Drop Shot

Author: Harlan Coben
Genre: Suspense
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 310
Series: #2 in the Myron Bolitar series
Source: Public Library
Publisher: Delacorte Press
First Published: 1996
First Line: "Cesar Romero," Myron said."

Book Description from GoodReads:  Valerie Simpson is a young female tennis star with a troubled past whose now on the verge of a comeback and wants Myron as her agent. Myron, who's also got the hottest young male tennis star, Duane Richwood, primed to take his first grand slam tournament, couldn't be happier. That is, until Valerie is murdered in broad daylight at the U.S. Open and Myron's number one client becomes the number one suspect.

Clearing Duane's name should be easy enough. Duane was playing in a match at the time of Valerie's death. But why is his phone number in Valerie's black book when he claims only to have known her in passing? Why was she calling him from a phone booth on the street? The police stop caring once they pin the murder on a man known for having stalked Valerie and seen talking to her moments before the murder. But Myron isn't satisfied. It seems too clean for him.

Myron pries a bit and finds himself prying open the past where six years before, Valerie's fiancee, the son of a senator, was brutally murdered by a juvenile delinquent and a straight-A student was subsequently gunned down on the street in retaliation, his death squandered in bureaucratic files. And everyone from the Senator to the mob want Myron to stop digging.

The truth beneath the truth is not only dangerous, it's deadly. And Myron may be the next victim.

In novels that crackle with wit and suspense, Edgar Award winner Harlan Coben has created one of the most fascinating and complex heroes in suspense fiction--Myron Bolitar--a hotheaded, tenderhearted sports agent who grows more and more engaging and unpredictable with each page-turning appearance.
My Review:  By my quick calculation this is the sixth Harlan Coben book that I've read over the years.  His Myron Bolitar series is by far my favourite from this highly touted author of suspense and what makes this series stand out are the characters, specifically Myron and his cohort, Win and Esperanza, his unique office manager.

Myron is a former professional basketball player whose career was cut short by an injury.  He now runs his own agency representing sports stars and seems to have a penchant for solving crimes too.  If you are not a self-proclaimed sports aficionado (like myself) don't fear, the sports settings and jargon aren't overused.
Admittedly I've read a few books in this series out of order (which I typically don't do) and the one thing that I've noticed is that in Drop Shot Win isn't quite as funny or as dangerous as he is portrayed in future books nor is Esperanza used as much as I would have hoped.  It's these relationships that make this series for me.  The connection between Win and Myron is very unique.  I love the psychopathic personality of Win juxtaposed against 'Moral Myron' who can't bring himself to do the things that he uses Win for.  It's a good (if sometimes creepy) mix that I haven't seen in suspense reads before. 

So far I've read Deal Breaker as well as Promise Me from this series and Promise Me has been my favourite.  By the eighth book (or possibly sooner since I haven't read books 2-7) Coben has his characters more fleshed out and the sardonic humour is at an all-time high which I really enjoyed.  So at least I know that there is character development in the future of the series.

Drop Shot was a solid, slightly predictable, mystery with a decent twist at the end but while this was a quick read I can't help but feel that this wasn't my favourite Coben book in this series

My Rating: 3/5 stars