Deal Maker! (Deal Breaker - Harlan Coben)

Member Name: Vialdana

Product:	Deal Breaker - Harlan Coben
Date:	06/07/09 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice light writing style, good storyline

Disadvantages: Does focus a little more on American sports than I ever imagined I'd be reading about.

I am quite a fan of a decent crime novel, but I do get bored with authors who don't ring the changes, or who stick to writing books which follow a pattern that's too obvious. I have a few authors on my shelf who I really rate in this genre, amongst them, Jeffery Deaver, Michael Connelly, Johathan Kellerman and Harlan Coben.

Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben is the very first book of his series following Myron Bolitar. Myron was a player who made it almost big, an accident scuppered his career however, and he became a sports agent instead. When one of his clients a football star named Christian Steel comes to him with a problem, he starts to turn detective to try and solve the problems, and so becomes Myron Bolitar Private Detective.

This first book paints a portrait of Myron and his friends and colleagues in a really nice way, you get a great feel for the relationships that he has with some of them from Win his best friend who's - well he's a business man who likes money and women a lot more than he likes business, he is very wealthy, and a bit psychotic really. He's the hard man of the book I guess, but the character is written in such a way that you sort of aren't sure quite what to make of Win, and you sort of get the feeling that most people underestimate him. Then there's Esperanza - she's Myron's PA and good friend to both him and Win. She's also a big woman who used to be one half of a professional women's wrestling team. Then there's Jessica, she's Myron's ex, but there's still something there between them, and you sort of get this feeling in this book that there's more that we're going to learn about them in the future.

The story is quite well written and progresses in a way that's pretty believable, Christian's girlfriend Kathy (Jessica's sister) went missing 18mths before the book starts and is presumed dead by everyone including the police, but then a phone call from her, and Christian receiving a dirty magazine with a picture on the front which has Kathy in it makes people realise that things may not be quite what they seem. Both Christian and Jessica want Myron to look into things and so he does. I liked that Coben didn't give too much information directly about anyone in the book, and yet the way it's written you really learn a lot. Myron's fights with some thugs show us he can protect himself, and the story twists and turns in a really easy to read way. It's not so heavy on the detective stuff that you feel Myron is overdrawn, in fact if anything, it's his happy go lucky, slight naivety that helps it feel more real, that and little things like Esperanza getting cross with him for neglecting his business a bit too much, and Win trying to stop him getting in too deep.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away as this really was a good read, but if you're not comfortable with the idea of someone appearing on a sex magazine cover, then you probably don't want to read this as it does look into the sex industry, though I have to say there isn't anything really graphic in there. There is also some violence involved, and as Coben paints pictures with words quite well, if you're imagination is good you'll probably find yourself wincing once or twice too. I very much enjoyed the book, and reading it was my first introduction to Coben's writing and Myron's detecting, it certainly hasn't been the last and my bookshelves now have all Coben's fiction works adorning them now. I wouldn't say it's his best work overall, but it's pretty good, and as the first in the Myron Bolitar series, I'd say it's a pretty good place to start if you're thinking of reading a Coben book. I don't think this book is going to win awards particularly, but as crime fiction goes it's definitely up there amongst the best authors I've read who are still writing today.

Summary: Excellent crime writing with a nice light style that leads you through twists & turns & draws you in