The Player

Written by Brad Parks

Narrated by Adam Verner

When he hears residents of a Newark neighborhood are getting sick - and even dying - from a strange disease, investigative reporter Carter Ross dives into the story - so deep he comes down with the illness himself. With even more motivation to track down the source of the disease, Carter soon hits upon a nearby construction site. But when the project’s developer is found dead, and his mob ties surface, Carter knows he’s looking at a story much bigger - and with even more dangerous consequences - than an environmental hazard. Back in the newsroom, Carter has his hands full with his current girlfriend and with the paper’s newest eager intern, not to mention his boss and former girlfriend Tina Thompson, who has some news for Carter that’s about to make tangling with the mob seem simple by comparison.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media Audio
• Release date: Mar 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781629233123

Brad Parks

International bestselling author Brad Parks is the only writer to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of American crime fiction’s most prestigious prizes. His novels have been published in fifteen languages and have won critical acclaim across the globe, including stars from every major prepublication review outlet. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Parks is a former journalist with the Washington Post and the Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey). He is now a full-time novelist living in Virginia with his wife and two school-age children. A former college a cappella singer and community-theater enthusiast, Brad has been known to burst into song whenever no one was thoughtful enough to muzzle him. His favored writing haunt is a Hardee’s restaurant, where good-natured staff members suffer his presence for many hours a day, and where he can often be found working on his next novel.

Reviews for The Player

[cathyskye · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

With author Brad Parks now making his name writing domestic thrillers, I've been forcing myself to read his Carter Ross mysteries as slowly as possible because I love them so much. Now that I've read The Player, I've only got one left, and once that's gone, I may go into mourning. This fifth book in the Carter Ross series is fun reading, full of the twists, turns, heart, and humor that I've come to expect from this talented writer.At the heart of this book is a very real concern: "questioning the wisdom of allowing government to outsource its responsibility to protect the health of its citizens." We live in a world where not only people avoid responsibility for their actions but government, too. And this is all wrapped up in a bit of the history of Newark and its environs and a fast-paced, tightly woven mystery that has a lovely twist at the end. I love being completely bamboozled, especially by Brad Parks.Since the heart of the mystery is so deadly serious, Parks expertly lightens the mood with his fantastic sense of humor. Neesha (AKA "Pigeon"), the new intern Carter is training, has a tendency to be the comic relief because she's still trying to follow all the rules she learned about journalism in college. Carter tries to tell her that "human beings are too messy for spreadsheets," but it takes Neesha a while to learn the wisdom of that statement. The one thing that makes this series so entertaining is the fact that Carter Ross is just a normal, red-blooded American smart aleck, a guy who doesn't "know Chanel from chenille." He gets himself into some incredible scrapes, he truly cares about the people he writes about, and when rescuing a litter of kittens from a burning building, all he'd say would be "Aw, shucks." Carter Ross is my kind of guy, and Brad Parks' series is some of my favorite reading. If you haven't, give him a try. The first book in the series is Faces of the Gone.

[pelusa41-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..I was bummed when I read this, I liked the first book so I was really looking forward to reading this one, and then I started reading it. Val was pathetic there were no other words for her. Here she has a crush on Sam, so she goes into this ridiculous excuse of him teaching her how to deal with opposite sex, yeah I was let down. Sam goes into dating Val who he claims he is attracted to but he is not a guy that should be dating he is a manwhore and tries not to date woman who he works with but he doesn't want his dirt bag of a friend Ian to date her, so he makes a bet with him and that is how he ends up dating her. So of course they develop real feelings, well him Val always had real feelings for him..I didn't get why she was angry and hurt with Sam, ahhh you went in claiming you just wanted him to teach you how to date and flirt with opposite sex, so stop acting like you ohh so wronged..Yeah the only reason that it didn't get a 2 star is because well I like this writer, and the rest was ok..All in all I want to read next book in series.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have enjoyed all of Brad Parks' books. His humor is very entertaining and I found myself laughing out loud while listening to the audio of this book. The plot was very good with a surprising twist, and I always enjoy the recurring characters. Can't wait for the next installment.

[maneekuhi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"The Player" is another well done brisk story by Brad Parks, about NJ newspaper reporter Carter Ross. Carter is now m0one of the senior guys on the papers'staff due to all the cut-backs and early retirements. He is supported by an interesting duo who perform financial analysis and run errands, resulting in a somewhat inebriated cub reporter doing a strip-tease in a neighborhood Jersey bar, with more emphasis on "tease" than on "strip". The story revolves around a construction site that is making neighbors and workers ill, cash scams, and a dead body or two. The characters are all very interesting and the pace is very brisk. The finale is a bit of a stretch but most climaxes are these days. Carter and Boss Tina's relationship becomes incredibly complicated. I have read only 2-3 of this 6 book series. I will likely read the next, I suspect it may be the last (for me, if not the series).