Play Dirty: A Novel
by Sandra Brown
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Book Summary Information
Author: Sandra BrownEdition: Hardcover
Published: 2007-08-14
ISBN: 0743289358
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Play Dirty: A Novel
Book Review: An okay book, but not Brown's best work
Summary: 3 Stars
I borrowed this book in the UK, where it was published as a paperback in 2007. If you are thinking of buying this in hardback, I'd suggest you visit the library for a copy or wait until it is published in paperback, as it isn't worth the hardback price.
It is not terrible, but is departure from Sandra Brown's usual style as there are no heroes or heroines, and the writing is not up to Sandra Brown's usual standard. Parts of the book were good to very good, but not enough to give more than a three star rating. I didn't warm to any of the characters; they are not believable, but this isn't the greatest flaw. The plot is ludicrous. Read on, if you want to know more, but be aware there are some spoilers.
A successful businessman (Foster Speakman) crippled in an auto accident 2 years previously, wants his wife (Laura) to have a baby. The wife also wants a child, and goes along with the man's plan to have the a baby using a donor "as God intended", meaning not using any of the medical breakthroughs now available to assist couples with fertility problems.
I don't believe God would condone adultery, but conceiving a child in this manner is the basis of the plot. I am not going to make moral judgments, but it started shaky and then got absolutely ridiculous with a predictable eventual outcome in order to wrap up all the loose ends.
SPOILERS FOLLOW:
The husband summons a handsome, ex-football star (Griff Burkett) on this first day out of prison and offers him a deal. Griff clearly is a man who can be bought - he was imprisoned for throwing a championship game for which he is paid $2 million from the mob. For total confidentiality involving no one other than Foster, Laura and Griff, Foster offers $100k up front to sleep with his wife, $500k on successful conception and $1 million per year for life. Griff is broke, widely reviled and has little chance of finding employment, so he accepts Foster Speakman's offer with alacrity.
The wife, acting CEO of her husband's airline, is totally insipid and the husband obviously suffering from some form of mania. In fact, in order to make him seem less of a cuckolded victim, Sandra Brown turns him from a loving husband into a manipulating maniac to make Griff and Laura seem the wronged parties. She writes Foster's OCD as a stepping stone to madness, which is both incorrect and irresponsible.
Griff, Laura and Foster all come across as seriously flawed. Throw in a detective (Stanley Rodarte) with a huge grudge against the disgraced football star, a mysterious manservant (Manuelo), a tart with a heart (Marcia) and a couple of other minor characters (coach & wife, sports' reporter, lawyers, used car dealer), but although some showed promise, they were all lacking in character development.
The husband meets a grisly end in totally ridiculous manner, and Griff is Number 1 suspect, so he goes on the run, then kidnaps/cajoles the wife to join him in order to clear his name by threatening to expose the agreement between himself and the Speakmans, which seemed very sleazy as Griff had given his word to keep the "arrangement" confidential. The detective also gets his comeuppance.
The epilogue is a bit syrupy where everything is smoothed over and Griff declares his love for Laura, but at least they didn't walk off into the sunset together, although there is the potential for a new beginning for them. Griff appeared to redeem himself over both the money and caring for people, but it didn't really ring true.
This book felt as if the author had to rush it to meet a deadline, and did not have time to strengthen the characterizations. The editor should have ensured whole passages were rewritten before publication, so I attribute some the weaknesses to the editing.
If you like Sandra Brown's later work as I do, "White Hot" is a much better book. If you like her romances, you will be very disappointed, so try Linda Lael Miller's novels instead.
Summary of Play Dirty: A Novel
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. In a place where football is practically a religion, Griff committed a cardinal sin, and no one is forgiving.
Foster Speakman, owner and CEO of SunSouth Airlines, and his wife, Laura, are a golden couple. Successful and wealthy, they lived a charmed life before fate cruelly intervened and denied them the one thing they wanted most -- a child. It's said that money can't buy everything. But it can buy a disgraced football player fresh out of prison and out of prospects.
The job Griff agrees to do for the Speakmans demands secrecy. But he soon finds himself once again in the spotlight of suspicion. An unsolved murder comes back to haunt him in the form of his nemesis, Stanley Rodarte, who has made Griff's destruction his life's mission. While safeguarding his new enterprise, Griff must also protect those around him, especially Laura Speakman, from Rodarte's ruthlessness. Griff stands to gain the highest payoff he could ever imagine, but cashing in on it will require him to forfeit his only chance for redemption...and love.
Griff is now playing a high-stakes game, and at the final whistle, one player will be dead.
Play Dirty is Sandra Brown's wildest ride yet, with hairpin turns of plot all along the way. The clock is ticking down on a fallen football star, who lost everything because of the way he played the game. Now his future -- his life -- hinges on one last play.
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