Sport

Have you ever gone just a little too far? Lexie Banks has.Yep. She just had mind-blowing sex with her stepbrother. In her defense, she was on the rebound, and it's more of a my-dad-happened-to-marry-a-woman-with-a-super-hot-son situation. But still, he's been her best friend and confidant for the better part of the last few years . . . and is so off limits. It's a good thing she's leaving in two days for a year abroad in Rome.But even thousands of miles away, Lexie can't seem to escape trouble. Raised Catholic, she goes to confession in hopes of alleviating some of her guilt . . . and maybe not burning in hell. Instead, she stumbles out of the confessional and right into Alessandro Moretti, a young and very easy-on-the-eyes deacon . . . only eight months away from becoming a priest. Lexie and Alessandro grow closer, and when Alessandro's signals start changing despite his vow of celibacy, she doesn't know what to think. She's torn between falling in love with the man she shouldn't want and the man she can't have. And she isn't sure how she can live with herself either way.

The World Cup is supposed to be a celebration of the beautiful game, but the dark political underbelly has made it otherwise. When Asher Fox receives a mysterious call begging for his help to bring back the light, he sets off on a worldwide search for the heart of the game. But Asher doesn't know the danger that awaits. Huge, warring corporations and governments stand in his way, and he is in the crossfire. To get the game back to the people, he will need to be part of something more - a revolution. A Better World Cup. A better world.

Will the nanny state and the media industry in future restrict all types of individual performance? Chance struggles on a capitalist employment treadmill that denies him freedom to take risks. He starts a PhD in science and psychology. His girlfriend Megan is a pole vault champion in training for the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. With his help, she uses philosophies of De Beauvoir, Nietzsche, Heidegger's phenomenology and Mihaly's flow, to take personal responsibility for her training. Overreach by the nanny state threatens her use of flow. 'Levellers' want all ability levels to succeed in competitions. Philosopher Debord's 'spectacle' has performers' appearances profiting media and investors. Which will succeed: human turkey-like individualism or bee-like collectivism? When Chance and Megan catch Covid, they oppose the collectivists' mandatory vaccinations with non-violent civil disobedience. Will they succeed? This is speculative fiction satirizing athletics, rugby and ballet, exposing dark forces shaping western democratic societies, revealing how individual freedom can be saved. REVIEWS OF MARTIN KNOX'S PREVIOUS BOOKS ANIMAL FARM 2 (2021) Reviewed by Divine Zape for Readers' Favorite. Review Rating: 5 Stars Fans of Animal Farm by George Orwell will adore Martin Knox's Animal Farm 2, a fable with strong hints of political satire set on a farm on tropical Caruba, an island in the grip of the Social Republic.This is a cleverly plotted story with interesting characters, and readers will relate to the animals that behave like humans; the anthropomorphism is brilliantly executed. Readers will encounter animals such as pigs (Lords Napoleon, Natalia), cattle (Tosser, Earl, Henry, Arnold), sheep (Sharon, Trudy, Sophie, and others), goats, llamas, horses, donkeys, mules, and more. Animal Farm 2 is open to several interpretations with political manipulation, abuse of power, superpower interests, and those who bear the brunt of political manoeuvring. It is a fable, but it is the same story that we see being played out too often in the political world. The novel features relevant and deftly written political themes, a debate on climate change, and the effects of totalitarianism. The characters are elaborately written and readers can see in them a portrait of what politicians do. The satire is biting, ingenious, and written in a context that readers can relate to. Martin Knox's satirical novel is a work of great imagination.

Luise und Jan haben zufällig dasselbe Urlaubsziel. Beide wollen in einen Aktivurlaub starten.Während Jan am ersten Urlaubstag mit dem Joggen beginnt, besucht Luise eine Sauna. Plötzlich ist die Tür verschlossen. Luise schreit vergeblich um Hilfe. Sie verliert das Bewusstsein und erwacht erst im Krankenhaus. Jan kümmert sich rührend um sie. Schon bald entwickelt sich mehr als eine Urlaubsfreundschaft. Als sie zusammen das Krankenhaus verlassen, werden sie von mehreren Motorradfahrern beobachtet und bedroht. Doch warum werden die beiden verfolgt? Warum trachtet man ihr sogar nach dem Leben? Eine halsbrecherische Jagd durch die schönen Landschaften von Vorpommern und der Insel Rügen beginnt. Kann die Zuflucht auf einer Fähre beide vor den Rockern retten oder ist das eine Falle? Triathlon der Angst hält den Leser von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite in Atem.

WHAT IF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL WERE JUST ANOTHER REALITY SHOW?A series of controversial callsTony Stravnicki is an old-school assistant coach who lives for the game-often to the detriment of his family. After a difficult loss, he is fed up and suspicious about the number of controversial calls against his players. Is it his coaching, bad luck, or something else? He intends to find out.An unknown adversary and a high-stakes gambleSoon he comes up against a sinister group manipulating the sport through blackmail, physical violence, and murder. As he searches for the truth, his family's safety, his values, and his job are all under siege. How much is he willing to risk, and how will this change him?The Hidden Game explores the contentious balance between football as a team sport and football as a massive entertainment business carefully orchestrated for maximum ratings and profit.

WHAT IF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL WERE JUST ANOTHER REALITY SHOW?A series of controversial callsTony Stravnicki is an old-school assistant coach who lives for the game-often to the detriment of his family. After a difficult loss, he is fed up and suspicious about the number of controversial calls against his players. Is it his coaching, bad luck, or something else? He intends to find out.An unknown adversary and a high-stakes gambleSoon he comes up against a sinister group manipulating the sport through blackmail, physical violence, and murder. As he searches for the truth, his family's safety, his values, and his job are all under siege. How much is he willing to risk, and how will this change him?The Hidden Game explores the contentious balance between football as a team sport and football as a massive entertainment business carefully orchestrated for maximum ratings and profit.

Many lives collide in this quest to win a billion dollars for picking all the winners in the annual National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament. Some are looking for riches, others for simple survival and personal redemption. Mathematician Sinclair Dane sponsors the contest, seeking money for a safety net for her troubled mother. She does not have a billion dollars to pay a winner. Risking her reputation and possible legal charges for fraud, she pins her hopes on the astronomical odds against anyone picking all the winners. Math professor Lewis Cusac uses the basketball contest to teach remedial math to college students, two of whom are playing in the tournament. He enters the contest and finds himself having selected all the winners with only three games remaining. He also gets a call from the NCAA investigators for suspicion of trying to fix the outcomes of games. Add to the mix a retired casino operator, a group of twenty-something social media wizards, and professional basketball's next megastar. As the contest goes global, the story races to an ending that will surprise the reader.

'This compelling, Scandinavian noir-style thriller should appeal to readers of both Ruth Ware and Arnaldur Indridason.' Booklist<BR><BR><BR>Ski patroller Greta Westerlind discovers there's a darker side to the glamorous skiers' paradise of Aspen in this intriguing thriller.<BR><BR><BR>When experienced ski patroller Greta Westerlind awakes in hospital having almost been killed in an avalanche, she is devastated to learn that her close friend, bond trader Warren McGovern, perished in the slide. With no memory of the incident, Greta is at a loss to explain why the two of them were skiing in such lethal terrain in the first place.<BR><BR><BR>As she struggles to unlock her memories as to what really happened that day, a series of strange and menacing incidents convinces Greta that someone means to harm her. Then a young woman disappears, and events take a terrifying new twist ...<BR><BR>

A gifted athlete confronts small-town secrets and personal demons in a gripping coming-of-age story.Colton Vogler, a high school hockey phenom and talented pianist, transfers to Driftless, Wisconsin, to pursue his dream of playing Division I hockey. But beneath the surface of this idyllic small town lies a web of secrets, violent hazing rituals, and a mystery surrounding a car accident that sidelined the team's star goalie.As Colton navigates the pressures of a new team, a complicated host family, and a growing attraction to a captivating classmate, he uncovers a dark undercurrent that threatens to derail his ambitions and expose the town's hidden truths. Will he be able to reconcile his past with his future, or will the secrets of Driftless consume him? Perfect for fans of literary sports fiction and coming-of-age stories with a touch of mystery.

A jockey unravels nasty secrets of corruption, blackmail, and murder in this mystery from grand master of crime fiction Dick Francis.<BR><BR>Longtime jockey Philip Nore is no hero. But when he begins to suspect that a racetrack photographer’s fatal accident was really murder, he sets out to discover the truth and trap the killer. Slowly, he unravels some nasty secrets of corruption, blackmail and murder—and unwittingly sets himself up as the killer’s next target...<BR><BR>“Reflex enthralls.”—The New York Times