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Avg. Rating: 3.5
A Sports Book? A Crime Novel? An unsatisfactory mess...
I'm not familiar with Stephen Frey's previous work, so I can't say whether or not I think this book is representative of his other work or an aberration. "Forced Out" attempts to blend the "curmudgeonly old sports figure" with a mafia story and the result is a long way from both "Shoeless Joe" (the novel that became "Field of Dreams") and "The Godfather".
Protagonist Jack Barrett, forced out of his position as a Scout for the Yankees, is old and bitter - reduced to bagging groceries in Florida. His daughter drags him to a game where a local phenom looks like the Next Big Thing in Baseball, and Jack thinks he has his way back to the official fringe of the Major Leagues. But Mikey the phenom has a bad attitude and says he is content to stay with his local team.
Back in New York, a Luchessi Family Hit Man gets instructions for a new job, but things don't seem quite right.
The best baseball books give the reader a feel for the game - you can smell the old horsehide, and the best Mafia books give you a sense that YOU, under similar circumstances, could be part of The Family just as easily. In Forced Out the two genres are blended and the resulting mixture is... less than the sum of its parts.
Let Down
I picked up this book knowing that the writing would be less than stellar. I've read a few Stephen Frey books and already know his writing style. So, I won't harp on it except to say that the writing was quite pedestrian. Much of the dialogue didn't seem real, and some of the characters were not very believable.
I would have stopped reading many books with writing like this, but the story here was pretty good. I was interested to see what happened with Jack, MJ, Cheryl, and The Kid (and the constant referral to Mikey Clemant as The Kid grew very tiring).
Regardless of the ridiculous dialogue, sterotypical mafia guys, side plots that went nowhere, and other annoyances, I kept reading because I was drawn into the main story-line. The lives of Jack, MJ, Clemant, Deuce, and Tony Treviso were brought together fairly well to a potentially great climax. But, the last 60 pages or so are an absolute train wreck. Without giving anything away, I just didn't see the reason for what happened. It seemed as if the author wanted to throw some twists at the reader, but the twists only left me shaking my head in confusion and dismay. Plus, there was a side character who became very prominent throughout the book and then simply disappears at the end. What happened? Where did they go? Where was the editor??
I almost slapped 2 stars on this review, but it's more of a 2.5 star book. I threw in the extra half star because I kept turning the pages to see what happened. Unfortunately, the turning of the last pages merely let me down.
Predictable, but a decent summer read.
The story line is fairly predictable...a few twists and turns here and there. The character development is enough that you understand the major characters and why they do what they do. I liked this book, but it obviously wasn't terribly engaging as it took me a while to finish it once I started. I'd put it in the category of a book that you read at the beach or on vacation when you don't want anything too strenuous to read. There is some fairly graphic sex and violence, but it is not a major part of the book and does fit with the story line.
Predictable
FORCED OUT by Stephen Frey is the story of Jack Barrett, an ex-Yankee scout. Living in a small town in Florida. His daughter gets him to go watch the local minor-league play. There he discovers Mikey Clemant, although Mikey has a bad attitude and some unsavory habits, Jack thinks he just found his big bread back into the Yankee organization. Unbeknownst to Jack, Mikey has a very dark past that he is trying hard to keep secret. It may even put Jack's life in jeapardy!
FORCED OUT was very predictable. There were a few minor story-lines thrown in that did not add anything to the story and were left hanging with no closure. The ending of the book was nothing short of ridiculous. I would not recommend this book!
Intense story
A very well written and intense story that will keep you coming back for more. Stephen Frey really steps out with this story. This is an excellent drama that any suspense fan will enjoy.
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