Harlan Coben has written several novels that involve Myron Bolitar, a sports agent and his best friend, Win. In this novel, both characters are watching their new client, a street kid from the rough side of New York, pummel his opponents in the U.S. Tennis Open competition. The crowd panics when a shot rings out, and a young woman collapses in the "Food Court". Valerie Simpson, the victim, had been a child protegee in the tennis world, but had suffered a breakdown and quickly disappeared from the media and athletic events. Duane Richwood's dazzling tennis serves have attracted the eyes of sponsors and this new star stands to become one of the highest paid tennis athletes in the world.
Duane becomes a suspect in Valerie's murder when the police find his name and number as the last entry in her calender notebook after he had denied knowing her. Myron visits Valerie's mother and tries to find about about Valerie's life, but is forced to leave by her new husband. With further research, he does find that Valerie had been engaged to a Senator's son who had been murdered the night before their wedding. After the murder, one of the suspects was killed by the police and the other boy disappeared.
Meanwhile, Myron is being followed by two men in a light blue Cadillac. Myron and Win are able to corner them and find that they had been hired by the Ache brothers who run TruPro, sport agents with ties to the Mafia. Duane admits to a relationship with Valerie even though he loves his high school sweetheart, Wanda, with whom he has a son.
Myron reviews the press reports of Alexander Cross's murder, Valerie Simpson's fiance. Errol Swade, the mssing fugitive, was not found, and the editorials demanding his arrest dwindled as time passed. Myron found a news article about the young man who was killed by the police the evening of the murder. His transcript and teacher reports indicated that Curtis Yeller, the other suspect, had been a student with a 3.9 average who rarely missed school. Was this a boy who would kill a unsuspecting victim?
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