Customer Reviews

Be the One

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For me it doesn't get any better, a thriller with an obviously well researched baseball backdrop. April Smith has done her homework. The backdrop of a baseball scout chasing the ultimate prospect held my interest as the book got going, and the thriller kicked in and kept my attention as the story developed. Cassidy Sanderson, the story's main character, is a female baseball scout whom you immediately like and want to succeed. Like many jocks or ex-jocks, her physical confidence seems to occasionally get in the way of clear thought, getting her into situations she's sorry about later. The resulting twists and turns made it a thoroughly interesting read for me, especially as the real pennant races start to pick up steam.

Here's a tangled web of intrigue...voodoo, Dominican bad guys, sleazy realtors, too too rich people, ruthless drug lords...

But what sets this apart is the lead character, a 35 year-old athletic blonde who happens to have three passions...baseball, the truth, and well, sex.

Without the trappings of "liberated female" fiction, April Smith is able to make Cassidy Sanderson a strong and independent person who you want to root for. Some of the descriptions of the parties among the rich and the world of baseball scouts are so delicious you want to read them over again before you move on. As a screenwriter, she of course has an ear for dialogue, but I like the present-tense tension in the book, where you're living it as you read it.

Very unusual idea, having a woman who knows more about baseball than your average beer-gut or Bob Costas dweeb. But it's not just a "woman' book" it is for fans of baseball and good writing.

There's no way it could as good as "North of Montana," right? Wrong! There's the same go-for-it-on-every-page intensity as her first book, plus sparkling writing and another great story. No spoilers from this reviewer, so just read it! It's like Sue Grafton on speed.

I finished April Smith's Be The One last night and have to rate it a 10 of 10. On my scale that means the author has written a thought provoking book that I will want to read again and that has affected me deeply. This book is a story about a female baseball scout, but so much more. April Smith takes us deep into the world of baseball, the hopes and dreams of young prospects from the Domincan Republic, their struggles to make the majors against the odds, showing the poverty and lifestyle that is so very different. She weaves a tale ripe with suspense and danger and illustrates the political hierarchy and challenges of working in a competitive environment where only the best succeed, and at what cost. Cassidy Sanderson has seen tragedy strike her family and she is an amazing character with a depth not often explored and with choices to make, that, as a reader, you are compelled to watch, to wonder and to hope. April Smith spent some time in the DR researching this book. She mentions in the acknowledgements that it was five years in the making and the many facets of research she undertook. A book of this stature shows what you get when the research is meticulous and careful and in this case we get magnificent results. Some authors have a lot of research and the book has no heart. Some books have heart and the flawed research diminishes the results. Sometimes, rarely, they both come together as with Be The One. The ending, oh the ending. very powerful stuff. Highly recommend.

Former superstar Cassidy Sanderson does not feel like a pioneer or a freak. Instead baseball has always been part of her gene pool so being the only female major league baseball scout seems normal to Cassidy. She knows that for her to keep her job, she needs to remain productive, signing prospects for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lately, Cassidy seems in a slump so when she receives a tip about the next great Dominican Republic athlete, she immediately flies to the Caribbean.

On the island, Cassidy meets financier Joe Galinis and realizes that Alberto Cruz is even more than she expected. She returns home with a major prospect and a lover. However, instead of accolades and a bonus, Cassidy finds herself in the midst of a voodoo-blackmailing plot that leaves her wondering who can she trust?

Sports mystery fans, especially lovers of baseball will warmly welcome the return of Cassidy Sanderson (see NORTH OF MONTANA). In her mid thirties, Cassidy still retains that competitive toughness that provides the edge to a well-drawn character. The clever intermingling of baseball, scouting, and voodoo turns BE THE ONE into a perfect game that will surely place April Smith's novel on everyone's top three lists of sports mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

Fast paced mystery in the arena of the Sports world. Deception, violence, blackmail, death threats, extortion challenge the lead character, a female talent scout in major league baseball holding her own, and matching wits with her competitors. A spicy plot takes us to the Dominican Republic to recruit a promising young new player. Love and finances soar with a American who just happens to be there to help when our heroine's car breaks down. Flashbacks "flesh-out" the characters. Who can you trust? Watch out for those curve balls. A woman in a man's world thriller. It's not Arli$$. Engrossing and Entertaining.

I purchased this book after reading several reviews and wasn't sure how it would measure up to North of Montana, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have to admit I enjoyed it alot more than I thought I might. Originally, I was a little skeptical about the story line, and there were a few far reaches with some of the characters (Galinis was a little hard to believe and to get a feel for)but overall it had a good pace and keep my attention with great baseball insight and several well written characters. I would recommend this to other fans of April Smith.

I am a huge baseball fan and enjoy reading a lot so I thought "Be The One" would be right in my wheelhouse. Female baseball scout Cassidy Sanderson discovers an 18-year old potential phenom who becomes entangled in a mysterious blackmail scheme. Seemed interesting enough.

Though the book was a quick read it just didn't click for me. The elements of baseball were good but the storyline seemed to move very slowly. I thought that author April Smith had many transitional passages that didn't advance the plot and thus diluted much of the action and suspense. Definitely not a page-turner.

This was my first April Smith novel. She seems to have a following that enjoys her books so I will likely try some of her other works. "Be The One" just wasn't the right one for me to start with.

I really enjoyed this quasi-mystery set in the world of professional baseball scouting. I found Cassidy Sanderson to be a sympathetic character, and knew that I was into the book when I started yelling at her to "open your eyes, can't you see that he's lying?" The "mystery" wasn't too terribly mysterious or difficult to figure out, but I found myself drawn in by the setting - pro-baseball scouting - and a woman's place in the world of professional sports. I really enjoyed how the author slowly unwrapped Cassidy's inner demons and shared them with us in the context of the story.

That said, the other characters in the book were a little under-developed . I also didn't get the feel for the development of the settings in the Dominican Republic in the same way that the Southern California sets were written.

Right now I'm a bit mad at April Smith. I started the book a few days ago, then stayed up until 3:30 in the morning to finish it. So this is definitely a page-turner. As a baseball fan, I enjoyed the descriptions of a scouting meeting and of spring training. The author obviously works hard at producing well-crafted prose; once in a while she reaches too far and produces an unintentional oxymoron. Example: when someone is massaging Cassidy's shoulders, they are like granite; she's been working under the kind of pressure that would liquefy stone. As other reviewers have mentioned, there are a couple of loose ends in the narrative (can anyone tell me how Nora knew where to find her father?). Back to Cassidy: if you don't like a heroine with an attitude, who is so driven that she habitually operates way out of bounds, and who has a drinking problem, then you won't like an April Smith book; both Cassidy and Ana, the heroine of North to Montana, April Smith's previous book, fit the description. Plus they are NOT into housekeeping and have pretty bad luck at relationships. Having said that, I'll confess that Cassidy kept coming in and out of focus for me. She seemed to be less sharply drawn than Ana. But even in those patches where Cassidy seems like a shadow, the plot kept me riveted. Do you like baseball? Like thrillers? Read it.