The Man Offside by A. W. Gray (First Edition)

Rick Bannion and Jack Brendy, best friends when they had been Dallas Cowboys, had a falling-out over a woman, and now that she has turned up again, Jack dies in a cocaine-related hit, and Rick finds himself on the run

Texas chronicler Gray (Bino, Size) now presents antihero Rick Bannion--an ex-Dallas Cowboy and ex-framed con who for years has had an off-and-on affair with Donna, the wife of his former Dallas teammate Jack Brendy. Can Rick, Donna asks, get Jack clear of a cocaine trafficking charge? Sure--but then Jack's gunned down on the courthouse steps; X-rated pictures of him and a murdered stripper turn up; Muhammed Double-X and his goons are involved up to their diamond cufflinks and mirrored shades; the FBI, the DEA, and the Dallas cops are all leaning on Rick; and Jack's lawyer, Cassel, is in a shady partnership with a mystery man who orders Donna killed. Although savvy readers will identify the bad guy midway through, this Dallas version of Boston's The Friends of Eddie Coyle has memorable characters (including Plates, the small-time forger; and the darkly drawn Breaux, Rick's former cellmate) and punchy, side-of-the-mouth dialogue--adding all the more muscle to Gray's hard-boiled rep. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Crooked lawyers, pasty FBI informants, egomaniacal ex-convicts, and denizens of the Dallas hinterlands populate this rough-riding story of a drug frameup and its aftermath. Ex-football player Rick Bannion performs modest-paying legwork for bookmakers and bondsmen now that his parole has ended; offered money to help an old football friend (married to Rick's lady love) beat a drug rap, Bannion enlists the services of sometime prison buddy Bodie Breaux. The ensuing tough, action-packed trek through and around seedy bars, strip joints, and bad neighborhoods provides page-turning suspense and plenty of authentic local color. A good choice.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.