A neighborhood bookie peddles athletes to college coaches and develops a sport betting operation centered on high school games. He recruits an accomplice to execute his last bet, one that could set them up financially for life but is fraught with danger. The Chicago Police investigate the greedy gamblers who might try to manipulate a high school basketball playoff game. A chance meeting between the father of a mediocre student-athlete and the bookie puts in motion a sequence of events transforming the player into a Division 1 prospect using unorthodox basketball training methods. Corrupt adults, who selfishly engage in risky and exploitive behaviors, surround the athlete: gangland profiteers, win-at-all-cost coaches, greedy street agents, shoe company representatives, college recruiters, disloyal lovers, and others. Advantage Disadvantage examines the motivations that drive the surrounding adults to corruption, betrayal, and greed.
Advantage Disadvantage
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Advantage / Disadvantage is a cleverly interwoven tale of High School athletes who are unwittingly taken in by the sleezy characters that cling to the periphery of organized sports, and profit from them by means of greed and deception.
This book was eye - opening and shocking, and at other times touching and surprising - but never was it boring. The characters inspired hope as well as loathing, and made me think that High School athletics might not be as simple and innocent as we are led to believe. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the sequel. Well done, Mr. Jaffe!
This book was eye - opening and shocking, and at other times touching and surprising - but never was it boring. The characters inspired hope as well as loathing, and made me think that High School athletics might not be as simple and innocent as we are led to believe. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the sequel. Well done, Mr. Jaffe!
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By S. Chang
Format:Paperback
Advantage Disadvantage is a nail-biting, behind-the-scenes pass into the world of high school sports and the people who make and break it. Set in Chicago, its innately urban backdrop is full of distinctly Windy City landmarks. This is the perfect read for sports fans that love an insider's view...an insightful and deliciously-sinful plot full of twists and turns. You'll find the perfect blend of bravery, betrayal and who-done-it adventure in this vividly penned thriller.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Yale Jaffe's "Advantage Disadvantage" weaves a plot around the money, politics, economics, and dreams of high school basketball.
Advantage/Disadvantage is the name of a con that a bookie has strung together with the help of a sports writer. But that's just one small piece of the book: Jaffe spins his story not only through their points of view, but also through the eyes of a player's parents, a referee, a newpaper editor, and a coach. He shows us snippets of their lives and puts them all together in this fascinating tale of the ecosystem that supports high school sports.
The characters who most grabbed my attention were Jamal and Marcus, the basketball team captain and his father. I enjoyed following their lives and watching both of them grow and overcome their obstacles.
I learned a ton of stuff about how the athletic systems work. Jaffe took me to jail, up and down a referee ladder, through summer leagues, and around coaching career dreams. If you're interested in seeing the guts of how high school sports work in a big city, you'll enjoy this book.
Advantage/Disadvantage is the name of a con that a bookie has strung together with the help of a sports writer. But that's just one small piece of the book: Jaffe spins his story not only through their points of view, but also through the eyes of a player's parents, a referee, a newpaper editor, and a coach. He shows us snippets of their lives and puts them all together in this fascinating tale of the ecosystem that supports high school sports.
The characters who most grabbed my attention were Jamal and Marcus, the basketball team captain and his father. I enjoyed following their lives and watching both of them grow and overcome their obstacles.
I learned a ton of stuff about how the athletic systems work. Jaffe took me to jail, up and down a referee ladder, through summer leagues, and around coaching career dreams. If you're interested in seeing the guts of how high school sports work in a big city, you'll enjoy this book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
a good read
This book by Jaffe is an interesting read. It is a story a two cousins and what happens to them over the period of a few years. Normally they watch out for one another. Read more
Published 15 months ago by J. Robert Ewbank
4.0 out of 5 stars
Advantage Yaffe
First off I must state I hate basketball. This is a book about basketball, but I liked it.
Yale R. Read more
Yale R. Read more
Published 16 months ago by James A. Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent insight in sports and gang life
I downloaded this book expecting to read about basketball and got so much more. The title is the name of an elaborate gambling scheme between a gang member/bookie and a... Read more
Published 17 months ago by L. Smith
2.0 out of 5 stars
Would make a much better technical manual
This writer does not seem to be experienced in writing a novel with interactivity between characters. Read more
Published 18 months ago by PRJones
4.0 out of 5 stars
The dark side of High School Sports
Just finished Mr. Jaffe's book. Not being acquainted with the dark side of high school sports, this book was quite a shock. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Island Gal
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book...
This book really gives an interesting look at the back-end of High-School Basketball. I found it to be very engaging and a good read. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Chancelor Fitzgerald
1.0 out of 5 stars
What happened after the first chapter?
After reading the first chapter, I had high expectations for this book. It opens with Marcus Imari, a man who has been arrested for the first time. Read more
Published 22 months ago by morehumanthanhuman
1.0 out of 5 stars
Promising idea, but undone by poor construction and writing
I'm sure there's a good book buried here somewhere, but this isn't it. The construction of the novel keeps interrupting the narrative flow. Read more
Published 24 months ago by marty888nyc
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Read!
I thoroughly enjoyed Advantage Disadvantage. Mr. Jaffe reveals the dark, ugly, almost evil side of high school basketball while also portraying the game in its truer side of... Read more
Published on October 18, 2010 by Michael J. Balkind
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating And Surprising!
Author Yale R. Jaffe has improbably woven together high school hoops, big-city journalism, cops, crime, gangbangers, and romantic betrayal in Advantage Disadvantage. Read more
Published on September 3, 2010 by Steve Carpenter
