Friday, May 08, 2009

Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben

Introduces Myron Bolitar.

Myron Bolitar is a former basketball player who worked briefly (in an undefined capacity) for the FBI before becoming a sports agent. He is also a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. His secretary/ assistant Esperanza is an ex-pro wrestler. Partner and best friend is Win (short for Windsor Horne Lockwood III) who is hard to figure out as Myron keeps refering to Win as the accountant yet he is also a cold-blooded killer who uses dimdims bullets in his gun. He shoots first before even thinking of asking questions. So it was a bit disconcerting when that part of his character was introduced.

Myron has just landed his first big client, top rookie prospect quarterback Christian Steele. Everything is going fine until Kathy, Christian's assumed-to-be-murdered ex-girlfriend, calls him on the phone. It's all downhill from there, as Myron and his associates are thrust into the dark world of the sports business. We see lots of mafia influence and while Myron seems to be in the thick of it himself he is in it for the players.

I enjoyed aspects of this book but other parts were kind of convenient and crazy and I kept saying "What?". I will try the next one to see if we get a bit more depth to the characters as so far all are pretty flat. So at this point I'm pretty ambiviant about this series so far but am willing to read another before I say I like or dislike it.