4th and Fixed [Hardcover]

Rivers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

When the mob tackles football, it’s no longer a game

Written with authenticity that could only come from a former NFL player, Denver Bronco Reggie Rivers weaves a page-turning story of how two charming and unscrupulous wiseguys fix an entire season of football games. And no one, including NFL’s high-powered security force, has a clue.

Praise for 4th and Fixed

“Fix the Super Bowl? I never thought it possible, but 4th and Fixed is so chock full of NFL skinny that it sweeps you along from the field to the front office and makes you believe. It’s a terrific insider tale of football skullduggery.” --Frand Deford

“Reggie Rivers is already at the Super Bowl level of mystery writers. His latest, 4th and Fixed, kept me up two nights in a row. I couldn’t put it down.” --Charlie Jones, New York Times bestselling author, What Makes Winners Win

“Riveting suspense that makes you think about how vulnerable our major sports leagues are to the wrong element. Rivers takes us inside a world that most fans don’t want to think about, and he includes anough twists to keep the pages turning.” --Ken Bikoff, associate editor, Pro Football Weely

“The behind-the-scenes details in 4th and Fixed are so authentic that I found myself wondering if the mob might have fixed games during my twelve-year NFL career. This book is a must read for anyone who has ever wondered how organzied crime might try to manipulate the outcome of football games. I’m eagerly awaiting the movie!” --Mark Schlereth, ESPN NFL analyst

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An all-powerful bookie and his monstrous sidekick muscle through the shady underworld of professional football in this adrenaline-packed novel by an ex-NFL player. Hired to turn around the struggling San Antonio Stallions so that pompous owner Jonathan Kinneson can rake in money by securing a spot in the Super Bowl, mob-affiliated fixer Michael Gasca hatches an elaborate plan. First, he forces the firing of the team's head coach, then assigns Roscoe Evans, his walking skyscraper of a partner, to manipulate key players on opposing teams. A little blackmail here, a deceitful threat there, and the Stallions are quietly cruising toward their first playoff game. Yet none of this goes unnoticed by Steven Oquist, an NFL special agent with a burning desire to catch the duo in action. The key to his success is Trevor Deale, the Stallions' quarterback, who begins to question the team's accomplishments. Honest and perceptive, the all-star finds himself in the middle of a scam so big it could permanently tarnish the NFL's reputation. Rivers's patient development of his zany characters gives this book bite, and his fly-on-the-wall narration lets the average football fan sneak a peek at the exotic, often racy, underbelly of the NFL. With Elmore Leonard–style gumshoe bravado and wicked plot twists, Rivers's novel sprints into the end zone.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Michael Gasca is the fixer. His latest victim-partner lost a bundle when the tech bubble burst and needs more cash than his NFL franchise can generate. Enter Gasca. The plan includes some early-season losses to justify firing his overpaid coach, then a great finish and a victory in the Super Bowl. Other players in the Machiavellian plot include the team's star quarterback, his diamond-hungry wife, and Steven Oquist, a former FBI agent employed by NFL security. Oquist plays Ahab to Gasca's Great White. Hunting scammers is more than an obsession for him; it's a lifestyle. The novel unwinds in seriocomic, Elmore Leonard-like style; all the players are schemers or opportunists, and the high moral ground resides in a land far, far, away. Author Rivers, a former NFL player, has the strut, the patois, and the insider's knowledge to pull this caper off in fine style. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark; First Edition Second Printing edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402202199
• ISBN-13: 978-1402202193
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good fun, August 19, 2004

By 

Azmadoc - See all my reviews

This review is from: 4th and Fixed (Hardcover)

This was a fun, light book to read, even if the prose is a little stilted at times. It gives a good snapshot of the sports gambling world as it relates to the NFL and draws some interesting characters, particularly Michael Garsca, the bookie prodigy.

None of the gambling insights will be revalations to anyone who has wagered on the football with any regularity, but for the uninitiated it outlines how bookies run their business, how a point spread works, and why bookies actually don't want the games to be fixed. Of more interest may be how the NFL tries to assure that its games remain "clean".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a read!, January 20, 2005

By 

Bryan "Bryan" (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 4th and Fixed (Hardcover)

'4th and Fixed' was an excellently written book. Rivers kept me guessing from start to end and I could not put the book down. He goes deep within the NFL and it made me wonder if fixed games are going on in real life! Rivers used so much detail in describing all of the characters, events, and places that I had the picture painted perfectly into my head. He also threw in a little bit of comedy here and there especially when describing Roscoe getting in and out of his car. It had me laughing everytime. Overall, this is my favorite fiction sports book and I would recommend this book to any sports fan.

5.0 out of 5 stars 4th and Fixed, June 21, 2006

By 

William C. Thomas - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 4th and Fixed (Hardcover)

This is a book about football available to everybody because it doesn't capitalize on football. For those of us who remember the starry-eyed accounts of "the gridiron game" and other stories designed to glorify athletics that we mercifully discarded after junior high and never went back to, 4th and Fixed is an excellent return because it's suspenseful, funny, and believeable. It's great for occasional reading; excellent for a summer day; wonderful for losing yourself in. The characters: Michael Gasca and Roscoe Evans, two big-time crooks who stand to make a great deal of money if they can fix the betting on NFL wins and losses, are matched by Trevor Deale, an enterprising and resourceful quarterback whose loyalty to his teammates leads to the novel's surprising and satisfying denouement.
Rivers is a master of comic timing.