It is the fourth novel in his series of a crime solver and sports agent named Myron Bolitar.

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.

Jack Coldren is unexpectedly leading, and promising newcomer Tad Crispin is in second place.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Linda ultimately kills Jack, not out of revenge or hatred, but to squelch his overpowering drive to win.

Winning it brings money, fame, and career opportunities, but when weighed against the life of a son, few people would do what Jack did.

He takes untraceable Chevy cars and goes trolling through the bad areas of cities to find criminals.

Win's mother bribed a caddy to make Jack Coldren lose the U.S. Open, and yet she is not punished and takes the secret to her grave.

Linda is rich and white, and she can afford a high-powered attorney, the child of her family's servants, who is still serving in a servile capacity, although in a more white-collar field.

The element of danger makes it important for the reader to follow her into the bar, because the situation will create suspense and excitement.

The reader follows along with Jack's dramatic winning streak and waits to find out whether he will lose his lead.

The golf setting explains how Myron, a sports agent, gets involved in the drama, but it also makes him a fish out of water.

The city of Philadelphia also provides a backdrop of long-standing wealthy families like Win as well as rampant poverty and ethnic diversity, allowing the author to explore the theme of discrimination.

Not too far from the exclusive golf course and club, Myron finds a sleazy by-the-hour motel and a backwards neo-Nazi criminal.

He usually enlists the help of his friend Win, a slick and violent agent with a history of secret government work.

Not only does he follow people and get into fights, but Myron also resorts to torture and intimidation to get information from criminals.

This gets him into trouble sometimes, including when he makes jokes while he is being held by Reginald Squires, a rich and loony criminal.

Linda is afraid to leave her husband because she is not Chad's biological mother, and she does not want to lose custody of him.

At the beginning of the novel, Jack is back in the U.S. Open at his home golf course, Merion, the same place where he choked years ago.

When Jack learns that his son has been kidnapped, he still wants to win the U.S. Open and regain something of what he lost at the beginning of his career.

Jack's whole life has been building up to replaying the events of twenty-three years ago, and he grasps at the idea that the kidnapping could be a hoax.

He has unmarked cars that he uses to troll bad neighbourhoods for criminals, who he brings to vigilante justice.