Review-Back Spin

Back Spin by Harlan Coben
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this installment of the Myron Bolitar series, Myron sets out to find the kidnapped son of a famous golfer, who is currently leading a major golf tournament.

I'm sure I've said this about some of the previous books in this series, but this one is so far my favorite.  The mystery was very straight forward and easy to follow, but had lots of twists and turns along the way to keep me on the edge of my seat.  I also liked how we were able to delve a bit more into Win's back story and get to know him better.

Can't wait to read the next in the series.


View all my reviews

Source: Library

Challenges: Outdo Yourself Challenge, Support Your Local Library Challenge, 2012 Mystery and Suspense Challenge

Review-Fade Away

Fade Away by Harlan Coben

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the Myron Bolitar series, so I knew I would like this one also. It started off promisingly: Myron is hired by an NBA team to not only find their missing star player, but to also join the team as a player to help him get the inside info from his other teammates. The missing player, Greg, was once an old friend/playing rival of Myron's, until of course Myron's playing career was ended when he was injured during a game.

I'm not a sports fan at all, but the only sport I can tolerate watching is basketball (and Tiger Woods playing golf) so I was glad to see this one center on basketball. I really felt for Myron as he struggled with getting back into the playing groove again.

I do have to admit the story did drag a bit in the middle and I honestly wasn't too interested in the mystery aspect, simply because I was more interested in how Myron would deal with playing ball again. But the ending was really good and shocking and kept me on the edge of my seat. I definitely recommend.





View all my reviews

Source: Library
Challenges: Outdo Yourself, Support Your Local Library, 2012 Mystery and Suspense

Series Sunday Review (2): Drop Shot

Series Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews.

1. Read an installment of a series.
2. Post a review/recommendation on your blog, FB, Twitter, Goodreads, or Shelfari pages.
3. Share your review/recommendation by posting the link in the comments section below.
4. Include the title, author, and name of the series so that other Series Sunday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

My Series Sunday pick for this week is Drop Shot, the second book in the Myron Bolitar series.
Drop Shot by Harlan Coben

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Valerie Simpson is a young female tennis star with a troubled past who's 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.

I liked the first book in the Myron Bolitar series, but I loved this one! Harlan Coben seems to be more comfortable with his characters and they all really shined in this story. I also liked the mystery better in this one, it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. I was way off on who I thought the murderer was, but once I found out who actually did it, it made sense.

The humor in this book came a lot more naturally than it did in the first book. I really like Myron, he seems like a sweet, smart guy, although I wish he would start carrying a gun with him. At least he's always got his best friend Win to have his back.

I'm still a little iffy on the relationship between Myron and Jessica, although I did find them to be really sweet together in this book. I hope she doesn't hurt him again, although it seems like that's probably going to happen.

A solid five stars for this one, and I can't wait to read the next one in the series (which will be whenever it is available at my library).



View all my reviews

Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge
Source: Library

Review-Deal Breaker

Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben

My rating: 4 of 5 stars






View all my reviews

This book was recommended by the lovely Literary Marie, and she describes the main character as Alex Cross meets Stephanie Plum. I haven't read an Alex Cross book in years, but from what I remember he was pretty cool, and of course Stephanie is AWESOME, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with checking this one out.

Myron is definitely very witty and charming, and I'd love for him to solve any case of mine. He's way more competent than Stephanie, but not quite as funny, but he's still cool. Just like in the Plum books, I liked the supporting cast as well: Myron's best friend Win, his assistant Esmerelda, and the police officer Jake. I wasn't a big fan of Myron's love interest, Jessica, at first, but she did grow on me.

The mystery (Myron sets out to find the missing girlfriend of his new client, whom everyone thought had been killed, but is now sending out pics of herself in a porn magazine) was intriguing and had lots of twists and turns. The killer was a surprise to me, because I really liked the character and didn't think of him/her as the possible killer or even a suspect at all, and was really hoping I'd see more of him/her in another book!

I did think there were parts that seemed a little forced and that Mr. Coben was trying too hard to be funny, but they were few and far between. I definitely enjoyed this read and I look forward to reading more about Myron Bolitar.

Source: purchased
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year, Mystery and Suspense Challenge