Drop Shot is the second book by Harlan Coben featuring the character of Myron Bolitar.  Myron was once a promising basketball star before he blew out his knee.  Now he’s a sports agent, with a pretty small operation compared to some of the big boys out there.  Although you don’t need to read the first book to really grasp what’s going on in Drop Shot, it helps with some of the back-story to certain ongoing characters.

Where Deal Breaker centered on football, in Drop Shot Myron is at the U.S. Open with Duane Richwood, a client who’s on track to win the Open and cement some huge endorsement deals.  One-time up-and-coming tennis star Valerie Simpson has been trying to talk to Myron about representing her, and ends up murdered at the Open while Duane is competing.  The police look at Duane as a possible suspect, although his alibi seems air-tight.  She was also friends with Windsor “Win” Horne Lockwood III, Myron’s best friend and landlord.  Well, landlord for his business. Myron lives in his parent’s basement.

Myron begins looking into the murder himself, as something doesn’t seem to sit quite right.  It brings him against a mob-run sports agency and some old nemesis as well as into murder cases from six years before that might have a bearing on what’s happening now.

Myron Bolitar is a fun character.  He’s sarcastic with just about everyone, from the police to the mob hit-men sent out after him.  It’s fun to watch him go into a situation and wonder just how he’s going to handle it.  He’s not suave and cool and makes many missteps along the way, engaging the wrath of the mob and an old enemy.  It’s when his girlfriend Jessica is threatened that he seems to stop regarding everything as a joke and take it a little more seriously, as does Win.

I liked the development of Win in Drop Shot.  He seemed to get a little more depth as I learned about a side of him that showed a loyalty and caring to all of his friends, not just Myron, although he holds a lot close to the vest.

The mystery here is good, although I figured out part of it early on.  Still, the whole truth wasn’t obvious and some of the conclusion did surprise me.  Myron seems to have a tendency to shoot himself in the foot in regard to clients who have the potential to make him a fortune and he ends up throwing it away.  At the same time, again he demonstrates that he cares for them way beyond just the dollars he’ll get as their agent.

Drop Shot is fast-paced and fun.  It’s not a terribly difficult read, but there’s a good mixture of humor and drama that works quite well.  The recurring characters grow and the new characters are sufficiently developed that they add to the story and I found myself caring about them.  All in all, this was a good read and a great follow-up to the first book in the series.

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