Fast-paced and full of action, The Linebacker certainly lives up to its tagline of being an 'absolute action thriller'. Beyond the breakneck storyline and nail-biting action scenes, though, poor storytelling and lacklustre characters sadly let this book down.

The main character, Mike, is a star linebacker who goes from professional NFL player to Don Juan to revenge-fueled vigilante to a seasoned military pro throughout the timeline of this one book. Of course, character development is important and should be encouraged in fiction, but on this scale, it's off the charts and just leaves the reader with whiplash.

So much content is packed into this one book that it feels as though the author needed to split the story down into multiple volumes. That way, the story could be given full attention and many of the plot holes and loose ends currently unexplored in The Linebacker would most likely be resolved. This is a shame, as the premise of the book is quite interesting.

With so much action packed into the storyline, it's hard to get a proper feel for the characters, too. Aside from Mike, none of the other supporting characters is really explored fully. This results in a cast of two-dimensional characters, some questionable and unexplained decisions at key plot points, and a lack of readers' empathy for their situations.

I was unable to get into this novel. A football novel would be one thing, but as a thriller where a former football player goes to England to solve a terrorist incident by himself stretches the imagination too far. The set-up to the action took so long that by the time the action started I was already asleep- no Ambien needed!
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

This plot of this book mines in the rich tradition of [[ASIN:0451204158 Black Sunday]], but while that is a masterpiece of slow-building suspense and literary style, The Linebacker packs in action from page one in overlapping but mostly independent stories. The writing is clear but wooden, the characters stock and pushed around too obviously.

On the plus side, the author keeps the story moving with fights, chases, seductions, explosions and other action nearly every page. It's inventive and has a light touch. Unfortunately it's like a lot of action movies where if you stop to think for a second, most of the action doesn't make much sense.

If you're looking for pure action and don't care too much about logic, character development or literary style, this is a three star book. I docked it one star for some curious errors. The protagonist is an NFL linebacker, and there are important scenes in the locker room and on the field. But the author doesn't know there is no position of defensive halfback (there are halfbacks on offense, but on defense the backs are cornerbacks and safeties). He writes "two and a half tons of men stood up from their crouched position in the huddle. . ." There are eleven men in the huddle, so that means they average 455 pounds. The heaviest player in NFL history was Aaron Gibson at 405 pounds. The book has Bush as President in 1997 (it was Clinton at the time, Bush senior left office in 1993, and Bush junior didn't start until 2001). The book claims 1,300 NFL players but there are actually 1,696 on active rosters, plus 160 on practice squads. There are lots more of these inaccuracies. I know they don't bother most people, but to me they indicate that the author isn't paying enough attention to look up simple facts, and is writing about things he doesn't know much about.