Books by Harvey Havel

The story’s narrator, Charlie, is a student at Trinity College in Connecticut. His family hails from New Hampshire, and he describes them as “Protestants and as white as they come.” At the outset, he reveals that the family lives on inherited wealth and that they probably won’t need jobs for the remainder of their lives. Charlie’s college life is far from carefree, however. He had no girlfriend during his first two years there, but after hitting his junior year and becoming “a bit taller, [and] less of nerd,” young women have started to notice him, he says. He’s also a self-described alcoholic, though, who has bad grades—which he describes as “academic concerns.” Charlie falls for Sophia, a sorority sister who initially treats him with disdain; however, they eventually embark on a casual romantic relationship. After Sophia gets pregnant and decides to get an abortion, Charlie gives up studying, and his life spins out of control. After he drops out of college, his parents tell him that he must be financially self-sufficient. He soon finds himself living in squalor in Albany, New York, where he works at a junkyard. His co-worker Cash takes pity on him, and he pays Gypsy, a sex worker, to visit Charlie while posing as a cleaner. Charlie becomes infatuated with Gypsy, who’s intent on fleecing him to fuel her crack addiction. Their relationship leads him into a criminal underworld, the likes of which he’s never encountered before.

In this novel, DeShawn Biggs is as formidable as his name suggests. At 6-feet-5-inches and 300 pounds, DeShawn seems headed for the NFL. Indeed, a football career is regarded as an inevitability for the young man in his native Albany, New York. DeShawn eventually gets his shot at the big leagues, but his trusting nature and penchant for making bad decisions dog him throughout his career. Each time, the stakes get higher. DeShawn has always been a pawn in a game controlled by other people, but how much of his own integrity can he compromise in order to get ahead? This book has been written for every kind of football fan interested in what really takes place in high school, college, and professional sports. This is a must read for aficionados of the game, and this book provides a timely reminder how much has to be compromised in order to play the game of football at the highest levels.