Written 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 SportsRep. 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. 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.
So far there are eleven 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)
- Long Lost (2009)
- Live Wire (2011)
- Home (2016)
In addition, Coben has written a trilogy of young adult novels focusing on Myron's teenage nephew Mickey Bolitar: Shelter (2011), Seconds Away (2012), and Found (2014). (Myron appears in all three books as a supporting character.) Furthermore, Win has been featured as the protagonist in his own novel titled Win (2021).
For years there has been talk of making a film or TV adaptation of the Myron Bolitar series, but so far nothing has come of it. However, in 2023, Amazon's Prime Video released Harlan Coben's Shelter adapted from the first Mickey Bolitar book.
In October 2022, it was announced that Netflix (who have produced several adaptations of Coben's work), had obtained the rights to dramatise the Myron Bolitar series.
These novels provide examples of:
- 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 women and 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.
- 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.
- Good Is Not Nice: Win, though there's probably some YMMV on "good". Win's character establishing moment in Long Lost is him referring to a woman as a 'derriere' and not understanding why Myron will not sleep with her. When Myron explains to him he does not want to cheat on his girlfriend (whose son's basketball game they are having this conversation at) Win calls him a girl as an insult.
- 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.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Notable as, according to Myron, every other male character dresses in the most garish colors imaginable.
- Mangst: Myron has moments of this, normally over his ruined basketball career.
- Noodle Incident: Myron and Win both worked for the FBI for several years. What, exactly, they did is never described but it's treated as being difficult and dangerous.
- Preppy Name: Windsor Horne Lockwood III
- Pretty Boy: 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.
- Spin-Off: The Mickey Bolitar trilogy, and Win (2021).
