So the author blurb tells me that Mr. Abrahams is an experienced author with several YA and adult titles under his belt, including two which received Edgar Award nominations. The writing in this new book, Reality Check, is decent and readable, but there’s something about it, something about the point of view, that is disconcerting, not quite believable, maybe, or just not quite right for me.

I’m wondering if all of Mr. Abrahams’ books are like this one, If so, he could be a big hit with guys, especially. Make no mistake, this book is written for, to, and about guys. The main character is a guy, sixteen year old Clay Laredo, a football player, a bright kid with bad grades, and boyfriend of Clea Weston, one of the smartest and richest girls in school. Cody spends the book scrapping, investigating, working hard, being tough. Clea, on the other hand, spends most of the book waiting to be rescued, and although we’re told repeatedly that she’s tough and “good at everything”, she only does something active once towards the end of the book. I don’t have any gripes about that characterization, but it does make the book very guy-oriented. We’re also told several times that Cody is “a bright kid”, but he comes across sort of slow and dimwitted, but well-meaning.

Other guy stuff in the book: some detailed football, some knock-down, drag-out fighting, a sprinkling of crude language (not much, but more than I want to read), an abbreviated car chase. One minor character is gay; he gets beat up. Actually to be fair, several people get beat up, including Cody. It’s a book probably best suited to the kind of guys who will grow up to read the kind of books my own dad read: John MacDonald, Robert B. Parker, Lawrence Block. Not my cup of tea, but some people prefer a cold beer.