Wriiten by Harlan Coben, the Myron Bolitar series, tells the story of Myron Bolitar a former Basketball player/FBI... something who now works as as a sports agent for his own company, MB Sports Rep. Thing is he has a knack for picking up clients that get themselves into some serious trouble, and he usually ends playing P.I. for his clients. Luckily he has that Harvard law degree, numerous contacts, and a third-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do to help him out.
Other characters include his best friend Windsor "Win" Horne Lockwood III. He is seriously old money, and fits the prep stereotype to a tee. But don't let appearances fool you, he's a highly trained martial artist and never leaves home without at least three weapons on hand. usually also gives him a hand. Win's moral code tends to be black and white, and he has no qualms about taking out the black. Or anyone who hurts Myron. You really don't want to hurt Myron around Win.
There is also Myron's other best friend Esperanza Diaz, a former pro-wrestler turned law student/master assistant. She is as badass as she sounds, and its likely that without her their business would have collapsed a long time ago. Other characters that pop up include Myron's parents (he still lives with them a good deal of the time, despite being in his thirties) and Jessica Culver, Myron's on and off again girlfriend.
The series is full of sarcastic and snappy dialogue, colorful characters, and frequent squick with the descriptions of the murders and sex. The series is over the top and ridiculously fun, though it does have its serious moments. Expect mood whiplash while reading.
So far there are nine books in the series:
Deal Breaker (1995), Drop Shot (1996), Fade Away (1996), Back Spin (1997), One False Move (1998), The Final Detail (1999), Darkest Fear (2000), Promise Me (2006), and Long Lost (2009).
The tenth book in the series, Live Wire is set to come out in 2011. There has been talk of making a film/TV series version of the Myron Bolitar series for years, but so far nothing has come of it.
= This Series Provides Examples of =[]
- Always Murder
- Bishonen: Win. Myron mentions this at least a few times per book, and once Norm Zuckerman, an old friend of Myron and Win's, stopped in the middle of talking business to snarkily comment on Win's beauty.
- Bluffing the Murderer
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: Everyone.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Myron rarely manages to turn off the snark, even when he's being threatened with limb removal.
- Chick Magnet: Myro, though given that he's a good looking, witty man with a good job, this isn't hard to buy.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Myron gives every women he meets the look over, but he's always respectful of womenand never does or says anything too untoward.
- Combat Pragmatist: Win. Against a fellow human weapon, he used the most famous Indy trick. Oh, and he likes dum-dum.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Win.
- Cultured Badass: Win.
- Embarrassing First Name: Myron, lampshaded frequently.
- Exasperated Perp: Myron's main way of getting information.
- FBI Agent: Myron and Win used to work with the FBI- agents might be stretching it, though.
- Friendship Moment: Myron usually has one with Win and Esperanza per book, if not more.
- Good Is Not Nice: Win, though there's probably some YMMV on "good".
- Heroic Sociopath: Win is an uppity version. Imagine the Lord version of Smith
- Heterosexual Life Partners: Myron and Win, complete with Myron regularly crashing at Win's and them working only a few floors apart. Myron is also the thing that Win seems to love most in the world.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Win.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Notable as, according to Myron, every other male character dresses in the most garish colors imaginable.
- Interdisciplinary Sleuth: Myron, Win, and Esperanza all have shades of this.
- Make It Look Like an Accident
- Mangst: Myron has moments of this, normally over his ruined basketball career.
- Morality Pet: Myron has elements of this for Win.
- Nice Guy: Myron.
- Opposites Attract: Practically all of Myron's relationships are this.
- Preppy Name: Windsor Horne Lockwood III
- Punny Name: What does Win always manage to do?
- Tall, Dark and Handsome: Myron. He's a bit shaky on the dark, but it's close enough.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Win, almost to the point of being a Knight Templar.
- White Gang-Bangers