Reviewed by Taylor

TITLE: The Foxhole Court
SERIES: All for the Game, Book 1
AUTHOR: Nora Sakavic
PUBLISHER: Self-published with Smashwords
LENGTH: 140 pages
BLURB: Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He’s short, he’s fast, he’s got a ton of potential—and he’s the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn’t need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed.

But Neil’s not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil’s new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can’t walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he’s finally found someone and something worth fighting for.

REVIEW:

It will be hard to discuss this book without spoilers, and it’s difficult to think of this book as a separate piece on its own.  I have not read the sequel to The Foxhole Court, yet; I get the sense the series is one long overarching story and the first book is the set-up, with hopefully the second book being the development, and the final book will resolve the conflicts.  That’s not to say the author didn’t have large events happen in this book, but it felt incomplete, leaving me confused.

What I liked about this book is the mystery, the characters, and the absolute craziness throughout the book.  You have to throw out any ideas of plausibility with this kind of book and just go with it.   The book has little psychopathic monsters running around with hidden knives, killers operating in the sporting field, a made-up sport, etc.  You also have to go into this without any expectations of a romance in this book, and we most certainly will not have a typical m/m romance in the future for this series.

The Foxhole Court focuses on a fictional sport called Exy, which seems like a mix of lacrosse, hockey, and a few other things.  It’s violent, extremely popular and the driving force for happiness for Neil – our protagonist- and Kevin, the former national star of Exy.  Neil is on the run from his father, an abusive man in the mob, and also from other mob bosses that control numerous aspects in Exy.  They control the teams, the arenas, the media and the workings within the game as much as they can.

So there’s all that, which should have been what I concentrated on, but I’ll admit for much of this book I didn’t know what was going on, what the point was, and where it all was heading.  I’ll also admit it took me a while to warm to Neil, and I think the author could have presented his backstory (and personality) in a quicker manner.  It felt dragged out in parts, and I kept wishing he’d get more interaction with characters, rather than so much introspection.

Even though I’m not big into written sports, I realized that each scene of practice really did show aspects of the characters’ personalities, where the clique lines divided, and hinted at motives characters might have towards playing well or not. I think once they really start playing in the following books, the action will become exciting and definitely tenser.

My favorite aspect of this book hands down, though, is Andrew.  I have SO many questions and ideas about Andrew.  The way his medications worked and his reaction to the medications really didn’t jive with me well, but I think the author is hinting at something deeper not yet revealed.  Why is he so protective of Kevin and not really of his twin?  Is he really a sociopath?  Also, I think it’s interesting how the author described him with Exy.  How he’s talented, but he as this air about him that he doesn’t care, maybe even resents what the sport represents.  But I think most of all when he’s out there, he feels alive in some hidden way.  He knows Kevin needs him to care and play well, he knows Coach has so much ridding on the outcome of these games and the future of the Foxes; he equally knows the team wants to win.  So it’s a game to him inside of the game he’s playing.  It’s about power.  He’s short and looks initially demure, he’s used to only feeling numb or anger, but having control over whether or not he gives a crap about Exy – THAT gives him power over everyone.  So, yeah, Andrew is badass.

Looking forward to the next one and hopefully some answers to all these questions.

Taylor rates it:

BUY LINKS: Smashwords :: Amazon

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Taylor is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.

To read all her reviews, click the link: TAYLOR’S REVIEWS
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