Sam Worthington as David Burroughs in 'I Will Find You,' The Hollywood Reporter reveals in an exclusive preview. Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix Logo text Harlan Coben has always been drawn to telling stories about a father's love for his child. "I lost my father at a young age, and I miss him greatly. Losing him was probably the most defining moment in my life. He died when he was 59, and I think it's defining a lot of the work that I do," Coben tells The Hollywood Reporter over coffee on a warm July morning in Toronto. It's a theme that the master of mystery novels and suspenseful thrillers - who is a father of four himself - has returned to over and over again in his Myron Bolitar series: No Second Chance, and now with I Will Find You. Related Stories TV 'The Diplomat' Sets Season 3 Release Date as Latest Teaser Sees Keri Russell Warn of "Terribly Flawed" New POTUS TV Netflix Unveils First Look at Louis Partridge, James Norton, Emily Fairn and Anthony Boyle in 'House of Guinness,' Sets September Launch Date One of the most successful authors working today with over 90 million copies in print worldwide, Coben has published 35 novels that have topped the New York Times best-sellers list. His books have been translated into 46 languages and adapted for various international markets - the United Kingdom (Stay Close, Fool Me Once, Missing You), France (Gone for Good, Tell No One), Poland (Just One Look, Hold Tight), Spain (The Innocent) and Argentina (Caught). But for the first time in his seven-year relationship with Netflix, Coben is spearheading a stateside adaptation of one of his books with co-creator showrunner Robert Hull (Quantum Leap, Alcatraz). I Will Find You co-creators Harlan Coben and Robert Hull. Ted Belton/Netflix An eight-part limited series about redemption, I Will Find You stars Sam Worthington as David Burroughs (see photo above), a father serving a life sentence for the murder of his young son Matthew - a crime that he didn't commit, but a tragedy that he has spent years punishing himself for every day. The loss of their son, paired with the underlying stressors of their relationship, led to the dissolution of David's marriage to Cheryl Dreason (Erin Richards), a talented and compassionate pediatric surgeon who has worked hard to rebuild her life. But one day, out of the blue, Cheryl's sister, Rachel Mills (Britt Lower), decides to visit her former brother-in-law in prison with a photograph that appears to suggest that Matthew is still alive. Suddenly, after previously resigning himself to a lifetime of confinement, David decides to stage an elaborate prison break - with some help - and goes on the run in order to find out what really happened to his only child. The series is currently in production, with a release date yet to be announced. Britt Lower as Rachel Mills in I Will Find You, THR exclusively reveals. Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix "If somebody's dead, they're dead and maybe you could find justice and move on. But here, David has a chance to be made fully whole after what he's been through," says Coben, who knew he wanted to adapt I Will For You for the screen long before he even finished writing the source material. "I find that super compelling to write about. I write about hope. Hope is the most important thing to me in these stories, because hope can put wings on your heart and let it fly in the air. Hope can also take your heart and crush it like it's a fucking eggshell." David is searching for truths, says Worthington. "Many truths," the star exclusively tells THR, "and in the melodramatic world of Harlan, he's going to have to face many twists to get to it. The ugliest truth, in the end, is still better than the prettiest of lies. Harlan said his settings are very placid pools of family life and within that he can make pretty big splashes. I thought that was a very cool way to describe what he creates. With characters, I love men who are stuck between accepting and embracing their true selves, or conforming to the cliches of protector, enforcer or some antiquated idea of what makes you strong and tough. I wanted to explore that with the character of David Burroughs, too." While on the run, David finds an ally in Rachel, a formerly decorated reporter whose life fell apart after she was fired from her job at the Boston Globe. Now working as a college professor teaching journalism, Rachel sees the sedulous search for her nephew as a once-in-a-lifetime story that could be her ticket back to her chosen vocation. Lower, who was looking to tell a self-contained story between making seasons of her hit Apple TV+ workplace drama Severance, says she was most drawn to Rachel's innate curiosity and fierce love for her family, both biological and otherwise. "Rachel has always had a suspicion that David was innocent during the trial. There were just certain things that didn't add up for her. And when she sees who she believes to be her nephew in the background of this photo at Six Flags, he