Center Cut (Hardscrabble Books)

Rating:
Summary: Corrigan Continues On His Game
Review: For an English teacher from Maine, John Corrigan certainly has a handle on life in the PGA as well as the game of life. Jack Austin is back, with a wife and child now and has started to ramp up his game. Ten years on the Tour and no wins as he readies for The Memorial Tournament in Ohio, hosted by Jack Nicklaus. If only all he had to worry about was the other competitors.

A friend of his on tour, Grant Ashley has married. His wife Lynn acts oddly when being interviewed by Jack's wife for a piece on golf wives and then goes missing. She turns up in the company of Jack's agent, Jim Dempsey. Jim also represents Grant. Grant's new caddy appears stoned during a practice round and later is murdered. Dempsey is leaving his wife and family for Lynn. Nothing seems to make sense. It's the sort of thing which can be very distracting when you are trying to beat Tiger Woods. As Austin summarizes: "A woman in Texas was trying to understand why her husband left her and was desperate enough to ask me, a friend of her husband...one she had met only a handful of times. Grant Ashley was alone. Lynne Ashley had been exploited and very likely had, in turn, exploited Jim Dempsey. Mike Easley had been stabbed in the back." Talk about your distractions.

The nice thing about this book is that while stories such as this which try to live in the present with real people as a part of it, especially which deal with sports, often don't work; this book works very well indeed.

The relationships are believeable, the charactersare well drawn, the dialogue is tightly written, the action both on and off the golf course feels authentic and you are kept happily turning pages until the last page when Austin faces a crucial last putt.

Whether it falls or not, there is surely more to come in the adventures of Jack Austin and that is good news for the fans of his novels. If you haven't found this author yet, this would be a good one to start with.



Rating:
Summary: Jack Austin gets back in the swing of things
Review: Golfer Jack Austin has been feeling anxious about his game, a state of mind that began several months prior when he blew his chance to win a major tournament. Since then, he's been mired in a slump. Just as he's starting to regain his form, he becomes involved in the murder investigation of the caddy of a colleague. Although the evidence suggests a drug deal gone bad, Jack has reason to believe otherwise. He thus once again finds himself in a perilous situation on and off the course as he seeks the truth.

Center Cut is Corrigan's third novel to feature pro golfer Jack Austin, following Cut Shot (2002) and Snap Hook (2004). Likeable and down to earth, Austin is the perfect narrator, observant but not omnipotent, confident, but painfully aware of his flaws. As such, he provides as much insight into the motivations of those around him as he does about the PGA and his profession, keeping readers' interest piqued in the ongoing murder investigation and his personal triumphs and travails on the golf course.

One of Center Cut's strengths is that it's not necessary to be a golf aficionado to enjoy it--Corrigan writes well enough writer that Jack Austin would be as interesting if he were a baker or a plumber. The real beauty of the book, though, is how Corrigan makes the world of the PGA seem fascinating to non-linksters; even those who are bored to tears by golf will enjoy reading this first rate novel.