Retired gridiron great Boomer Esiason has delivered a sharp, edgy story with riveting insider details about the game and business of professional football. When golden boy Derek Brody signs a $6 million dollar deal to play for the New York Stars, the rookie quarterback figures the world is his oyster. Then reality sets in after meeting his new football "family "--the all-too benevolent owner of the Stars, Papa Goldman; his daughter and Director of Communications, Dominique, who holds a certain fondness for quarterbacks; a frazzled and frustrated head coach; a team of malcontents and racial tensions; and a shady Director of Personnel. But all of his concerns for the team become secondary when an ex-Stars quarterback is found dead, and Brody finds himself hustling just to stay alive while confronting the scars of his own past. With a little luck, smarts, and help from a beautiful aspiring actress, this is one time he can't drop the ball!
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Combine one smart former quarterback (Boomer Esiason led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl, among other gridiron triumphs) and one smart crime writer (Lowell Cauffiel's Marker is an equally impressive performance) and you come up with an exciting, entertaining thriller filled to the brim with succulent slices of football high and low life.
As the team helicopter whizzes them into Manhattan, Derek Brody--the rookie quarterback just signed to a $6 million deal by the New York Stars--reveals his survival technique to his lawyer-agent by drawing a circle on a piece of paper. "'Okay, this is me,' he explained. Around it, he drew six more circles, connecting them all to the one in the middle like the spokes of a wheel. He labeled the others: COACH. TEAM. FANS. MEDIA. FRONT OFFICE. And finally, WIFE/GIRLFRIEND/FRIENDS. 'That's how it's different for a quarterback,' Brody said. 'All these circles can threaten your game. "Don't let the gifts of football take you away from football." That's how my old man used to put it. That's why I don't really give a shit about the Nike deal. Or the news conference. You focus only on winning. Winning will keep all these other circles in line.'"
But winning isn't the only problem with the hapless Stars. They're a tainted team, dirty from top to bottom, plagued with corruption and racial strife that makes them hard to like but easy to believe. Meeting with Eric Smith (a crippled wreck who once was the Stars' last great quarterback hope) minutes before Smith's murder gets Brody involved in a series of plays that will either kill him or help him understand what's going on behind the scenes. Along the way, Esiason and Cauffiel let us share some raunchy inside jokes that--like the dirty laundry they hang out so lavishly--are too good not to be true. --Dick Adler
From Publishers Weekly
Former NFL quarterback Esiason teams up with thriller veteran Cauffiel (Marker, etc.) in this passable but undistinguished novel about high-level corruption in the NFL. When ex-Big Ten star quarterback Derek Brody comes to New York to play his first pro season for the (fictional) New York Stars, the team is talented but torn by internecine feuds, which Brody begins to suspect are spurred and manipulated by shady interests outside the locker room. Soon the suspicions gather heft: after Brody meets Stars' ex-quarterback Eric Smith, Smith is murdered, leaving behind incriminating notes on the team's murky doings, notes that his friend Shay Falan passes along to Brody. Brody and Falan team up (eventually romantically) to expose the Stars' seamy underside. The murder of a prostitute at the Stars' training camp, the machinations of entertainment conglomerate Mecca, the team owners' old debt to Howard Hughes and the surprising (benevolent) involvement of the Mob keep the pot boiling to an explosive (literally) climax. Football fans will enjoy details of training camp, football lingo, some mildly interesting onfield scenes and an Animal House-like gross-out at the Plaza Hotel. The book's success will probably hinge on whether NFL fans buy fiction and on Esiason's own record as a rookie announcer on Monday Night Football. Agent: Russell Galen of Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly good,
By
This review is from: Toss: A Novel (Hardcover)
I bought this figuring it was just something to fill the time, and because although it is fashionable to 'diss' Boomer, I think he's a bright and straigtforward guy.
The book is lots better than most people would expect: I think most of us think football players are kind of dumb bozos. Some of the characters in this novel are not all that bright, but the characters ARE characters, and the plot grabs you from about page 15 and keeps you hooked for another 300 pages. The protagonist, Brody, is a likeable yet imperfect guy. And the book is smart, not dumb or even formulaic. There's a lot about football here -- and much of it not what you get in the sanitized version every Monday night on ABC. If you like football, or like crime novels, you'll like this book.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very good read, even if you could care less about football,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Toss: A Novel (Hardcover)
Toss is a very satisfying read, one that is hard to put down. The research was excellent and the story unfolds quickly, without a lot of boring - and unnecessary - football details. Don't get the wrong idea - there is lots of football 'stuff' in this book and the facts ring curiously true. Most of the events probably really occured, names changed to protect the guilty. Yes, I read North Dallas Fourty. This book is nothing like that. It is told from the rookie point of view, by someone still in love with the game. The characters are vivid with gratuitous sex kept to a minimum. This book will be enjoyed by both men and women.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can you say outstanding?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Toss: A Novel (Hardcover)
Toss is a fascinating read from beginning to end. The twists and turns in the story will keep you gasping for breath with every page. This is not just a book for football fans, it's a book for readers who love a good crime story and a good writer(s) to tell it. Though the dirty secrets of the NFL are a big part of the book, it is the fascinating main character of quarterback Derek Brody that keeps the pages turning. You can't help but wonder just how much of Boomer Esiason is in Derek Brody, which makes it all the better of a read. Esiason (and Cauffiel) has definitely thrown for a touchdown on his first play from scrimmage.
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