One false move

Brenda Slaughter may be the greatest female basketball player ever, and sports agent Myron Bolitar takes Brenda under his wing. Bolitar's ability to hone his basketball skills as a young man was made possible by Brenda's father, Horace, who acted as the white Bolitar's guardian angel on the very hostile inner-city playgrounds. Bolitar and Brenda forge a business relationship, and the first order of business is finding Horace. The trail Horace left is troubling because it contains hints of a 20-year-old scandal that left the wife of current gubernatorial candidate Arthur Bradford dead. The fifth Bolitar mystery--and the first in hardcover--continues the series' realistic portrayal of the contemporary sports world while dishing up a bit of murder and mayhem. Bolitar is a solid protagonist who is plenty tough but also smart enough to accept his shortcomings. If you haven't been including the Bolitar paperbacks in your mystery collection, this is a good place to start. --Wes Lukowsky

Series sports agent Myron Bolitar handles everything with panache: his relationships, his clients, and this search for two missing people. When a sports store mogul asks him to "watch over" basketball star Brenda Slaughter, Myron winds up looking for her father, who disappeared a week ago, and her mother, who deserted the family some 20 years earlier. Myron not only discovers mob interest in female basketball but also a connected suspicious death in a high-profile political family. Standard plotting, then, but authentic conversation, colorful characters, and exciting New York and New Jersey surrounds more than compensate. Strongly recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/98.] (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Fast-talking sports agent Myron Bolitar won't win any awards for baseball (since his Little League brushback) or basketball (thanks to his bum knee), but his paperback detective work has already won him an Anthony, a Shamus, and an Edgar. His hardcover debut dangles an appealing potential client in front of him--Brenda Slaughter, basketball star of the New York Dolphins--but there's a catch: Before he can sign her, he has to protect her from the threats she's been getting, and maybe even track down her missing parents (Dad's been gone a week, Mom 20 years). What could anybody have against Brenda--unless it's the mobsters who want to press her into defecting to a rival women's league, or the wealthy and well-connected Arthur Bradford, the gubernatorial candidate determined to keep the truth about his wife's ancient suicide under wraps, or all the New Jersey cops who are either on Bradford's payroll or would like to be? Undaunted, Myron and his Spenser-inspired entourage--his bisexual assistant Esperanza Diaz, his financial-planning associate Windsor Home Lockwood III (who, despite his blond complexion, probably shaves in front of a photo of Spenser's buddy Hawk), and his ex-wrestler temp Big Cyndi, who doesn't like to be called just Cyndi--take on every soul in New Jersey with a gun, a bank account, and a bad attitude, and uncover a satisfyingly complex tangle of skullduggery. Could Myron, who pushes his wisecracking charm hard, be any more tough and adorable? It'll be a pleasure waiting for the next installment to find out. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Brenda Slaughter may be the greatest female basketball player ever, and sports agent Myron Bolitar takes Brenda under his wing. Bolitar's ability to hone his basketball skills as a young man was made possible by Brenda's father, Horace, who acted as the white Bolitar's guardian angel on the very hostile inner-city playgrounds. Bolitar and Brenda forge a business relationship, and the first order of business is finding Horace. The trail Horace left is troubling because it contains hints of a 20-year-old scandal that left the wife of current gubernatorial candidate Arthur Bradford dead. The fifth Bolitar mystery--and the first in hardcover--continues the series' realistic portrayal of the contemporary sports world while dishing up a bit of murder and mayhem. Bolitar is a solid protagonist who is plenty tough but also smart enough to accept his shortcomings. If you haven't been including the Bolitar paperbacks in your mystery collection, this is a good place to start. ((Reviewed May 15, 1998)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews

Edgar and Shamus Award winner Coben breaks into hardcover with a new Myron Bolitar mystery. Here, Bolitar must protect the star of a women's basketball team. Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information.

Series sports agent Myron Bolitar handles everything with panache: his relationships, his clients, and this search for two missing people. When a sports store mogul asks him to "watch over" basketball star Brenda Slaughter, Myron winds up looking for her father, who disappeared a week ago, and her mother, who deserted the family some 20 years earlier. Myron not only discovers mob interest in female basketball but also a connected suspicious death in a high-profile political family. Standard plotting, then, but authentic conversation, colorful characters, and exciting New York and New Jersey surrounds more than compensate. Strongly recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/98.] Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information.