Book Review: End Run

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

End Run     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Steve Brewer
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Amateur Sleuth   Sports   Noir   Political Intrigue
Series: Drew Gavin # 1
Intrigue, Oct 2000, $22.95, 320 pp.

Albuquerque Gazette sports columnist Drew Gavin hates watching his alma mater University of New Mexico Lobos playing football as they almost always lose even at home. This year’s homecoming game, a sure defeat at the hands of nationally ranked BYU, includes a ten-year reunion that is his graduating class. Though not intending to go because he feels like a failure next to his alumni peers, Drew cannot stop himself from entering the class tent where he sees his college girlfriend Helen.

Bookie Three-Eyes plans to make an example of Helen’s spouse, Freddie Graham, who owes the bet taker a fortune. Knowing his sports connections, Helen wants Drew to ask Three-Eye for an extension. Drew tries, but Three-Eye refuses to budge. Drew heads to the nearby mountains to talk with Freddie, only to find Freddie’s dead. The police suspect the murder, done with a fire poker, is a crime of passion, which leaves Drew as the prime suspect. Rather than wait for further damaging evidence to surface, Drew begins his own inquiries starting with an END RUN with no blockers in front of him and plenty of defenders waiting to tackle him.

The first Gavin amateur sleuth mystery is a powerful modern sports noir that provides a glimpse into the deadly political side of major college sports. The story line is crisp, often outrageous, but always fun. However, the plot belongs to its faded star, a has been jock found seeking to connect his short glory days with his failed present by using self deprecation and interesting “soliloquies”. Steve Brewer provides a tale that will send readers seeking his other series (Bubba Mabry) while wanting Gavin sequels.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner