I like John Grisham novels generally, and this one had things I liked, but in my opinion it's not his best work. Though this is definitely not one of his "typical" legal mystery thrillers, it has some memorable characters - unfortunately, not all of them developed as much as they could have been. The wanna be jock sportswriter somehow doesn't really come to life - and when he briefly reappears near the end, the encounter left us flat. The interesting college co-ed with Chanel red painted toe nails has a family history, mentioned often, but never revealed - true for the main character, too.

The NFL overseas theme is a current one, and was interesting, as was the intercontinental flight to throw a knock-out punch. The non-chalant advancement of the romance to monogamy evolved uniquely. The characters of the Italian cultures defined somewhat stereotypically, but enough to satisfactorily set the stories stage.

All in all, an easy, not-too-much brain-power required, escape from reality read.