I’ve been aware of Harlan Coben’s series of crime/mystery novels starring a sports agent named Myron Bolitar for some time but never read one because I thought it’d be something like Jerry Maguire crossed with Murder She Wrote. I figured Myron would always be tripping over dead baseball players killed by pitching machines or discovering the bodies of basketball players hanging from rims. What I should have realized sooner is that modern sports can offer a great backdrop for a gritty mystery. You’ve got an industry with huge amounts of money involved with famous personalities always getting caught up in gambling scandals, dog fighting, rape accusations, domestic violence, drug abuse, manslaughter and the occasional player shooting someone else or themselves so sports is the perfect environment to set a crime novel.Myron was once a college basketball star with Duke (Boo Duke!) before a knee injury ruined his chances for a pro career. Myron went on to get a law degree from Harvard, worked as some kind of secret undercover agent for the FBI, and now has taken up being a sports agent. One assumes that he’ll also be a cowboy and an astronaut someday, too.Christian Steele is Myron’s biggest client. A talented, clean cut quarterback who looks to be the next Aaron Rodgers, Steele is every agent’s dream. Myron is in the midst of negotiations with a tough and unscrupulous NFL owner over Christian’s first contract when the player gets a shocking piece of mail. Christian’s girlfriend, Kathy, had disappeared a year ago from their college campus and everyone assumes the worst. Christian receives a pornographic magazine with a nude photo of Kathy in a phone sex ad. Fearing scandal or some kind of set up that will ruin Christian’s NFL chances, Myron begins checking into the ad and what happened to Kathy. Things are complicated because Myron’s ex-girlfriend, Jessica, was Kathy’s sister, and their father was recently murdered. If that isn’t enough, Myron has to deal with another sleazy agent and his gangster pal who are trying to strong arm one of his clients into leaving Myron for them.Fortunately, like most heroes of a crime series, Myron has a bad ass friend he can count on for help. Windsor ‘Win’ Horne Lockwood III seems like the kind of preppy who would make Niles Crane look tough, but Win is Myron’s former FBI partner and a ruthless killer when need be. Plus, he uses his financial business to advise Myron’s clients so he can get your portfolio squared away in between ass kickings.The whole premise for this is obviously far fetched, but Corben gets it grounded enough to make the story enjoyable. Myron is a likeable smart-ass with a wry sense of humor, and Win is hilarious. I also liked how Corben built up the idea that Myron’s skills as a lawyer and former detective are also valuable as a sports agent and vice versa. In one scene, Myron deals with a brutal negotiation with the NFL owner and in another he’s working out a deal with a vicious gangster. There’s precious little difference between the two.This book also has a big time warp element since it was written in 1995. Like Michael Connelly’s The Poet, I found some of the things like car phones and print pornography to be almost quaint now. But the biggest laugh is that Corben named the team that Christian is going to play pro football for the Titans. I assumed this meant the Tennessee Titans, but then the story describes their facilities at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. It was only then that I realized that the Tennessee Titans were still the Houston Oilers in 1995, and that Corben had invented a fictional team at the time but later that name would be used for real. It was a tad confusing for a minute. There’s a few too many coincidence for my taste, and I could have lived without the backstory between Myron and Jessica, but overall I still enjoyed this one. The sports stuff gives it a fresh angle, but you don’t have to be a big sports fan to enjoy it. Plus, I thought Win was a great addition to the ranks of bad ass friends in crime fiction like Hawk, Mick Ballou, Bubba Rogowski, Mouse, Joe Pike, etc. I’ll be revisiting Myron’s series again sometime soon.
Reviewed first at Brunner's BookshlefI have read a few books by Harlan Coben but it wasn't until the last two, Six Years, and Missing You that really got me hooked on his writing. When I saw that he had a series I figured I would give it a try. Myron Bolitar is a sports agent and the main character of this series. Now I am a huge Hockey fan but the rest of pro sports I know very little about. I wasn't sure how I was going like this but wanted to at least give this book a try. Even though Bolitar is a fairly likable character I wasn't a fan of the slimy, sleazy world of a sports agent. Thankfully there isn't a ton of that in the book. Bolitar may be a sports agent but at the request of a client and his ex girlfriend he plays detective. I would have rather read a detective novel than this kind of story if I am being honest. One of Bolitar's new clients has lost his fiance and of course the police are focused on the boyfriend. Turns out the ex fiance was the sister of Bolitar's ex girlfriend so he also has a personal stake in finding out what happened to her. A picture surfaces that makes it seem like she might still be alive. This was a very interesting concept for a story which I have seen done by other authors, but each has had their own spin on it. There was something that held my attention throughout but it wasn't until the last quarter of the book that really got good. This was a decent book and I did enjoy it but I expected more. Considering this is one of his earlier books there is a good chance Harlan Coben has honed his skills and improved. That might be why I have enjoyed his recent work versus his older books. Not sure this series is for me yet. I also haven't decided if I am going to move on to the next book in this series. I do love his one shot novels and can't wait to get to his new book The Stranger. I'm kind of on the fence on this book. I liked it but still expected more from this. I give it a 3 out of 5 stars.
What do You think about Deal Breaker (2006)?
I only recently read my first Harlan Coben book and liked it so I decided to go back and start at the beginning. This is #1 in the Myron Bolitar series and despite his odd name Myron is a very likeable character. I really enjoyed his cynical banter with his off sider Win. And Win himself is a fascinating character, always calm,, cool and collected even when doing what he does best which is beating up the bad guys! The story was fast and intriguing and I absolutely did not suspect the eventual killer at all! All in all an excellent book and it will not be long before I pick up the next in the series.
—Phrynne
I haven’t exactly resisted reading Harlan Coben before, but I somehow didn’t think a mystery series about a sports agent could be that riveting. I mean, I like teams of sweaty men in skimpy uniforms as much as the next girl, but a sports agent just sounded smarmy and, well, kind of dull. Man, was I wrong. Myron Bolitar is smart and funny and tough and big-hearted, and who doesn’t like those qualities in a man? He’s a former FBI agent, too. Coban writes pretty good women, although, of course, they’re all gorgeous and sexy and you get the idea. Myron’s pro-wrestler-turned-night-school-law-student secretary Esperanza is particularly memorable.I listened to DEAL BREAKER in snippets walking around the lake each morning, and it’s absorbing even read with the ear. Rookie quarterback Christian Steele is about to launch Myron’s career into the big time. But a photo of Steele’s girlfriend Cathy, who disappeared two years before, shows up in a porn magazine. Is Cathy still alive? Who placed the ad and what are they after? And what will her sudden reappearance do to Steele’s career—and Myron’s?Coben is the master of the bon mot, the wizard of the wisecrack. I laughed out loud in DEAL BREAKER so many times that I lost count. His descriptions are dead on—a jock’s dorm room floor is “carpeted in underwear.” And he does a hell of a job of interweaving story lines and revealing just enough of the mystery and backstory when necessary to keep you turning the pages. Of course, there is a lot of pretty ripe cussing from drug dealers and other lowlifes, so if that offends you, be prepared. Maybe you can skip those parts and still enjoy the ride. I think it’s worth it.
—Jane
If you're like me, you fall in love with characters. If I find a good character, I can read a dozen books in a series. With Myron Bolitar and Windsor Lockwood III, you have two such characters. Myron is a quick witted, often hilarious sports agent with a deep backstory. He is a two time NCAA champion basketballer whose metioric rise was halted by an injury years before its apex. He then went to Harvard Law and then did work of questionable morality with the Feds. His past as an athlete informs his ability as an agent while he is drawn into somewhat vigilante investigations by his law enforcement background. His partner Win is kind of a nut. A scary nut. He's a master of martial arts and clandestine activities. He's also a filthy rich investments advisor with the ultimate in prep style. In their first novel, the two white collar crime fighters try to help their client negotiate an unprecedented rookie contract while trying to uncover the mystery of what happened to his co ed girlfriend. Definitely worth a read.
—Jgoldlbc
