Kicker: Going The Distance by Cy Young
Pages: 354
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Private Investigator
Published: 25 Nov 2021
Publisher: N/A
Publisher's Blurb
His first case: after taking a major hit in a New York Giant's game, he nurses his wounds and heads to Jasper, Arkansas to investigate the death of a fellow player's brother. On arrival, he endures a different kind of hit. He's devastated by a stunningly beautiful lawyer who draws him into her battle against vicious wife-abusers and a serial killer.
Mira Strickland has just returned to her hometown in Jasper, Arkansas from NYC where she was exonerated from killing her abusive husband in self-defense. Her current conflict is with the local sheriff who’s convinced, because of the fact that she killed her husband, that she’s the murderer of the three local abusers, but he can’t prove it.
Frankie, initially, isn’t sure if she is the killer, but is suspicious, especially when he finds an engraved bracelet at the murder site. He knows that Mira was given a bracelet by her tennis coach.
Meanwhile another dangerous threat is surfacing. It unlocks a torrent of snowballing events that utilizes all Frankie’s skills to survive.
Review
When pro footballer Frankie Scarmazino sustains a serious injury bringing his season to a premature end, he decides to take a break and try his hand in the world of private investigations, specifically, the death of a friends brother out in Jasper, Arkansas.
However, it appears that this wasn’t the only slaying in the small south central county, and to find the killer Frankie will need to investigate the multiple murders of local men who were all suspected wife beaters.
What follows takes the ‘Kicker’ on a hunt that could cost him his life, particularly if the remaining members of the ‘Wife Beaters’ club have anything to say in the matter.
Frankie Scarmazino is intelligent, quick witted and whilst able to handle himself in a confrontation he also shows a softer side with his liking for knitting and his willingness to help out the local school’s football team with some guidance and training for the rookie kicking trio.
Told mainly from Frankie’s viewpoint, the author also slots in interesting background biographies as each of the main characters in introduced which, whilst not absolutely necessary, adds an extra dimension that helps the reader understand the motives of those concerned.
The plot moves along at a nice pace and the characters are memorable. The majority of the clues are unearthed through diligent detective work and there is a healthy balance between the main plot and the side stories. I particularly enjoyed the sections dealing with Frankie’s work with the local school football team which helped to break up the murder investigation narrative.
A romantic side plot, and a few red herrings all added in to the mix, gave the story a degree of depth that I wasn’t expecting. The author has a way with dialog and descriptive prose which allows the story to flow.
Chapter length is kept relatively short which encourages the ‘just one more’ attitude in the reader and made the book difficult to put down.
The final reveal and inevitable confrontation felt a little bit rushed but didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the story. I look forward to the next installment of The Kicker’s adventures.
The Author
Cy moved to New York where he performed on Broadway, in Upstairs at the Downstairs revues.
He recorded for Painted Smiles records, wrote several produced musicals, and co-starred at London's Globe Theater in "Divorce Me Darling."
He played opposite Buster Keaton in "Once Upon A Mattress," and had three plays published by French.
He wrote a short story, "The Schitzle Connection," which won first prize in an Oklahoma City Writers' competition and was later published by Twit Publishing (Winter/Spring 2011 Edition), and has now written 7 books.
More by Cy Young
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