant Harlan Coben.
An Original Story by Harlan Coben
As is well known, some of Harlan Coben’s best-known works have been adapted for films and series in different countries, production companies, and streaming platforms. Not to mention The Innocent, the popular fiction by Mario Casas and Oriol Paulo that Netflix released in 2021, which is based on a novel by the American author.
The key difference between all these series and Lazarus is that Coben has decided to skip the process of presenting a book to adapt and has chosen to write directly for a television format. With broad experience producing adaptations of his work, it was only a matter of time before he took that step and plunged fully into creating series with an original concept.
The actress Kate Ashfield portrays Alison Brown, a determined detective who will have a crucial role in the plot.
Lazarus arrives on Prime Video as the latest series born from the imagination of bestselling author Harlan Coben. An original idea that aims high and promises to evoke strong emotions in its readers and other fans of his work. A hallmark story about redemption and forgiveness, with plenty of doses of mystery, crime, and, dare to say it, fear.
