Paydirt by Paul Levine

I always have trouble finding my husband a birthday gift, but I found the perfect present in Paul Levine’s novel, “Paydirt.” If you have a brother, father, or son who loves to read an upbeat novel revolving around football, then “Paydirt” is for you! In Part One, the reader meets Bobby Gallagher, a man who seems to have everything a man could want: a high-paying job, a beautiful, loyal wife, and a son who worships Bobby. Working with his father-in-law as a lawyer for the pro-football team, the Dallas Mustangs, Bobby protects the players from prison by employing not so ethical practices. While Bobby seems content, eventually one day he loses everything: his job, his wife, and his son.

Not wanting to reveal exactly what happens in Bobby, I can tell you that his solution to winning his old life back involves fixing the Super Bowl. Yep, the biggest football game of the year! Working with bookies, attempting to escape a gangster who wants his body floating in the Gulf of Mexico, and trying to hold on to custody of his son, Bobby knows that the chances of him getting out of his situation alive is slim. Fortunately, one of the teams playing in the championship is the Dallas Mustangs, a team he happens to know everything about. Having the inside scoop to this team allows Bobby to have a glimmer of hope of fixing this game and preserving his life and family.

Amidst the drama, Levine fills “Paydirt” with quotes from famous coaches, players, and sports commentators and focuses on one of the basics of football: the players. Levine allows Bobby to represent a man with a high moral code, who will stop at nothing to preserve this characteristic within him. Fighting against his crooked father-in-law, Martin Kingsley, Bobby represents the antithesis of any lawyer stereotype. Mixing football with drama, Levine creates a book that any man would love to have on his bookshelf.

4.5 stars