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Play Dirty: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Sandra Brown (Author)
Key Phrases: younger detective, estate wall, Griff Burkett, Foster Speakman, Manuelo Ruiz (more...)
3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The seven deadly sins help propel this provocative, sex-fueled thriller from bestseller Brown (Ricochet). Foster Speakman, an eccentric Texas paraplegic millionaire, offers $500,000 to Griff Burkett, a disgraced former NFL quarterback fresh out of prison after serving a five-year sentence for racketeering, to impregnate Foster's wife, Laura. Foster insists the child be conceived naturally (The way God intended). Broke with no prospects, Griff takes the job. Meanwhile, Stanley Rodarte, the crooked detective behind Griff's arrest, is bent on pinning an unsolved murder on him and takes to terrorizing Griff and those close to him in the hopes of nailing him when he self-destructs. After Griff's stint as stud takes a bad turn, the ex-footballer must track down the one man who can secure his freedom. The tension builds as lust, greed, pride, wrath and envy threaten to undo everyone in this tightly told tale of modern temptation. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
After five long years in federal prison, Griff Burkett is a free man. But the disgraced Cowboys quarterback can never return to life as he knew it before he was caught cheating.

Foster Speakman and his wife Laura lived a charmed life before fate denied them the one thing they wanted most -- a child. Fresh out of prison and out of prospects, Griff agrees to do a job for the Speakmans that demands secrecy. But he soon finds himself once again in the spotlight of suspicion when an unsolved murder comes back to haunt him. While safeguarding his new enterprise, Griff must also protect those around him, especially Laura Speakman. Griff stands to gain the highest payoff he could ever imagine, but cashing in on it will require him to forfeithis only chance for redemption...and love. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 14, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743289358
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743289351
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #123,916 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #42 in  Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( B ) > Brown, Sandra

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Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
younger detective, estate wall
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Griff Burkett, Foster Speakman, Manuelo Ruiz, Big Spring, Bill Bandy, Laura Speakman, Stanley Rodarte, Wyatt Turner, Detective Rodarte, Number Ten, Super Bowl, Glen Hunnicutt, Jerry Arnold, Windsor Street, Coach Miller, Las Colinas, Elaine Speakman, Lavaca Road, Kay Stafford, Comfort Inn, Bolly Rich, Dallas County, Fort Worth, Hunnicutt Motors, Hill County
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Customer Reviews

84 Reviews
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 (18)
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Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (84 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Characters were not very likable, August 18, 2007
First let me say I was not sure I liked Griff Burkett at the begining of the book but by the end I understood him alot better. Griff was a shinning light of the Dallas Cowboys who got caught up in gambling and wound up loosing not just his job and reputation but five years of his life to prison. Now when he gets out he has nothing, his lawyer loans him a car and some money to rent an apartment. Griff has to find a job and nobody wants to have anything to do with him.

Foster Speakman the owner and CEO of Sunsouth airlines has invited Griff to his home, possibly to offer him a job. Foster is a paraplegic, he and his wife were in a car wreck and he is wheelchair bound. His wife is a beautiful career minded woman who worked for him before they married.

Laura Speakman was driving when they were hit by a truck and she has shouldered alot of the responsibilities that were Foster's. She is devoted to her husband and has given up all her interests in order to care for him and take care of those things important to him. She can not help but feel guilt for his physical problems. He is unable to feel anything from the waist down.

In the two years since his accident he has been upset over not having an heir. He has finally convinced Laura to have a baby. But he is determined to have it his way. He wants her to concieve and deliver a baby, in the natural way with a chosen surrogate. Griff is offered 100 thousand dollars now and 500 thousand when the baby is born. Then one million each year of the child's life.

Although I found it hard to like a man who would accept money for such a thing, we later find that Griff is not without some sympathy and compassion. I found the story interesting and read it at one sitting. It was a bit hard to get into and if I had it to do over I probably would wait for the paperback. None of the characters were very likable.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Feelings, August 29, 2007
I'm a big Sandra Brown fan, but lately, she's been really "hit-and-miss" for me. This one was mostly a miss.

I have to agree with those who are saying the main characters are very unlikeable. I have the feeling that Brown wanted us to really feel that Griff was just a misunderstood guy, and maybe create some kind of tension because we were never sure if he was really a good guy or a bad guy, and that's fine, but I guess I need my heroes very clearly defined as good guys from the beginning.

I also had a hard time feeling anything for Laura. She seemed very detached from everything. I kept hearing about how she really loved her husband, but that attraction and love was never really well defined. I never felt that they had that very close relationship. When it was explained how they got together, I got more a feeling that the situation between them was comfortable, so they got married. They kept telling each other they loved each other, but I wasn't feeling it. Certainly not enough from her to think she'd go along with his plan involving Griff. I didn't even feel enough sympathy from her for her husband to warrant her wanting to go through with the plan. I basically felt nothing from her. I was not ever in any way emotionally engaged with her or her "plight."

Given that, I didn't really see why she and Griff had such an emotional bond, if that's how Brown was trying to portray it. He was unlike-able, she was unemotional and detached. The only thing they had to form that bond was that both of them had been celibate or too long. Not a really good basis for any kind of a love story. So, again, I ended up not feeling it. If they'd have had some kind of an emotional spark when they first met....I might have felt better about their relationship. I wanted to get the feeling they felt for each other from the first moment they met, and were fighting that despite the circumstances, but I never did. Again....it was all very oddly unemotional.

Perhaps Brown was trying to convey that emotional connection between Laura and Griff, and I just missed it. Personally, I think it's Brown who missed it.

It's really a shame, too, because I found the other aspects of the book good, and the storyline very suspenseful, which is why I didn't give this a worse rating.

But, overall, a bit of a disappointment.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars CHARACTERS FLAWED, November 22, 2007
I have been a fan of Sandra Brown for years. Her writing style is always brilliant and amazes me. The stories she creates are so intense and deeply detailed, I am always surprised.

While I don't fault the writing, I just didn't' find myself liking the characters of Griff and Laura. Griff Burkett was a star of the Dallas Cowboys who tossed it all away by getting caught up in gambling and wound up loosing not just his job and reputation but went to prison for five years. Laura Speakman is devoted to her husband Foster, and was driving when they were in a horrific auto accident. She basically runs the company and has given up everything else in order to care for him. He has lost feeling from the waist down. Foster wants an heir. To avoid negative publicity he has convinced Laura to have a baby his way. He wants her to conceive the natural way with his a chosen substitute - Griff. The fact that Griff agreed to this made his character more appalling, and the fact that Laura also agreed, made her character equally not likeable.

I didn't feel any chemistry or real emotion between Griff and Laura. It felt very forced.

I hope her next book is better.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner!... Until the end...
This book was very good until the end. I think it was a bit flaky at the end with everything ending away from the action.
Published 3 months ago by Lesa S. Wilson

1.0 out of 5 stars I want my reading time back!
I now question why I have to finish every book I begin. True, I read very quickly, but still, this one left a bad taste. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Barbara Magalnick

5.0 out of 5 stars Play Dirty
Always enjoy a Sandra Brown book...they keep me hooked until
I finish the story and goodness always prevails.
Published 5 months ago by G. Gardner

5.0 out of 5 stars A Different Twist
My husband and I listened to this on audio. We were hooked from the beginning. A mystery and a romance that started in an unusual way. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Terri D

3.0 out of 5 stars Unsympathetic Characters; Uninspired Romance
I don't read a great deal of romantic suspense, but I usually enjoy the work of Sandra Brown, who is one of the top authors in the genre. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Thriller Lover

3.0 out of 5 stars (Lack of) character study
I claimed I'd never read another Sandra Brown book after 'Ricochet'. Once I'd forgotten the details of that one, I decided to give her another chance, mostly for the football... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Brian J. Oneill

4.0 out of 5 stars Linda
I had a hard time getting into this book, but as the pages turned it got better and better. I will read more of Sandra Brown's books.
Published 7 months ago by L. Carson

4.0 out of 5 stars It's more 3 than 4
I think a lot of readers are going to be appalled by this novel. The hero, Griff, is flawed. I ended up liking him though he isn't a very ethical person. He cheated. Read more
Published 8 months ago by NLC

4.0 out of 5 stars A definite read
I enjoy Sandra's writing. I am a casual reader of novels only at night before falling asleep (usually 20 pages or less before zzzz!). Read more
Published 8 months ago by Tony Barone

1.0 out of 5 stars The most boring book she's ever written
I've read most, if not all of Sandra Brown's books and this one was boring. It finally got interesting around the last 100 pages. I loaned it to a co-worker who felt the same way.
Published 9 months ago by V. Buonincontri

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