Review of MONEY SHOT by Brian Rouff

Hardway Press, September 2004

Alan Nichols (Nick) was already thinking about quitting his job at an advertising agency when he picks up a bottle of 'Bigg Fizz' that says 'winner.' Living in Las Vegas, Nick has plenty of experience being a winner--and it almost always costs him more than he can afford. Still, when a co-worker spots the winning bottle-cap, Nick calls and finds that he is, indeed, the winner. If he can sink a basketball from the three point line, he'll win one million dollars. Naturally Nick's wife Pam and daughter Kim are quick to help him spend the money--even before he wins it.

When his boss refuses to let him take time off for practice, Nick quits, finds a coach (a former college woman's player) and begins to work on his game--and his inner game. But shooting baskets in practice is one thing, shooting when the money is on the line is something else. And by now, Nick has a host of people counting on him to make that shot.

Author Brian Rouff (see also our review of DICE ANGEL by Rouff) combines humor, sharp insights into humanity, and powerful writing to propell the reader through his story. Nick is a great everyman, trying to keep his family together, worrying just a little about the onset of age, and prepared to believe that maybe, just this once, good things can happen.

I read through the book at a single sitting--it's just that hard to put down.

Four Stars

Reviewed 11/27/04

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