Jump [Paperback]

Mike Lupica (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

When a beautiful blonde accuses basketball superstar Ellis ""Fresh"" Adair and his teammate of rape, the Knicks management calls in investigator DiMaggio to uncover the truth about a case complicated by vicious lies and violence. A first novel. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Resounding with the familiarity of recent sports-page headlines, Lupica's (Limited Partner) saga of a Michael Jordan-like basketball player accused of rape crackles with tension, excitement and hip authenticity right from the opening tipoff. Ellis "Fresh" Adair has it all, his most significant asset being an above-the-rim game that elevates the fortunes of the New York Knicks. But Adair's hoop dream turns nightmarish when he and his right-hand man, white Knicks point guard Richie Collins, are accused of rape a year after the fact by struggling N.Y.C. actress Hannah Carey. Threatened by the loss of their cash cow, the Knicks hire Mike DiMaggio, a former athlete and lawyer turned "sports snoop," to get the inside skinny. DiMaggio must make sense of Hannah's bizarre manipulations, Collins's brutal sexuality, Adair's falsely innocent facade and a ruthless sports columnist bent on sleazing up an already tawdry story. When the plot's rape angle begins to flag, the introduction of a murder, a suicide and a character's startling revelation maintains the fast-break pace. Though the novel is not without flaws (the similarity of many characters' voices, a stereotypical female protagonist), Lupica backs up his wiseass, street-smart storytelling with credible basketball details. His amalgam of tightly written sports story and crime fiction sinks a winning basket.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Summoning up her courage after a year, once-aspiring actress Hannah Carey accuses two Knicks basketball stars of raping her. When her younger brother leaks the story to ambitious New York sportswriter Marty Perez, the allegations become a source for media hype and personal agendas. Hired by the Knicks for damage control, ex-jock lawyer DiMaggio looks into Hannah's accusations. Sportswriter Lupica (Extra Credits, Villard, 1988) builds suspense by ending chapters at crucial moments or by dropping little narrative bombshells. This athletic mystery will especially appeal to sports fans.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786015225
• ISBN-13: 978-0786015221
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,254,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mike Lupica is one of the most prominent sports writers in America. His longevity at the top of his field is based on his experience and insider's knowledge, coupled with a provocative presentation that takes an uncompromising look at the tumultuous world of professional sports. Today he is a syndicated columnist for the New York Daily News, which includes his popular "Shooting from the Lip" column, which appears every Sunday. He began his newspaper career covering the New York Knicks for the New York Post at age 23. He became the youngest columnist ever at a New York paper with the New York Daily News, which he joined in 1977. For more than 30 years, Lupica has added magazines, novels, sports biographies, other non-fiction books on sports, as well as television to his professional resume. For the past fifteen years, he has been a TV anchor for ESPN's The Sports Reporters. He also hosted his own program, The Mike Lupica Show on ESPN2. In 1987, Lupica launched "The Sporting Life" column in Esquire magazine. He has published articles in other magazines, including Sport, World Tennis, Tennis, Golf Digest, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, ESPN: The Magazine, Men's Journal and Parade. He has received numerous honors, including the 2003 Jim Murray Award from the National Football Foundation. Mike Lupica co-wrote autobiographies with Reggie Jackson and Bill Parcells, collaborated with noted author and screenwriter, William Goldman on Wait Till Next Year, and wrote The Summer of '98, Mad as Hell: How Sports Got Away from the Fans and How We Get It Back and Shooting From the Lip, a collection of columns. In addition, he has written a number of novels, including Dead Air, Extra Credits, Limited Partner, Jump, Full Court Press, Red Zone, Too Far and national bestsellers Wild Pitch and Bump and Run. Dead Air was nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Mystery and became a CBS television move, "Money, Power, Murder" to which Lupica contributed the teleplay. Over the years he has been a regular on the CBS Morning News, Good Morning America and The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. On the radio, he has made frequent appearances on Imus in the Morning since the early 1980s. His previous young adult novels, Travel Team, Heat, Miracle on 49th Street, and the summer hit for 2007, Summer Ball, have shot up the New York Times bestseller list. Lupica is also what he describes as a "serial Little League coach," a youth basketball coach, and a soccer coach for his four children, three sons and a daughter. He and his family live in Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Try one of his newer titles, November 20, 2002

By 

Bruce Tracy (CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jump (Paperback)

After being mildly entertained by Lupica's novel Bump and Run, I decided to read his first novel, Jump. I was very disappointed. It is a very poorly written book with week characters, a shakey plot at best, and terrible dialogue. This was his first novel and he did seem to get better with Bump and Run, so I will probably take a look at his future offerings. I suggest skipping this one and picking up one of his newer books.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I read more of it than I wanted, November 18, 2003

By 

Otis Walters (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jump (Hardcover)

Dialogue is jumpy.....story is old....everything in the world revolves around New York to him, no wonder he doesn't actually watch games that he comments on. Thought he would be much better....very disappointed.

3.0 out of 5 stars depressing NBA/Crime novel, October 23, 2003

By 

T. Bratz "gwfeds0" (Beaverton, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jump (Paperback)

It is an interesting story, the problem is that it's too much like reading the sports section in the newspaper these days. When I pick up the sports section I like to read about sports, but it's sometimes hard to find in all of the financial and crime news. If you like Mike Lupica, you'll probably enjoy this book, but if you want to read a much better Lupica novel, try to get your hands on the Peter Finley novels (Extra Credits, Limited Partner and Dead Air).