Finished We 6/21/18
This is one of the paperbacks that I picked up at the last library book sale (fifty cents).
Myron Bolitar- head of 'MBSports Reps'. He's an agent for wealthy sports and entertainment figures.
Windsor Horne Lockwood III (better known as "Win"), and his assistant at MB Reps, Esperanza Diaz make up MBSortsReps. Win is an eccentric, philandering billionaire who frequently gets involved in Myron's cases. Win and Myron have both studied taekwondo in a Korean dojo. In this novel Myron explains that he only recommends that his clients invest their money with Win. He does this because he honestly believes that no investor can do it better, and Win also believes that Myron is the best sports rep on the planet.
Myron's signature drink is the chocolate flavored beverage, Yoo-Hoo.
Win is very odd, yet extremely capable. In this book his 'mother issues' are examined. At the age of eight he witnesses his mother having sex with another man, and Jack Coldren was involved in this encounter. This is why Win will not help Myron on this particular case.
THE PLOT:
The US Open Championship is being played on The Merion Golf Course. This course is adjacent to The Coldrens' home.
Jack and Linda Coldren are both world-class golfers. Thirty years ago Jack lost the title because his caddy, Lloyd Rennart handed him the wrong club and he missed the most important shot of the game. Now, he's playing The Open again, but his teenage son, Chad Coldren has been kidnapped. The Coldrens contact Myron because the kidnappers said no police.
Win is part of the extended Coldren family, but he's cut them off, and will have nothing to do with the case.
During the investigation Myron feels that it's not really a kidnapping, but a ploy to force Jack to lose his title shot.
RESOLUTION:
The ending is fairly complex, but never veers into Agatha Christie territory- 20 possible perps are sloppily introduced and the reader is left to guess 'Whodunit'- based on nothing but Agatha's whim.
The caddy that handed Jack the fateful club thirty years ago, became an alcoholic and killed his wife in a drunk driving accident. His wife was an Asian woman and their daughter survived and this woman, Esme Fong has become a sports representative working for a rival representative firm. Her relationship to the other players is 'the reveal' of the book.
Also, it's revealed that Esme's boss, and long-time associate of Myron's, Norm Zuckerman, is a closeted gay man. He surrounds himself with beautiful women and can't declare his sexuality because he feels it would wreck his career. Jack Coldren is also gay, or bi, and has an affair with Norm.
Esme devised the kidnapping scheme to make Jack lose, and she and her client would reap millions.
Esme doesn't murder Jack, however. He's shot by his wife, Linda.
This novel is similar to Donald E. Westlake's John Dortmunder series in that it is humorous in tone. I like Coben's more serious stuff, but anything by him is worth a look, and I like BACK SPIN very much.
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