What do you think?
Jordan Myles #1
The Total Zone
High pressure, high risks, high the passwords of professional tennis. Nobody knows them better than Jordan Myles, tennis champ turned sports therapist, who helps players achieve the Total Zone, when the mind and body are in perfect harmony and winning is inevitable. Gorgeous Audrey Armat, already considered a teenage phenomenon with a laser serve, comes to Jordan to achieve the Zone. But when the young tennis star suddenly vanishes, it is up to Jordan to find her, in the darkest unknown shadows of the international tennis world....
320 pages, Paperback
First published August 16, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 15, 2008
Wow, this book is a good example of how to NOT write a book!
As much as tennis is my favourite sport, and as much as this book did give some interesting behind-the-scenes glimpses of life on the professional circuit, the writing was so lame my interest in finding out whodunnit was severely tested.
I'll give an example: When the main character sees a new character at the top of the escalator, the subsequent page is nothing but a description and history of said new character. All telling. No showing. And it just went on and on and on. The first time we as readers "see" the sports clinic where the main character works, again, over a page of telling us the layout, buildings, etc etc ... break the description up with some action, some interaction, that might have helped...
Geez.
Sorry, 'Tina - FAIL!!
As much as tennis is my favourite sport, and as much as this book did give some interesting behind-the-scenes glimpses of life on the professional circuit, the writing was so lame my interest in finding out whodunnit was severely tested.
I'll give an example: When the main character sees a new character at the top of the escalator, the subsequent page is nothing but a description and history of said new character. All telling. No showing. And it just went on and on and on. The first time we as readers "see" the sports clinic where the main character works, again, over a page of telling us the layout, buildings, etc etc ... break the description up with some action, some interaction, that might have helped...
Geez.
Sorry, 'Tina - FAIL!!
December 3, 2012
Forget the gentle world of cucumber sandwiches, strawberries and cream washed down with bubbly or a little Earl Grey, if you'd prefer it. This is about high stakes, big bucks and the ends justifying the means, however nasty they may be. Take it from Martina they are – here at least. With the latest sordid revelations about corruption in sport currently surfacing in the media, perhaps this tale is not so far fetched as it might seem?
How much of this is drawn from Martina's own experience? Scary thought! Or did she just let her imagination loose?
Here the (child) star is merely a highly profitable commodity, anything else is superfluous. Darkly thought provoking, lots of action and good guys v bad. Poor child star here didn't stand a chance. I suspect that Martina is made of sterner stuff?
How much of this is drawn from Martina's own experience? Scary thought! Or did she just let her imagination loose?
Here the (child) star is merely a highly profitable commodity, anything else is superfluous. Darkly thought provoking, lots of action and good guys v bad. Poor child star here didn't stand a chance. I suspect that Martina is made of sterner stuff?
November 3, 2025
One of the very few English books at my Italian hostel so I picked it up. Was an easy read but I imagine will be easily forgettable. I love a mystery and this was okay but the conclusion was pretty lacklustre. Kept me occupied and off my phone so that was nice.
February 2, 2026
Yeah… this one isn’t particularly good, but it is super fun! Reminded me of Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar series. Like a sloppier version. I will be reading the other two.
June 20, 2026
a better tennis player than a writer but a decent read
May 5, 2016
Honestly, I don't even know where to start. Martina what were you thinking? This book is obviously not ready to be published.. and probably never will..
Well first thing first, amaryllis, I bought this book because a long time ago I read the second part of this trilogy (which it apparently was). That one I really liked, but I was young and naive, so I think I didn't understand how bad it actually was. Because if the second part is slightly the same as this jewel, than I should have burned it. Immediately! Anyway I remembered the series a week ago and decided to buy the first and third part, so that's why I started in this one. The first mistake I made was reading the backside of the book, which basically gave away the whole story. It was sooo stupid but the backside stated a big clue, which would otherwise take 263(!!) pages to discover. Not to start about the bad writing style, which was sooo incredibly bad, that you should actually read it to understand. There were only descriptions and almost no action and not many dialogues. Also a lot of things that happened in the book didn't really add up.
But it becomes even worse: the reason why I ever liked this series, was because the setting is in the WTA (women's tennis) world, which I was (and still am) a big fan of. And as Navratilova is one of the writers (IF YOU DON'T KNOW HER, SHAME ON YOU) I though it would have been very clever and a good insight of the tour. But the story made a LOT of mistakes. For example in the first round of Wimbledon, where one of the characters didn't play, a top 10 player played against another top 20 player. That is NOT even possible! Because they both would have been seeded, so they could only meet in the fourth round of Wimbledon. You may think: Whatever! But as a tennisfan, these details really bothered me. At the same time, there was a HUGE focus on the fact that the character Audrey Armat couldn't play Wimbledon and would lose her whole ranking, which is slightly unrealistic. There are top 5 players who actually skipped a GrandSlam or lost in the early rounds (Simona Halep, anyone?). So you are not going to kill a player, just to keep your points of the year before... Also the fact that players would cancel Wimbledon for a stupid demonstration match is also not realistic. Really, if you claim to be the best tennis player in the world, please get your facts straight if you write a fictional book about the tour.
Really disappointed, because I love the setting. Hate the writing and the story. Will read part 3, just because I can.
Well first thing first, amaryllis, I bought this book because a long time ago I read the second part of this trilogy (which it apparently was). That one I really liked, but I was young and naive, so I think I didn't understand how bad it actually was. Because if the second part is slightly the same as this jewel, than I should have burned it. Immediately! Anyway I remembered the series a week ago and decided to buy the first and third part, so that's why I started in this one. The first mistake I made was reading the backside of the book, which basically gave away the whole story. It was sooo stupid but the backside stated a big clue, which would otherwise take 263(!!) pages to discover. Not to start about the bad writing style, which was sooo incredibly bad, that you should actually read it to understand. There were only descriptions and almost no action and not many dialogues. Also a lot of things that happened in the book didn't really add up.
But it becomes even worse: the reason why I ever liked this series, was because the setting is in the WTA (women's tennis) world, which I was (and still am) a big fan of. And as Navratilova is one of the writers (IF YOU DON'T KNOW HER, SHAME ON YOU) I though it would have been very clever and a good insight of the tour. But the story made a LOT of mistakes. For example in the first round of Wimbledon, where one of the characters didn't play, a top 10 player played against another top 20 player. That is NOT even possible! Because they both would have been seeded, so they could only meet in the fourth round of Wimbledon. You may think: Whatever! But as a tennisfan, these details really bothered me. At the same time, there was a HUGE focus on the fact that the character Audrey Armat couldn't play Wimbledon and would lose her whole ranking, which is slightly unrealistic. There are top 5 players who actually skipped a GrandSlam or lost in the early rounds (Simona Halep, anyone?). So you are not going to kill a player, just to keep your points of the year before... Also the fact that players would cancel Wimbledon for a stupid demonstration match is also not realistic. Really, if you claim to be the best tennis player in the world, please get your facts straight if you write a fictional book about the tour.
Really disappointed, because I love the setting. Hate the writing and the story. Will read part 3, just because I can.
August 2, 2011
My copy was signed!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews