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A review by weaselweader
Drop Shot by Harlan Coben
4.0
Harlan Coben serves up an ace!
Pop quiz! What do Agatha Christie’s Jane Marple, Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles, David Baldacci’s Camel Club, James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club and Dorothy L Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey have in common? The answer, of course, is that despite being regular folks (if, admittedly, somewhat quirky and off-the-wall, one and all) they seem to find themselves, unlike you and me thankfully, constantly embroiled in crimes and skullduggery. What’s more, they take it upon themselves to sidestep, out-think, supplant, obstruct and generally upstage the legitimate constabulary by showing them up and solving the crimes they so frequently encounter in grand and brilliant fashion!
Myron Bolitar, Harlan Coben’s addition to that rather crowded genre, who successfully debuted in Deal Breaker makes a crowd-pleasing curtain call in the second novel in the series, Drop Shot. Anyone who has ever read anything in that “amateur sleuth” genre is well aware that the story itself, while obviously important, is only half the deal. The other half rests on dialogue, atmosphere and character development and back story. Myron Bolitar is no exception and Harlan Coben has done a great job in creating an exceptionally interesting persona – a skilled, dare I say lethal, martial artist; a talented athlete selected to enter the NBA in the first draft who suffered a career ending injury in a pre-season game; an intelligent, social animal who has turned those skills and his love of sports into a small but profitable sports representation agency; a tall, handsome and lucky fellow who is madly in love with his gorgeous, libidinous girlfriend but who, like all of us, worries about how to keep her; and, like Nelson DeMille’s John Corey, a man with a never-ending well of sarcasm, jokes or biting wit guaranteed to get under the skin of those at whom he directs it.
The Drop Shot story is certainly there and it is well done. The leading light in Bolitar’s stable of stars is on center court at the US Tennis Open when a former star is murder in cold blood outside the stadium. Bolitar discovers a connection between his client, the murder victim and another murder that had taken place over six years earlier. The game, as Sherlock would say, was afoot!
Despite its having been written as long ago as 1996, Drop Shot gets extra points in my book for being prescient in its observations about a problem that is widespread in the world of today’s sports, both professional and amateur. To mention the nature of that problem would constitute an unwarranted spoiler so I’ll refrain. But I will go so far as to say that it makes a thought-provoking addition to a mystery that is already well worth your time and attention if you’re a lover of the amateur sleuth genre.
Paul Weiss
Pop quiz! What do Agatha Christie’s Jane Marple, Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles, David Baldacci’s Camel Club, James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club and Dorothy L Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey have in common? The answer, of course, is that despite being regular folks (if, admittedly, somewhat quirky and off-the-wall, one and all) they seem to find themselves, unlike you and me thankfully, constantly embroiled in crimes and skullduggery. What’s more, they take it upon themselves to sidestep, out-think, supplant, obstruct and generally upstage the legitimate constabulary by showing them up and solving the crimes they so frequently encounter in grand and brilliant fashion!
Myron Bolitar, Harlan Coben’s addition to that rather crowded genre, who successfully debuted in Deal Breaker makes a crowd-pleasing curtain call in the second novel in the series, Drop Shot. Anyone who has ever read anything in that “amateur sleuth” genre is well aware that the story itself, while obviously important, is only half the deal. The other half rests on dialogue, atmosphere and character development and back story. Myron Bolitar is no exception and Harlan Coben has done a great job in creating an exceptionally interesting persona – a skilled, dare I say lethal, martial artist; a talented athlete selected to enter the NBA in the first draft who suffered a career ending injury in a pre-season game; an intelligent, social animal who has turned those skills and his love of sports into a small but profitable sports representation agency; a tall, handsome and lucky fellow who is madly in love with his gorgeous, libidinous girlfriend but who, like all of us, worries about how to keep her; and, like Nelson DeMille’s John Corey, a man with a never-ending well of sarcasm, jokes or biting wit guaranteed to get under the skin of those at whom he directs it.
The Drop Shot story is certainly there and it is well done. The leading light in Bolitar’s stable of stars is on center court at the US Tennis Open when a former star is murder in cold blood outside the stadium. Bolitar discovers a connection between his client, the murder victim and another murder that had taken place over six years earlier. The game, as Sherlock would say, was afoot!
Despite its having been written as long ago as 1996, Drop Shot gets extra points in my book for being prescient in its observations about a problem that is widespread in the world of today’s sports, both professional and amateur. To mention the nature of that problem would constitute an unwarranted spoiler so I’ll refrain. But I will go so far as to say that it makes a thought-provoking addition to a mystery that is already well worth your time and attention if you’re a lover of the amateur sleuth genre.
Paul Weiss