Title/Author:
“Blocking
Paris” by Bill Thesken
Genre/topics:
Golf,
fiction, romance, drama, humor
Published:
May 1,
2014
Length:
246 pages
Rating:
3 of 5
stars (good)
Review:
A group of
four men gather every day for a round of match play golf. The stakes are low but the camaraderie is
great and the guys have a good time.
Then one day, one of them announces that he is going to propose to his
girlfriend in Paris and the others are worried about the end of the golf
outings. They, along with three
girlfriends of the fiancée, then scheme to figure a way to stop the trip to
Paris from happening.
This story
has many elements that will keep the reader engrossed – there is some romance,
of course. An interesting link is that
the three girlfriends each dated one of the other three men in the golf
foursome, although all of them are now single.
There is drama in the story, especially as the reader will wonder if
this rag-tag group can stop Archie from getting on that plane to Paris? There is humor as many funny passages can be
found throughout the book.
Also, of
course, there are many passages about golf.
I do like how Thesken makes each of these men “regular” golfers, meaning
they are regular hackers like most people who play on municipal course like
theirs. Of course, since the story is
set in Hawaii, there is some beautiful scenery, but it doesn’t take away from
the realistic golf scenes. However,
there is always a lucky break or two in each match. Scenes like balls that are heading out of
bounds always seem to hit a tree or rock and bounce back to the fairway happen
regularly in this book. I wish that
would happen more regularly to me on the course!
The story
moves along quite well with good interaction and character development of the
other characters. It leads to a very
hectic final scene at the airport when they are trying to stop Archie and his
soon-to-be fiancée from boarding the plane to Paris. This final scene, while at
times hilarious, was a bit over the top for me in trying to resolve the story. Without giving anything away, I just felt
that this ending took too much attention and energy away from the real story of
keeping the golf buddies together.
Despite the last scene, this was a book that I enjoyed reading and would recommend it to readers who love golf. Readers who also like some romance, drama and humor with the sports will also like this book.
I wish to
thank NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest
review.
Did I skim?
No
Did I feel connected to the
characters?
Yes,
especially Archie. While reading this book, even though he was clearly the
foursome’s member with the most money and apparently didn’t need to work for a
living like the other three, his moods, golf game and happiness because he was
in love made him a very likable characters.
The others, both the men and women, were realistic as well, but I liked
Archie the best.
Pace of the story:
It was
very good up to the last scene at the airport.
At that point, it seemed like the story would not come to a
conclusion. Of course, it eventually did
and with something of a twist as well.
Do I recommend?
Yes. It is an entertaining story and golf fans
will enjoy the long passages when the buddies are playing their matches.
ebook
(Kindle)
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