Too Far

by Mike Lupica

Overview

“Real-life news reports of out-of-control hazing by high school sports teams give Lupica’s tale a ripped-from-the-headlines thrill.”—Publishers Weekly
 
South Shore High School’s nationally recognized basketball team is in the midst of a winning season when its team manager is murdered—and aspiring sportswriter, senior Sam Perry, begins to hear stories of hazing that went over the line.  As the ranks close against him, he turns to fallen-from-grace city newsman Ben Mitchell for help. And the two will discover just how far a town will go to get a state championship.
  
“Brisk writing and bristling with suspense. Too Far is too smart to figure out. (You won’t.) It’s terrific.”—Patricia Cornwell

“Surprising, dark...stunning…filled with twisting plot, crackling dialogue and unforgettable characters.”—*Harlan Coben

“It’s simple, you can write or you can’t. Lupica can. And Too Far proves it again.”—Robert B. Parker

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101191842
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/01/2005
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	356 KB

About the Author

Mike Lupica is the #1 bestselling author of many popular books for young readers, including Fantasy League, QB 1, Heat, Travel Team, Million-Dollar Throw, and The Underdogs. He has carved out a niche as the sporting world’s finest storyteller. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and their four children. When not writing novels, he writes for New York's Daily News.

What People are Saying About This

Harlan Coben

Filled with a twisting plot, crackling dialogue and unforgettable characters.

Editorial Reviews

Most of New York Daily News columnist and ESPN commentator Lupica's work, fiction (Red Zone, etc.) and nonfiction (Summer of '98, etc.), is grounded in the world of sports. This thriller/mystery tells of a high school basketball team whose winning season is threatened by the murder of its manager, Bobby Ferraro, and allegations of sadistic initiation rites. Former sportswriter and television commentator Ben Mitchell has quit the business and retired to self-imposed exile in South Fork, his Long Island hometown, after one of his columns exposed a coach's lies about his war record, which led to the coach's suicide. Ben spends his days reading newspapers, watching television and endlessly rehashing his responsibility for the coach's death. When novice sportswriter Sam Perry, a high school senior, shows up with what looks like a sensational story, Ben finds his old reporting juices flowing again. Soon the two of them are crashing around town investigating Ferraro's murder, angering the citizens of South Fork, who want nothing to interfere with their team's climb to the state championship. Real-life news reports of out-of-control hazing by high school sports teams give Lupica's tale a ripped-from-the-headlines thrill, but the slow pace and predictable plot may tire readers not fascinated by the sports angle. Agent, Esther Newberg. (Jan.) Forecast: Lupica's many fans will like this one, but don't look for interest among general thriller readers. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

the death of a high school basketball coach and rumors of violent hazing, a washed-up newspaperman finds himself recruited to discover what's really up with the team. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The famed sportswriter turns to high-school basketball for his latest and shows he's got some game. Famed fictitious sportswriter Ben Mitchell has packed it in. As the direct result of a story he wrote, a man is dead, by suicide, and so the hair-shirted Mitchell is in self-exile in South Fork, Long Island, his hometown, where he's spent the past six months trying to get used to the idea that he's an ex-famed sportswriter, trying to convince himself there are vocational alternatives even for a born reporter. Not easy. In fact, for him, not possible, as he learns when young Sam Perry seeks his help. Young Sam, a senior at South Fork High as Mitchell was before him, has stumbled onto a story that scares him. And well it should. It has to do with the unsolved murder of Bobby Ferraro, manager of the South Fork High School basketball team, seen by some as the nation's best. Bobby's death, Sam has reason to believe, might be related to murky behavior (think Deliverance) involving star players. In South Fork, a town emotionally invested to the hilt, investigative journalism aimed at the beloved Hawks is an invitation to a ride on a rail. Sam knows that. So does Mitchell. Ink-stained wretches that they are, however, neither can resist. Lupica (Red Zone, 2003, etc.) hasn't exactly shot the lights out here-plotting goes a bit loose toward the end-but the story is timely and competently told. Agent: Esther Newberg/ICM

Kirkus Reviews