Fool Me Once

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

Maya is the protagonist. She is in her thirties and carries herself like the elite soldier she was until her military career ended in ignominy. Maya struggles to assimilate into her new life as a wife and mother in suburbia, and through her, Coben explores The Reintegration of Veterans Into Civilian Life. Marrying Joe gave her access to a world ruled by wealth and status. Based on the recollections of her childhood, she and Claire had a middle- or upper-middle-class upbringing that, though comfortable, still pales in comparison to how the Burkett children were raised. Nevertheless, Maya’s family was secretive; Maya periodically mentions her family’s ethos, which tends to be negative and untrusting. Their grandmother taught the girls to stick together but also that everyone else is a potential thief, as symbolized by her cabinet with a secret drawer. Maya trusts no one, especially when it comes to her daughter, Lily. Coben underscores this by subverting the conventions of the mystery genre: Maya does not report killing Joe to the reader, meaning that the reader has much less information than the novel’s quasi-detective until the end, in contrast to conventional mysteries in which the reader is prompted to act as detective alongside the protagonist.