Customer Reviews

Deal Breaker (Myron Bolitar Mysteries)

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

You have to read the book to get the humor in my review title...

The first in the "Myron Bolitar" series, DEAL BREAKER is the perfect start. Bolitar, a college basketball star turned sports' agent,... has just landed his best prospect, rookie quarterback, Christian Steele. While negotiating his contract, Christian gets a phone call from his assumed-to-be-dead fiance... Throw in a mob contract on Myron's head, and you have one entertaining read.

The storyline is forever twisting, but Coben never suspends reality. The plot is always believable and never farfetched. Each character is incredibly well-developed, and the group meshes together quite well. This first book serves to introduce this wonderful cast of people that will be in other "Bolitar" books.

What makes Coben's books so enjoyable is the dialogue between the characters. Myron is incredibly witty, and he clearly rubs off on all the other characters in the book. It adds a much greater human element to the novel, which allows the cogent storyline to develop exceptionally well, and keep the reader forever guessing.

This is an excellent book that was truly hard to put down. The writing is sensational, and it is quite clear that Coben puts a lot of thought into each storyline. The suspense, alone, is great, making the book that much better.

This is the 1st Myron Bolitar book I read, and beyond my satisfaction, this is a superb book. Not only it offers sufficient twist and suspense to the end of the book, the characterization, humour, romance are perfectly blended in a page turner. It is sometimes shock, sometimes hilarious, sometimes violent and sometimes sexy. Absolutely highly recommended and one of the best in the genre.

I am now having a new series of books waiting for me to read, together with Alex Cross and Lincoln Rhyme and Harry Bosch series.

The first book in Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar novels, DEAL BREAKER is a great example of everything one could possibly want with a mystery novel. Unlike many less accomplished mystery authors, it is obvious that Coben actually works backwards, so that readers are given a plot that actually makes sense, whereas some authors convey the feeling that the culprit was merely selected out of a hat. Coben's Edgar Award winning writing is top notch. Moving from more serious subjects to the tongue-in-cheek "Myronisms," Coben is an incredibly versatile author.

Myron Bolitar is a star college basketball player turned Fed turned sports agent who has just landed his first big client, top rookie prospect quarterback Christian Steele. Everything is going fine until Kathy, his 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. DEAL BREAKER introduces the incredibly diverse cast that makes up Myron's world. From Myron, to the egotistical, elitist Win, to the beautiful ex-wrestler Esperanza, to fiery writer Jessica Culver, Coben's cast of characters is completely three-dimensional.

With excellent plot, characters, romance, and humor, DEAL BREAKER is one of the best mystery novels out there today.

Harlan Coben is a good writer - today. But this book was pulled from the back shelf of his closet where it had accumulated a decade of dust. It displays how far the author has come. His new book "The Woods" is a thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing read for the same reasons that "Deal Breaker" is not.

When you read any book of fiction you go in understanding that this did not happen. So what is it that sells you? The plot? No, it's the characters that do the selling job. "Deal Breaker" lacks the full development of the characters. Admittedly they do have different characteristics but it is a bit simplistically laid out as though we might fill in the missing details.

His hero is a wise cracking plastic observer of life throwing off cutsie one sentence life observations that do not advance the story but is presented in a feeble attempt to flesh out the character. Too bad, because his main man Myron has a very interesting job as a sports agent and here was a chance to give us a look into a profession that is fascinating in real life. But here there are no insights, no education as to the process of representation and no pros and cons regarding the salary worthiness of athletes.

Other characters coming into contact with our hero also catch the disease. They too can't resist their own wise guy attitude. The cast in this book cried out for individuality. I personally was too lazy to finish the further development of these characters.

The plot? Ok, that was thought out and executed in an organized and logical manner with the author giving the reader an honest opportunity to play along and ascertain the guilty.

Read Mr Coben's more recent novels. He has come a long way.

Like many Amazonians I am a voracious reader. So much so that I don't always remember the titles from the books I have read . OK perhaps I am forgetful as well. But I really hate when publishers and Amazon tout an old book as new. This is done more and more in the industry and I certainly understand the practice from a revenue maximization strategy. From the readers point of view it is often infuriating however to buy a book and later realize that one succumbed to the "new release" hyperbole and had in factread the book years ago.

Great book. I am a huge Coben and Bolitar fan ..... but please give us the dates of publication honestly.

I have never been much of a fan of what I call "gimmick" mysteries, the type which has murders solved by people who have no business being around that much crime: little old ladies, chefs, etc. It's plausible enough that a cop or private eye (or maybe reporter or lawyer) would have to deal with murder on a regular basis, but when it happens to rabbis, cat owners or medieval monks, it stretches credibility. It's a gimmick, a contrivance that lures people into reading the books. That being said, even a gimmick mystery series, in the hands of a capable author, can be quite entertaining. Harlan Coben's tales of sports agent Myron Bolitar certainly fits into that category.

Why does this series work well? First of all, because Coben is a good writer. Second, Coben seems to fully realize how contrived these gimmick stories are, and therefore allows a certain level of absurdity and humor, in particular with the supporting characters: Esperanza, Myron's secretary who was once a wrestler known as Little Pocohontas, and Win, Myron's best friend who happens to be a sociopath. These outlandish characters remind the reader that the story should not be taken TOO seriously. On the other hand, we also get genuine suspense and some rather vicious criminals so we can't take the tales too lightly either.

Deal Breaker is the first in the Bolitar series. In it, Myron is busy trying to sign college star Christian Steele to a contract with an NFL team. Steele is himself squeaky clean, but he is haunted by his girlfriend Kathy Culver who disappeared years earlier and is presumed dead. Steele, therefore, is quite jarred when he receives a porn magazine in the mail, with Kathy's picture in an ad; he goes to Myron who investigates.

Delving into the past also involves Myron with Kathy's sister, Jessica, who is his ex-lover. Between Myron and Jessica they unearth Kathy's secret life that may have led to her death while renewing the sparks between them. Myron has other things to contend with as well, including a rival sports agent who has some nasty mob connections. Fortunately, Win is in his corner, and Win never loses a fight; in fact, it is a source of amusement for Win to provoke fights with vicious low-lifes and then either kill or cripple them (as stated before, Win is a bit of a sociopath, albeit an entertaining one).

This early Coben novel may be the weakest in the Bolitar series and it is still great fun and worthy of five stars. For a wonderful blend of the comic novel and the thriller, this book fits the bill.

The first in the Bolitar series of novels is a good introduction to the character and to those around him in the world of the celebrity sports agent. A former NBA and college star, Bolitar's career is cut short by injury and leaves him looking for atheletes to represent in the rather cut throat world (no pun intended) of the sports agent.

His biggest catch so far is Christian Steele, an All American quarterback with outstanding NFL potential who has been drafted by the NY Titans.

The book weaves through the problems of negotiating Steele's contract and the mystery of the disappearance of his college sweetheart under suspicious circumstances and much of the book is given to resolving the questions of her disappearance and whether she is dead or alive.

The story has all the necessary ingredients to make entertaining reading; top flight dialogue, a rather intricate plot, sex, violence, humor and tragedy. Add to that, the fact that Harlen Coben knows how to blend these elements as well as any mystery writer and you have a very succesful first effort which will keep you turning the pages until all is revealed.

This is the first of the Myron Bolitar books, and as original as you would expect it to be. Who else would name their main character Myron, even he doesn't like the name. He spends almost as much time complaining about his name as he does making wisecracks at just about everything else.

Myron is the ultimate in doing the best you can with what is your godgiven talents. Originally a basketball wiz in New Jersey and then a national championship winner at Duke, he's drafted by the Celtics but damages a knee at a rookie practice and never plays again. He joins the FBI, and with his college roomate gets involved in many black-ops that we are never told about (hopefully in some later prequels). They leave under unexplained reasons and Myron decides to become a sports agent (did I mention he also went to law school).

He's currently negotiating a contract for his first superstar client, an heisman award winning quarterback (Christian Steele, who may have a uncle named Remington and looks like Pierce Brosnan). One day Christian receives a sleezy magazine with a naked picture of his missing (over one year) cheerleader girlfriend. Said girlfriend is the little sister of Myron's old squeeze from back in college.

Well the set-up is great, and so is the action, especially trying to follow the smartleck comments and destruction of overmuscled pin-heads and killers. It's a great ride, so fasten your seat belt and pray the air bag on your side works.

I recently discovered Coben with One False Move, which was so good I promptly picked up the rest of the series. And Deal Breaker is just as good if not better. A fast pace, exciting and twisting plot, hillarious wit, and intriguing characters make for a fantastic read. Myron is a great lead character, and Win is the perfect sociopathic sidekick. The sleazy bad guys are great too. Deal Breaker is an outstanding mystery that will also leave you laughing out loud at times. My only concern is what I'll do when I have finished the whole series. I can't wait for the newest installment.

Harlan Coben introduces sports agent, lawyer, sleuth, and thirty-something, ex-jock Myron Bolitar in this fast-moving mystery. His supporting cast primarily consists of his office manager, a Latino female ex-pro wrestler, and Win, an upper-crust blue-blood whose blond, wholesome looks hides a lethal mean streak.

The book starts simply enough: Myron is negotiating a first contract with a pro football team for a prized college quarterback. But a call to the quarterback supposedly from an old girlfriend who disappeared under mysterious circumstances a couple of years earlier starts a rapid-fire series of events that leads into the crime world, pornography, and academia.

The book's strength is the rapid pace of events that keeps the reader just enough off balance to maintain interest. One could not say that the book is from the school of realism. The characters are quickly drawn with exaggerated features, be they beauty, acumen, meanness, etc. Broader culture insights are minimally drawn. But that is not what this book is about.

The book is a good start in a series of Myron Bolitar mysteries. For entertaining, quick reads I will look to the next books in the series.