Crushing On Myron Bolitar

My daughter and are crushing on Myron Bolitar and his buddy Windsor Horne Lockwood III, better known as Win. There’s only one problem: Myron and Win are fictional creations from the brain of Harlan Coben. Actually, I guess that’s a good thing since I’m happily married.

Like any crush, this goes back to a love at first sight experience though I guess love at first reading would be a better description. I had purchased Long Lost, what was then the latest Myron Bolitar mystery, and promptly devoured it.

What can you say about characters that just leap off the page and a mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end? You say: “I’ve got to have more!” Then you start searching bookstores or Amazon if you don’t have time to get to the nearest bookstore. Because of our frequent reading and listening to these books, that's why I dubbed last summer as The Summer of Myron Bolitar.

The next Myron Bolitar mystery I got was the audio book version of Long Lost, performed by Steven Weber of Wings fame. He’s a consummate actor on screen who did a good job with the voice performance. I thought my daughter would enjoy listening to it as we made treks to her various doctor appointments. She liked it so much that we listened to it again as we traveled to our house in the Hill Country. So did I. In fact, I immediately visited Mr. Coben’s website and made a list of the other books in the series.

The Myron Bolitar Series

Deal Breaker, book 1, nominated for an Edgar® and the Anthony® which it won.

Drop Shot, 2nd Myron Bolitar Novel.

Fade Away, 3rd Myron Bolitar Novel which finally won the Edgar®.

Back Spin, 4th Myron Bolitar Novel.

One False Move, 5th Myron Bolitar Novel.

The Final Detail, 6th Myron Bolitar Novel.

Darkest Fear, 7th Myron Bolitar Novel.

Promise Me, book 8.

Long Lost, book 9.

Live Wire, book 10, out a few months ago.

Then I paid a visit to Amazon, my usual place to drop lots of bucks, and went crazy. I ordered books 1 – 4 on audio. Every weekend as we traveled to the Hill Country, we listed to the Myron Bolitar audio books. I was amazed that I couldn't figure out whodunnit until the end of each book. I’m always surprised, but when you look at the story in its entirety, it makes sense and isn’t something pulled out of left field.

I discovered that Books 1 through 7 are performed by the amazing Jonathan Marosz. He shines and makes one wonder why he wasn’t contracted to perform the rest of the books. Mr. Marosz counts on his resume performances in regional national theater from Shakespeare to contemporary works. He is simply astounding as an audio book performer.

To my regret, I haven't had the chance to read Live Wire yet. I keep threatening to buy the audio version of it also yet Mr. Marosz spoils one for a performance of a Myron Bolitar novel by anyone else.

Takeaway Truth

If you want humor, gripping mystery, and characters that come alive, run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore and get a Myron Bolitar Novel. Whether you get print, digital, or audio, you’ll not be disappointed.