Friday, July 10, 2009

An Unreasonable Attachment




I'm not a sports fan.

I was out of college before I understood what 'downs' were in football. In spite of being surrounded by hard-core Carolina basketball fans, I've never learned to appreciate the strategy and beauty that I'm told are part of the game. And golf?

As if.

So why am I totally enamored with Harlan Coben's suspense/thriller series about Myron Bolitar, a sports agent, all of whose clients are (obviously) athletes ?

Probably because Coben manages to be both extremely funny and extremely serious. Bad things happen and Coben makes us care -- while the indomitable Myron Bolitar with his tender side and his smart ass humor is a guy after my own heart -- in spite of the sports thing.

And then, even more improbably, I am completely fascinated by Myron's sidekick, Win (that would be Windsor Horne Lockwood III,) the psychotic preppie. Oh my, this is quite a fella -- but as the series develops, we find out the reasons for his . . . quirks.

As I've mentioned before, when I'm writing I still have to read -- with breakfast, with lunch, in the bath, before falling asleep -- and I tend to pick up books I've already read so I don't race through to find out what happened.

I've been re-reading my own Signs in the Blood, just to remind myself of what I've said previously (after four years some of it is a bit hazy.) But the other night, I felt in the mood for something different and picked up Back Spin which I've already read a couple of times -- and I'm hooked all over again.









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10 comments:

Pat in east TN said...

I have read several of Coben's books, but never the ones you mentioned ... guess there will be more added to my TBR pile!

Vicki Lane said...

Morning, Pat! Coben's standalones are terrific but it's Myron (and Win) that have my heart.

We are getting almost daily rain -- and heavenly cool temps! It's kinda surreal. . .

Tammy said...

I haven't read any of Harlan Coben's books. I'm like you in not having a sports attraction. (At work, I frequently zone out as sports talk swirls around me...) I might try one of his though if I find one at the used book store/yard sales. I love your new blog header though. What a priceless photo. It's warm here and got dry really quickly. This morning it's cloudy and rained like the dickens here at work, but not sure if we got any at home, as it looked like it was moving more north. Hope we did. Enjoy your cool temps! Something really special about that, when it happens in the dead of summer.
Tammy

Carol Murdock said...

Hey, Vicki, you know I'm a big NFL fan and I happen to know a real life sports agent here in H'burg, so this really does get my attention. At the moment though I'm getting ready to delve into several titles of Elizabeth Goudge as my grans are coming for a week and Nana reads to them!
Things are wetter and cooler here also! YEAH!

Carol Murdock said...

I forget to say....LOVE the new header!

Vicki Lane said...

Hey, Tammy, That's Miss Susie Hutchins in the window and the amorphous blob on the table below her is Eddie.

There's not actually too much about sports in here -- kind of background noise to the personalities and problems of the characters. And Myron is such a sweet, likeable guy!

Hey Carol -- I'm a huge fan of Elizabeth Goudge's adult stuff -- don't really know much about the children's books.

Victoria said...

I am a huge fan of college football and basketball, but not so much with the pro teams. I haven't read any of Coben's books though, I'll have to check them out.

I agree with you on golf. Of course, my opinion of golf might be colored by the single golf lesson I took which didn't go so well. In fact, it was a disaster, but that's a story for some other time.

I can't remember if I told you or not, but I love your new header!

Vicki Lane said...

Glad you like the header, Victoria. I realize that after long enough, one stops seeing things. So it was time for a change.

The sports gene was omitted from my DNA -- participating or watching. Except for ping pong -- I was pretty good at that long ago. But anything at a competitive level -- no way.

BwcaBrownie said...

1. The header is gorgeous.

2. I just discovered Harlan Coben, and got here by a Myron Bolitar Blogsearch.
A friend gave me Promise Me and I could not put it down, and went looking for more. I dont recall any sort in it, just a thrilling page-turner with no profanity or descriptions of sex ( a bonus when you need a gift for booky aunts).

3. re the Win III character:
I love these all-powerful sidekicks, who fill in the gaps in Our Hero's talents.
Robert B Parker's Spenser has the fabulous HAWKE in the Win III role; and Carl Hiaasen's hero has that Crazy Congressman who BBQs poodles n stuff.

keep reading everybody!

Vicki Lane said...

Thanks for stopping by, Bwca Brownie-- and thanks for the reading suggestions! (Isn't Blogsearch wonderful!)