THE TOTAL ZONE

In the five years since a stinging Wimbledon defeat sent her into retirement, physical therapist Jordan Myles has learned to turn a colder eye on the pro tennis tour. So she's not unduly impressed when a call from the family of 16-year-old superstar Audrey Armat sends her home to the Desert Springs Sports Science Center to start a high-pressure rehab program with Audrey. But when star-crossed Audrey and her twin brother, E.J., take off from Desert Springs after only one day, Jordan realizes she's dealing with something a lot worse than a pair of stage-mother parents—and that's even before (1) a younger rival of Audrey's is fatally wounded on the courts at Wimbledon; (2) Audrey apparently leaps to her death from the family balcony; and (3) Emilio and Corinne Armat hit Jordan and Desert Springs with a $40 million lawsuit. Audrey's anxieties mask some ugly secrets on the women's tour—and Jordan, joining forces with a shamus called the Fish, is ready to make every sacrifice to expose them. Legendary tennis star Navratilova and her co-author's exposÇ of the women's tennis scene is heavy on you-are-there bromides and dirty (very dirty) linen, light on coherent plotting, detection, and actual tennis. First of a series that has a ways to go before it's ready for the Grand Slam.