10 years ago an up and coming football running back named Chuck Fairlane went bonkers and beat the crap out of the opposing team's mascot. It resulted in his being banned from sports. It also ended a major sports betting ring to boot.
A decade later, the legacy of that game continues as Fairlane's name is now synonymous with pop culture as it's become common place for victorious teams to pummel their losing opponents mascot in a practice called 'Fairlaning." Lately, the mascots have been fighting back attacking seemingly random celebrities and sports heroes.
Now a high school football coach in rural South Carolina, Chuck hoped to slip away into obscurity. But when a man in a giant elephant suit interrupts Coach's football tryouts, Chuck unwillingly returns to the limelight as well as the watchful eye of the FBI. Someone is training professional mascots to become fighters and has created an ultimate fighting championship for giant muppets. The prize: the chance to take down the creator of Fairlaning once and for all.
The art of this story implied that it would be an all-ages romp. But the language and violence level is anything but. The premise of revolting professional sports mascots is pretty absurd so artist Scott Kowalchuk's sweeping inks is fitting. But once again this book is NOT for kids.
This 2014 romp is like an Elmore Leonard novel on steroids. With angry jocks, even angrier mascots and a host of questionable scumbags and bookies, it's the NFL-equivalent of 'Get Shorty.' With an array of costumed villains with a penchant for destruction and vice on par with the classic 1970s film 'The Warriors', I could see Tarantino making this into a movie someday. It was a good read. But I cannot stress enough, this is not a book for those under 13 at the least.
Worth Consuming
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
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