The professional athlete has been raised to unheard of heights, both in America and abroad. They are watched by millions, adored, and sometimes hated, but always viewed with an insane fascination. We have taken these people, who have nothing more then above-average athletic ability, and given them the world on a silver platter. The unfortunate consequence is that they consider this to be their due and they expect nothing but the best. Sometimes, though, that smiling face you see on television is only a mask for the asshole that lies beneath. In Lights Out, Jason Starr takes us into a weekend in the life of a professional baseball player, and the people that orbit like satelites around him.
Ryan Rossetti and Jake Thomas grew up together in the same Brooklyn neighborhood. Both were talented baseball players and they competed against each other all through pee-wee league and into high school. While Ryan was the more talented player, Jake was the people person. He was the one that had the popularity, the friends, and the beautiful girl, Christina. They get their chance when they get drafted to separate teams right out of high school. Unfortunately, Ryan's signature curveball becomes a detriment when it causes him to blow out his elbow and sends him packing back to Brooklyn, his parents house, and a 10-an-hour job as a housepainter. And while Ryan is scraping his life back together in Brooklyn, Jake's star continues to rise. Unfortunately, so does his ego. He expects to get everything he demands because he has always gotten everything he demands. His public face is the face of a politician, smiling and friendly, always there for his fans. His real face is that of a womanizer and drug user and it eventually catches up with him. When faced with a pending public claim of statutory rape, Jake decides to head back to Brooklyn and sets a wedding date with Christina, hoping to counteract the negative press. What Jake doesn't know is that Ryan and Christina have been having an affair. Jake's descent into Brooklyn sets off a great clamor and clang that will affect the lives of everyone around him.
In this hobby of mine I receive a multitude of books, of all kinds and all genres. Some are good, some are fabulous, and some are mind-blowing. Unfortunately this doesn't fall under any of these adjectives. The writing was shallow with no depth or perspective and the characters were flat. Frankly the characters appeared to have been drawn straight from a how-to on police profiling. We are assualted with the angry Italian plumber who beats his wife and throws around "spook" and "nigger" as every other word. We have the black, unemployed, ex-con gang member who can't get a job because "The Man" is keeping him down. Not to mention the white boy who runs around like Eminem with his baggy clothes and loud-ass rap music. The other irritation I recieved from this book is the constant running inventory of every brand-name that these people are wearing. The author spends more time describing Jake and Ryan's wardrobe than he does developing the characters themselves. Maybe I'm not sophisticated enough to understand the "neo-noir" genre this is being hyped under, but I don't think I want to if it involves selections such as this. Read at your own risk.
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Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; 1 edition (September 19, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 0312359721
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