4th and Fixed

by Reggie Rivers

Book Overview

Fix a Super Bowl? I never thought it possible, but 4th and Fixed is so chock-full of NFL skinny that it sweeps you along from the field to the front office and makes you believe. --Frank Deford

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402205937
• ISBN13: 9781402205934
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
• Length: 351 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

4th and Fixed

This is a book about football available to everybody because it doesn't capitalize on football. For those of us who remember the starry-eyed accounts of "the gridiron game" and other stories designed to glorify athletics that we mercifully discarded after junior high and never went back to, 4th and Fixed is an excellent return because it's suspenseful, funny, and believeable. It's great for occasional reading; excellent for a summer day; wonderful for losing yourself in. The characters: Michael Gasca and Roscoe Evans, two big-time crooks who stand to make a great deal of money if they can fix the betting on NFL wins and losses, are matched by Trevor Deale, an enterprising and resourceful quarterback whose loyalty to his teammates leads to the novel's surprising and satisfying denouement. Rivers is a master of comic timing.

The Inner Workings of the NFL shine

Reggie Rivers first foray into writing novels follows one of the first rules of writing - write about what you know. Rivers knowledge of football, being a former NFL player, is conveyed in a pleasant way. After reading this book, one might even feel that being an announcer is possible. The premise of the book is that a bookie is set upon having the San Antonio Stallions win the Super Bowl. This is done by just pushing the team along in much the same way that a slight push to a large overbalanced man can knock him off the pier. Michael Gasca, the bookie behind the scam, must embark upon his scheme while not alerting the NFL security, the police, the FBI, his crime boss, and the players themselves. Partially trying to foil him is a rookie quarterback who excels at absolutely everything he does, including police work. In order to complete these illegal acts, Gasca must work with and around NFL procedures. It is here that Rivers knowledge shines. While his characters may be simplistic and stereotypical (the owner of the Stallions for example is billionaire dot commer), it is more than made up for by watching the innerworkings of the team, complete with the loud mouth trash talker and explicit NFL films. This book moves along well enough and will fit in well to a movie. While the characters and plot are not particularly novel it is easy reading and offers a great look inside the NFL.

4 1/2 stars

I just picked this one off the shelf at the library because I'm a football fan and it's football season. Plus I like to place a few bets once in a while. I'm glad I checked it out, because it was a good well rounded novel, laced with enough humor to keep a smile on my face. As a football fan I found it both enlightening and entertaining. Recommended.

What a read!

'4th and Fixed' was an excellently written book. Rivers kept me guessing from start to end and I could not put the book down. He goes deep within the NFL and it made me wonder if fixed games are going on in real life! Rivers used so much detail in describing all of the characters, events, and places that I had the picture painted perfectly into my head. He also threw in a little bit of comedy here and there especially when describing Roscoe getting in and out of his car. It had me laughing everytime. Overall, this is my favorite fiction sports book and I would recommend this book to any sports fan.

Good fun

This was a fun, light book to read, even if the prose is a little stilted at times. It gives a good snapshot of the sports gambling world as it relates to the NFL and draws some interesting characters, particularly Michael Garsca, the bookie prodigy. None of the gambling insights will be revalations to anyone who has wagered on the football with any regularity, but for the uninitiated it outlines how bookies run their business, how a point spread works, and why bookies actually don't want the games to be fixed. Of more interest may be how the NFL tries to assure that its games remain "clean".