Bad Lie
Posted on September 6th, 2009
Bad Lie
By John R. Corrigan
University Press of New England
ISBN 1-58465-454-6
Jack Austin has a job that many people would envy: As a reasonably successful twelve-year veteran of the PGA tour (85th on the money list, and ranked 99th in the world), Jack spends most of his time getting paid to play golf.
But when his friend, twenty-year old Nash Henley, needs his help, Jack willingly spends all of his limited spare time working as an amateur sleuth on Nash’s behalf. Nash’s father, a mysteriously troubled and secretive man, has been found brutally beaten and murdered in Milton, Massachusetts, and the police seem either unable or unwilling to find whoever was responsible. Now Nash, the All-American collegiate football player, needs to find out what happened to his father, and Jack—with private investigator Perkins giving Jack a little extra help in the form of muscle and experience—sets out to find the answers to Nash’s questions: Why was Nash’s father murdered? Who was responsible? And—if an answer to this final question is even possible—why had Nash’s father abandoned the family when Nash was only five years old?
When Jack begins making inquiries, however, problems quickly arise that threaten to make Jack’s life difficult and dangerous. A notorious criminal with a history of drug dealing, pimping, and violence—Jerome Pulchuck—confronts Jack and seems, at times, rather eager to have Jack share any leads and information, but at other times Pulchuck seems more than eager to do anything he can to thwart Jack’s investigation.
However, relying upon the same kind of determination and focus that helps him survive the pressures of the PGA tour, Jack refuses to be distracted from his objective: He will discover the answers that Nash so desperately needs—even though the path to discovery will involve more than a few very nasty traps and hazards. And, as Jack also discovers, knowing how to swing and connect with a 9-degree TaylorMade r7 Quad driver can be very useful both on and off the course!
Bad Lie succeeds as an entertaining and unique novel in which author John R. Corrigan capably combines plenty of scenes from PGA tournaments (including cameo appearances of famous players) and an interesting (if somewhat predictable)“whodunit” mystery plot. The affable narrator and protagonist Jack Austin is an intelligent fellow who often quotes lines from Philip Levine’s poetry when pondering different people and situations. In the final analysis, Jack’s progress and resourcefulness in this interesting, action-packed adventure should appeal to plenty of readers—including those (like me) who willingly submit themselves to the agonies and ecstasies of the most humbling of all past-times: golf.
Tags: Amateur Sleuth, Collegiate Football, Football Player, Henley, Inquiries, John R Corrigan, Milton Massachusetts, Nash, New England, Notorious Criminal, Objective, Perkins, Pga Tour, Pimping, Private Investigator, Secretive Man, Spare Time, Traps, University Press Of New England, Veteran
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