Harlan Coben discusses potential for Shelter season 2

Of course, the final eighth episode - fittingly entitled Found - left us all on a major cliffhanger as our teenage protagonist Mickey Bolitar (Jaden Michael) used what Bat Lady (Tovah Feldshuh) had told him to figure out that she must've been hearing genuine calls from his father Brad (Kristoffer Polaha) all along.

The final shot of the series ended with Mickey, along with his friends, prying open one of the soundproof rooms underneath Bat Lady's home to find none other than his father at the same time that his aunt Shira (Constance Zimmer) is confronted by her brother's open casket.

Viewers never got to see what was inside, but we do know from her expression that it likely revealed someone else that wasn't her brother, as they've been led to believe all this time.

So, naturally, fans have been left wondering if and when a Shelter season 2 could be landing on our screens, especially as there's a slew of new questions to answer.

Well, RadioTimes.com sat down for an exclusive chat with series creator and novelist Harlan Coben, where he revealed that, while there aren't any confirmed plans to renew the series, there are certainly ideas whirring about what could happen in a potential season 2.

When asked what he'd like to dive into in season 2, Coben revealed: “You’d want to know where Mickey goes from here, where other characters go from here. It’s a really rich world.

"We haven’t really scratched the surface of Abeona and what the Bat Lady is running here. Spoon’s background, Ema’s background, all these people actually have hidden secrets that would hopefully be revealed and talked about in future seasons."

He continued: "I think there’s more tasks, more missions that they would have to do. There’s a lot more that we could explore depending on how it all goes.

"I still want to keep the uneven balance, I kind of loved the idea [of] what we were trying to do a little bit is … episode 7, they’re doing things that are dramatic and people are dying and there’s real stakes but they still have to play high school basketball, they still have to do the cheer routine, they still have to do the regular stuff.

"To try to balance those sort of things, we thought would be an interesting and slightly different way of doing it.”

As fans of both the Mickey Bolitar book series and this recent TV series will know, Coben and his team didn't stick entirely to the book material for the show and mixed things up.

Explaining this decision, Coben told RadioTimes.com: "I’ve never stayed close to the books. Even though it was Shelter, it was based on all three [novels], there were parts of Shelter, Seconds Away and Found.

"In the book series, Mickey doesn’t find his father until book three and I decided right away – Charlotte [Coben] and I discussed this – you can’t make people wait three seasons and keep the guy hidden for three seasons."

Read more:

• Sheridan Smith in first look at new thriller The Castaways
• Lupin writer on "haunting" part 3 ending: "Nothing happens by accident"

He continued: 'When we open the series, we start with three mysteries: Is his father dead or alive? Where’s Ashley? And what happened to young Dylan Shakes in 1990s after his Little League game? And we answer all three, I don’t know how many shows actually do that.

"Even though we hope there will be a season 2, I’ve always [thought] that most of my shows are miniseries/standalones where you get all the answers, that it wouldn’t be fair to [not] answer all three of those questions.

"Now, the fact is we raised new questions and people now want to know what’s going to happen next, that’s all good. But we kept our promise, all three of those questions are answered. We love the fact that people are invested in these characters and the story and want to know what happens next."

For now, we'll just have to wait and see if Harlan Coben's Shelter gets a second season, but from the sounds of it, there's plenty left to dive into in the world of Mickey Bolitar and his friends in Kasselton, New Jersey.

All episodes of Harlan Coben's Shelter are available to watch on Prime Video.

If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Drama hub for more news and features.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.