Back Spin (1997)

Back Spin is a novel by author Harlan Coben. It is the fourth novel in his series of a crime solver and sports agent named Myron Bolitar.

Plot summary

In Back Spin, sports agent Myron Bolitar is called on to investigate the kidnapping of

Chad Coldren, son of two professional golfers, while Chad's father Jack is well on his way to winning the U.S. Open. Myron is drawn into a plot that goes back to the last time

Jack Coldren nearly won the U.S. Open, twenty-three years ago. Myron's investigations suddenly shift when Jack Coldren is murdered and Chad is released. Finally, Myron traces the murder to Jack's wife Linda, who shot him because he could not succumb to the kidnappers' real demands, that he throw the U.S. Open.

As the story opens, Myron is attending the U.S. Open. Jack Coldren is unexpectedly leading, and promising newcomer Tad Crispin is in second place. Jack's wife Linda, a professional golfer as well, asks Myron for help. Their son has been kidnapped. Myron agrees to help, even though his friend and business associate Win refuses to assist because Linda is his first cousin, related to Win's estranged mother.

The kidnappers phone twice without making specific demands. Meanwhile, Myron learns that Chad used his ATM card at a cash machine near a sleazy motel. At first,

Myron suspects that Chad might be pulling a hoax, but he soon learns that one of the kidnappers is a neo-Nazi thug.

Slowly, Myron uncovers possible suspects. Jack's former caddy, Lloyd Rennart, who Jack blamed for his loss at the U.S. Open years ago, has disappeared. He's possibly committed suicide, but he could be out for revenge. Esme Fong has signed Tad Crispin as a spokesman for a new line of golf clothes, and if Jack loses, her ad campaign will be a success. Chad's best friend's father is a rich crook, and Jack has a mysterious argument with his female caddy.

The kidnappers send Chad's severed finger to Linda, and Myron is horrified. Then, he tracks down the neo-Nazi and finds that he's been murdered. The next thing Myron knows, Jack has been murdered, too. Then, the kidnappers release Chad, leaving

Myron with unanswered questions. Jack's wife Linda is arrested, and her lawyer makes

Myron an attorney of record to protect her.

Myron learns that Esme is really Rennart's daughter from his first marriage, and she kidnapped Chad to make sure Jack lost the U.S. Open. After Tito, the neo-Nazi, cut off Chad's finger, Esme killed him. Myron turns Esme over to the police. Myron realizes that there's more to the story, though. Jack knew that the kidnappers wanted him to lose the U.S. Open, but he kept winning anyway. When his wife Linda found out, she killed him to save her son. As Linda's attorney, Myron can't go to the police, and Linda will likely never be brought to justice for her husband's murder.

Major themes

The drive to win

Win talks to Myron about the drive to win that he sees in Jack Coldren. Win sees this drive as something negative, a force that causes professional athletes to put themselves above all others and neglect their personal lives and those who love them.

He believes that Myron had this drive as a professional basketball player. The force of competition activates this desire. Myron doesn't believe that the drive to win is a bad thing. He sees pushing for success as noble.

Jack's drive to win makes him endanger his own son, though. Jack refuses to lose, even though his son has been kidnapped. Even after receiving his son's severed finger, Jack cannot let himself lose. He makes a nearly impossible put to tie the game. After he talks to the kidnappers again, Jack promises to lose, but he knows that he will not be able to hold himself to that promise. His wife knows it, too. Linda ultimately kills Jack, not out of revenge or hatred, but to squelch his overpowering drive to win.

The events of the story support Win's view of the drive to win, showing that the author sees the negative aspects of intense competition. After all, the U.S. Open is only a golf game. Winning it brings money, fame, and career opportunities, but when weighed against the life of a son, few people would do what Jack did. Jack's extraordinary competitive drive ends up being his own downfall.

Justice

Myron investigates crime, and he brings criminals to justice. The question of what is just is a complex one, though. Myron has Esme arrested for kidnapping and murder, but she believes that she was only seeking justice. Through Jack Coldren's actions, her father was ruined and her mother died. Esme wants Jack to pay for what he did. Like Myron, she seeks justice on her own.

Win also seeks justice. He takes untraceable Chevy cars and goes trolling through the bad areas of cities to find criminals. Then, he makes the criminals pay for their actions.

Myron's point of view of this vigilante justice is ambiguous. He is opposed to it, but

Esperanza points out that what Win does is not too far removed from what Myron does.

The only difference is that Win is picking the crimes and criminals to attack. Myron uses almost any means, including torture, threats, and lies, to get what he wants. Are his means just? Myron implies that Win's nighttime activities are sinister, but Win only lets out that he reported where a molester buried two bodies, bringing him to justice.

Ultimately, Myron puts his own idea of justice above societal justice. He turns in Esme, but he lets Linda go, although he knows that she killed her husband. He risks disbarment if he turns on Linda.