From Publishers Weekly
A former New York Giants tight end and two-time Pro Bowler, Bavaro turns in a gritty, behind-the-scenes look at life in the NFL for his debut novel. Dominic Fucillo (tight end for the Giants, natch) is having a bad week. The commissioner is fining him $50,000 for attacking a referee, his estranged girlfriend won't talk to him and the team doctor tells him that he has a hole in his knee that will need career-ending surgery after the season. Worse, Dominic's hopes of capping his career with a Super Bowl ring are threatened when star Giants linebacker James Moze, a drug user who consorts with gamblers, is found severely beaten. As the gamblers and other parasites circle the team, the Giants make an improbable run for a championship, with Dominic fighting all the way. Bavaro's dark vision of the NFL won't shock most pro football fans, but they will find much to cheer in his colorful characters, insider revelations and lively storytelling.
(Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Dom Fucillo, a tight end for the New York Giants football team, has enjoyed one of his better years in a 10-year career. In the space of a week, however, with the play-offs and a potential run to the Super Bowl on the horizon, his world begins to disintegrate. He learns he has a deteriorating condition in his knee that will end his career; his longtime lover mysteriously refuses contact with him; and the team’s star defensive player is severely beaten and left in the parking lot. Dom, who is focused only on football, is forced to examine his life more broadly. Are his off-field friends really his friends? Why has Emma rebuffed all his attempts at reconciliation? Who is behind his teammate’s beating? And most importantly, how will he come to grips with life without football? Bavaro, a former New York Giant tight end himself, has written a fascinating rookie novel. He absolutely gets the football right, but more surprisingly, he has created a thoughtful, credible narrator and an intriguing mix of full-bodied secondary characters who exist in the shadows of professional sports. --Wes Lukowsky
