Review of "Home: A Myron Bolitar Mystery" by Harlan Coben

In this 11th book in the 'Myron Bolitar'series, Myron and Windsor Horne Lockwood III (Win) are back on the job - determined to rescue two missing boys. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

For those not familiar with the Myron Bolitar books:
Myron was a college basketball star who was injured before his first NBA game. So Myron went to law school and became a sports rep and unofficial private detective. Myron is a great guy who loves his parents, treats his girlfriends well, and feels compelled to help people.



Win is a rich, handsome, expensively-dressed, well-coifed, blonde playboy. To look at him you'd never know Win's a sociopath - ready and willing to use all manner of weapons, martial arts, explosives, and other means of destruction when he deems it necessary. Win is super-protective of his friends (like Myron), but you'd never want to get on his bad side, as he'd kill you in a millisecond.



The story: Ten years ago a playdate ended in disaster. Two six-year-old boys - Patrick Moore and Rhys Baldwin - were kidnapped from Patrick's home, never to be seen or heard from again....until now. As the book opens, Win - who's been 'underground' for a year - gets an anonymous email with information about where to find the boys, who are working as prostitutes in London.



Win is especially invested in the case because Rhys is his cousin.



Win's first rescue attempt goes south, so he calls Myron for help. Myron flies to London and meets up with an unsavory character called Fat Gandhi - a computer gamer who also runs a child prostitute ring.




Fat Gandhi claims Patrick and Rhys work for him, but he'll release them for a ransom. Win and Myron don't trust Fat Gandhi so they hatch a daring scheme that manages to rescue Patrick.... but Rhys runs away.

Reunited with his family in the U.S., sixteen-year-old Patrick seems disoriented and frightened. Myron and Win, however, insist on interviewing the teen so they can get information about Rhys's whereabouts. Patrick acts squirrelly, though, and can't provide any useful particulars. All this is very tough on Rhys's parents, who want to get their son back.....or at least find out what happened to him.



Myron and Win continue their efforts to bring Rhys home and discover some surprising information along the way. I don't want to give away spoilers so I'll just say there's A LOT of murder and mayhem in the story, and Myron and Win get to show off plenty of their combat skills.





The story also has a perk for romance fans since Myron is engaged to his long-time, on-off girlfriend Terese.




The book features some favorite characters including: Esperanza (Little Pocahontas)....



......and Big Cyndi - former professional wrestlers who worked for Myron's sports rep agency;



Myron's mom and dad, who love to bicker; and Mickey - Myron's teenage nephew who helps draw out Patrick with pizza and videogames. As usual there's lots of humorous banter between Myron and Win, and some amusing scenes. I thought it was hilarious when Myron threw an arrogant young thug's laptop out a car window. LOL.

The suspenseful story leads to a dramatic denouement that I never saw coming. Very good mystery, recommended to fans of the genre.

Rating: 3.5 stars