Rating: 
Summary: Memories of the past
Review: As I read this book, I found myself reliving some of the painful moments in my past. Not nearly to the severity of Andy, but I was able to identify with Andy's search for his identity, love and escape from those who cause him so much pain. I was taken back to the times when I secretly wanted to beat up my math teacher for being so cruel to me (he happened to be the basketball coach). I was taken back to the terror of the relentless torture of the school bullies whose names I still remember to this day. I was taken back to the time when I wanted my life to end becasue it would have been easier then facing my pain. Yet somehow I found the strength and help to continue. Andy's struggles were my struggles. Andy's joys were mine as well. I could easily understand and identify with Andy's world. Please Mr. Foley continue this fascinting story. Do not let Andy's story end here. I hope he finds happiness with the next chapter of his life like I have in mine. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Very depressing....
Review: But also a very good book. I've read foleys other books and they were cool, but this was the best. I even saw some stuff that happened in his life in this book (not the gruesome/sexual parts though). The thing about this book is, it's real. Stuff that happens in this book really happens in the world, and it's sad.It's like, Andy's life has been bad since child hood, then things start to get good for him. His dead beat dad who abandoned him and was also a big womanizer, started to change. Plus Andy had the prettiest, nicest girl in school as his girl friend. Things couldn't be any better right? Well then reality hits, and it hits hard. The last few chapters of the book really broke my heart, yeah that sounds corny but i really grew to like the characters of this book (some of them). And yes, i have read other novels, including Steve Kings Dark Tower series along with some of his other books, two of the Lord of the Rings books, and many other novels. So yeah, that one review that said people who liked this book must have not read other "real" books, your wrong. Now this book won't be for everyone, ceartainly it's about people's tastes. But this book is REAL, this stuff can really happen to people. Maybe not all at once like it did to Andy (the books main character) but it ceartainly does happen. I really hope Mick Foley writes a sequel, because as one reviewer said, the end was left open for one. I'd really like to see Andy Brown again, get his life back together. All in all, give the book a try. If you like it then buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Whacked-Out book
Review: Definate page turner..couldn't put the book down. It is most definately the most whacked book I've read, but fantastic! I hope there is a sequal.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: Don't just think that this book can be enjoyed by wrestling fans. If you've read any of Foley's other books you should enjoy this one but even if you haven't this is still a great book. I read it in 3 days and it still left me wanting more.
Rating: 
Summary: I feel like I've been thrown off the Hell in a Cell!
Review: First off, I love Mick Foley. I bought this book at his book signing in Arlington, VA, and he was great. I rushed right home and started reading it. I didn't mind the violence. I didn't mind the kinky sex. The characters were memorable, and more than that, they seemed real. Almost too real. They grew and grew on me. But as I got closer to the end of this book, I started to feel sick. Foley has managed to capture the cruelty of high school life better than ANY other author I have ever read. I completely connected with his characters, and I could not put this book down. And the sheer torture that he puts his protagonist through, it was like watching the Rock hit Mankind 14 times over the head with a steel chair. I am not knocking Foley or his writing, the writing is great, but with everything he put me through, I felt like the emotional payoff at the end wasn't enough. It takes a lot for a book or movie to upset me like this, I don't think it's happened since I saw The World According to Garp when I was way too young to be watching a movie like that. I'm glad I read it, and I hope that there is a short story someday that shows us a HAPPY, middle aged Andy Brown. He deserves to be happy. And I would definatly read another of Foley's books. But I don't think I could read this one again, it would be too painful. Mick, there is a reason they call you the Hardcore Legend.
Rating:
Summary: What is a good person?
Review: First off, let me just say that I've done of lot of reading over the years. I have a BA in history and English literature, an MA in history, and nearly a Ph.D. in history. I'm pretty selective in what I read. I originally bought this book, not because I found the story interesting, but becasue I thought I owed it to Mick Foley. Foley gave so much to all of us as fans of wrestling, that I thought I owed it to him to buy his novel and give it a chance. I finally just now got around to reading it, and once I began I didn't put it down until I was finished. It was, without a doubt, one of the best novels I've ever read, and I've read a lot of them. The story just keeps you glued to the page. It's full of humor, and if you know Foley, it's full of his particular brand of humor. It's also one of the darkest things I've ever read. Knowing that Foley grew up in a loving family and now has one of his own, one wonders where this dark tale comes from. If you've ever seen his old Cactus Jack promos, maybe it comes from that same place. But the horrible things that happen to Andy Brown are not just there to shock. They are central to a story about how a human being can endure so much hell and somehow still emerge in the end as a good person. I think that is the central question Foley is asking: What is a good person? I think his answer is one who comes out undefeated by the terrible things that life can hand to us. Tietam Brown is evil, not because of the things he does, but because of what he has let tradgedy do to him. It's a bit like why Captain Ahab is evil and unredeemable. Mick Foley has really written something special here. The next time he publishes a novel, I'll buy it because of its own merits, not because of my admiration for the author's past acheivements.
Rating:
Summary: What is a good person?
Review: First off, let me just say that I've done of lot of reading over the years. I have a BA in history and English literature, an MA in history, and nearly a Ph.D. in history. I'm pretty selective in what I read. I originally bought this book, not because I found the story interesting, but becasue I thought I owed it to Mick Foley. Foley gave so much to all of us as fans of wrestling, that I thought I owed it to him to buy his novel and give it a chance. I finally just now got around to reading it, and once I began I didn't put it down until I was finished. It was, without a doubt, one of the best novels I've ever read, and I've read a lot of them. The story just keeps you glued to the page. It's full of humor, and if you know Foley, it's full of his particular brand of humor. It's also one of the darkest things I've ever read. Knowing that Foley grew up in a loving family and now has one of his own, one wonders where this dark tale comes from. If you've ever seen his old Cactus Jack promos, maybe it comes from that same place. But the horrible things that happen to Andy Brown are not just there to shock. They are central to a story about how a human being can endure so much hell and somehow still emerge in the end as a good person. I think that is the central question Foley is asking: What is a good person? I think his answer is one who comes out undefeated by the terrible things that life can hand to us. Tietam Brown is evil, not because of the things he does, but because of what he has let tradgedy do to him. It's a bit like why Captain Ahab is evil and unredeemable. Mick Foley has really written something special here. The next time he publishes a novel, I'll buy it because of its own merits, not because of my admiration for the author's past acheivements.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfully strong sense of storytelling
Review: Foley tells a wonderful story about a person many of us can relate to. Although he has lived a life of challenges and reform school, he is essentially the everyman, the person who has fears and feels isolated, like he's the born loser. Who can't relate to that? The characters are strongly developed and story moves along fine. Descriptions are rich in detail. Foley's storytelling voice is by far his strongest asset, and this debut novel shows he has a gift, and hopefully he keeps developing his gift, and has more stories to share.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting debut novel
Review: Having finally had the chance to read this book, I have to say that it's not perfect or a classic, like some have suggested. On the other hand, it's not abyssmal, either. In fact, given the fact that Foley is a first time novelist, it's a remarkable read.
Simply put, this book is worth picking up for the character of Tietam Brown, Andy's father, who winds up as one of the most haunting, complex and realistic characters I've enountered in recent memory. I've known people like Tietam, who honestly tried to be decent people, but were overcome by rage. By the end of the book, even though he says he still "can't help but smile" when he thinks of Tietam, Andy also sees how destructive his own rage can be, and I think that's why he's able to make a turn for the better by the end of the book. As for Tietam... someone else compared him to Captain Ahab, and I think that's an apt description. He's a tragic figure, who might be charming at times and you sometimes feel sympathy for him, but he's beyond redemption. [SPOILERS AHEAD, DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE THINGS RUINED]I tend to think, during Andy and Tietam's final confrontation, I have the feeling Tietam lied about being responsible for the death of Andy's mother, maybe even her 'history', just to rile Andy up... especially since he had the tape recorder ready.[END SPOILERS]
Andy isn't quite as well realized, but what Foley gives us is really interesting. He's a bright kid, not afraid to stand up to "phonies", but still a very tortured soul. I would have liked to see a little bit more of the wit he showed when verbally sparring with the coach and Terri's father. It's a pretty accurate portrayal of a socially inept person who gets a lot of crap in school, even if some of it was over the top.
Other characters play heavily into the book's redemption theme, or exist only to torment Andy, and as a result aren't as fully realized. It would have been nice to see at least some of the supporting cast given a bit more depth, but again, this is a first novel.
Plot-wise, it's not what you might call a classically plotted story, but it does grip you and make you want to read on. There are a few loose ends I would have liked to see tied up a little more(some of the mysteries about Tietam are never clearly explained, for example), but you really are drawn in and want to see how it ends. I intended to only start the book, and actually finished it in a single night... very few books have pulled me in that much.
In terms of style, the book is written with a similar voice to Foley's autobiographies, particularly in the beginning. This created a slight problem for me, as I had trouble seperating Andy from Mick. Compare to Lawrence Block, who writes in the first person and all of his character have a very distinctive "voice". Toward the end of the book, as other reviewers have pointed out, Andy takes on a life of his own, and it made me wish that he had spoken in such a way through the whole book.
The only other problem I had with the book were that a few jokes and anecdotes were lifted straight from his first two books, and the wrestling references at times got a little too heavy. I didn't have a problem when, say, it mentions a promoter named Fuller and his "crazy son Robert", but when, in the middle of a tense fight scene, the owner of J.R.'s comes out wearing a black cowboy hat, I had to groan a little. I hope the upcoming Scooter will remove some of this.
Overall, again, this is a really strong piece of work for a debut novelist. Granted, I get the feeling his success on his previous books meant he didn't get edited as strongly as he should have, and I suspect there were few, if any revisions, due to the marked improvement in the styling. But there's a lot of potential here, and once you get into the book, it's engrossing. I'm giving it such a high rating because I really did find myself enjoying it, but I suspect with four to five novels under his belt, we'll be looking at a very skilled and, more than likely, very popular author.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I bought this book because I am a big fan of Mick Foley as a wrestler, entertainer and writer. I read his first two books and thought they were good. This book is GREAT!! A little twisted and disturbing but truly great. I hope Mick is working on another book. I read alot of books and was truly entertained by this one. I couldn't put it down and once I was done I went back and re-read alot of it.
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