Jeremy Roenick’s first book, his autobiographical J.R., was everything a fan would expect from the slick-talking, loud-mouthed former hockey player. The read was fun, raw, honest and it totally felt like JR was telling you a story right there in person at some dive bar. His follow-up, SHOOT FIRST, PASS LATER, feels like extra material that was tacked together as sort of a post-script.Don’t get me wrong. When Roenick talks, people listen. He is an entertaining and engaging speaker who always adds humor to his insights. And for that aspect alone, SHOOT FIRST, PASS LATER is a fun, satisfying read that any fan would enjoy. Unfortunately here, JR tends to ramble on about golf. A lot. Two full chapters worth as well as significant portions throughout. Reading about golf is about as exciting as it is watching the event on television, and for a hockey fan who is used to fast-paced action, golf is like attending a Grateful Dead jam session after leaving a Thrash Metal concert.What does make JR’s book great, however, is when he is laying out all of his opinions. He talks the about the current state of the game, both calls out and praises players and, best of all, offers key advice to young players who are looking to work up through and into the NHL. When he gets repetitive on topics and stories covered in his first book, the pace again slows.Again, the tone and and familiarity incorporated within is what makes this a easy, enjoyable read. And face it, true believer, if you are a JR fan, you're already sold. And you will enjoy it. Just like the tale of his 500th goal, though, the finale might not be as spectacular as originally desired.
As Always,
theJOE
High school might indeed be the most
dangerous place on earth, especially during those four out-so special years.
Yet be it Lindsey Lee Johnson's post-9/11 NoCal children or John Hughes'
Shermer-based Gen X-ers, the clique names might have changed, but the game has
not.
For Johnson's debut novel, the stage is set
with a suicide - a result of the newest plague of childhood terrors,
cyber-bullying. For the remainder the novel, that death resonates with a number
of the high schoolers during their junior year, through either outright
haunting or steadfast ignorance, and becomes a bridging sequence, along with
the perspective of a newly-arrived teacher. Johnson crafts and brings life to
her characters, making them real, fun, and extremely, perhaps even
unrealistically, naughty. Her well-written POVs for the principals are fresh
and bring along a unique insight of the teenage mind.
However, and perhaps this is just the nature
of a high school-set story, big-time cliches abound, lessening the shock THE
MOST DANGEROUS PLACE ON EARTH was supposed to bite you with. The
student-teacher affair, the beautiful dreamer, the bad boy, the been there, the
done that. Johnson is attentive enough to mix in some of the unexpected, but
some of those surprises are also head scratchers, like one character's decision
to runaway to a poor-man's Hollywood. And it all culminates, of course, at an
end-of-year party.
Teens will be teens and, unfortunately, many
of teens and their actions do feel as if they are filtered through the eyes of
an adult. Regardless, THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE ON EARTH is a fast, enjoyable
read, but definitely, and perhaps even hopefully, fictitious. Many thanks to
both NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review an
advance copy of an enjoyable story.
As Always,
theJOE
Jeremy Roenick’s first book, his autobiographical J.R., was everything a fan would expect from the slick-talking, loud-mouthed former hockey player. The read was fun, raw, honest and it totally felt like JR was telling you a story right there in person at some dive bar. His follow-up, SHOOT FIRST, PASS LATER, feels like extra material that was tacked together as sort of a post-script.
