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Blocking Paris
While most of the working world struggles to make ends meet, four friends play match golf, every day...
When one of the friends announces that he's going to propose marriage to his girlfriend in Paris over the weekend, the others all realize that their game will soon be coming to an end.
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"...membership at the course was a whopping one hundred and fifty dollars a year, play as much or little as you wanted, and the price was set by committee to keep the course affordable for the paupers on the island. It worked out to about forty one cents a round if you played every day of the year. You could play barefoot and bareback, walk or ride, spit, curse, gamble and swear at the other guy’s mother. You just couldn't bring beer on the course, and it was probably the only golf course on the entire planet Earth that wouldn't allow a single beer to be imbibed by the players. There was probably some rule in the Royal and Ancient Scottish rules of golf that strictly banned the banning of drinking beer while playing golf. The old and wise guys probably put it in there so their wives couldn't mess with their most ancient and sullen right to drink beer and play golf. Most courses actually encouraged drinking and even had little restaurants on wheels with cute barmaids delivering sandwiches and beverages to thirsty and hungry golfers, but not this course, it was all golf and nothing else. Get caught with a smuggled beer in your bag, and get banned for the month. But all in all it was probably a pretty good idea. If you considered all of the players spitting and cursing and gambling while bareback and barefoot, giving those animals the green light to drink as much beer as they wanted while playing golf would be inviting trouble. It would be anarchy, like throwing gasoline on a fire. You’d need a police escort on every hole..."
When one of the friends announces that he's going to propose marriage to his girlfriend in Paris over the weekend, the others all realize that their game will soon be coming to an end.
-----------------
"...membership at the course was a whopping one hundred and fifty dollars a year, play as much or little as you wanted, and the price was set by committee to keep the course affordable for the paupers on the island. It worked out to about forty one cents a round if you played every day of the year. You could play barefoot and bareback, walk or ride, spit, curse, gamble and swear at the other guy’s mother. You just couldn't bring beer on the course, and it was probably the only golf course on the entire planet Earth that wouldn't allow a single beer to be imbibed by the players. There was probably some rule in the Royal and Ancient Scottish rules of golf that strictly banned the banning of drinking beer while playing golf. The old and wise guys probably put it in there so their wives couldn't mess with their most ancient and sullen right to drink beer and play golf. Most courses actually encouraged drinking and even had little restaurants on wheels with cute barmaids delivering sandwiches and beverages to thirsty and hungry golfers, but not this course, it was all golf and nothing else. Get caught with a smuggled beer in your bag, and get banned for the month. But all in all it was probably a pretty good idea. If you considered all of the players spitting and cursing and gambling while bareback and barefoot, giving those animals the green light to drink as much beer as they wanted while playing golf would be inviting trouble. It would be anarchy, like throwing gasoline on a fire. You’d need a police escort on every hole..."
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2014
58 people want to read
About the author
Bill Thesken
19 books49 followersI was born in East Los Angeles, When I was nineteen I drove 2,000 miles to Ketchikan, Alaska, worked for a month on the docks, then flew to an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean and never looked back. My ancestors the McLean's are from the Isle of Mull in Scotland, so I also seem to like islands.
Writing isn't really work when it's going well. It's more like transcendental neuro-athletics, hand eye mind coordination typing as fast as you can to keep up with the flow of words as they build a world on paper.
When I was growing up, my Dad would read about 3 novels a week, they were laying all over the place, piled in the corners, on desks and tables, mostly crime novels, with guns, cigarettes and broads on the covers, so I split from my Action/Adventure genre and wrote a crime novel for him, titled 'Edge of the Pit'. Then followed it up with 'The Catalina Cabal'. I published 'Quick Read' in July 2020 which I think is the best of the series so far. We'll see.
I published 'Legend of the Broken Paddle' in Sept. 2020.
From March to April 2021 I wrote 3 novellas in a series for young readers titled Hunt For The Wild.
September 13, 2021 I released Poets and Philosophers, a mystery crime thriller.
I wrote and published 6 books during the pandemic so far.
My birthday is June 1, which is the first day of Hurricane Season. Some people say that explains a lot...
Writing isn't really work when it's going well. It's more like transcendental neuro-athletics, hand eye mind coordination typing as fast as you can to keep up with the flow of words as they build a world on paper.
When I was growing up, my Dad would read about 3 novels a week, they were laying all over the place, piled in the corners, on desks and tables, mostly crime novels, with guns, cigarettes and broads on the covers, so I split from my Action/Adventure genre and wrote a crime novel for him, titled 'Edge of the Pit'. Then followed it up with 'The Catalina Cabal'. I published 'Quick Read' in July 2020 which I think is the best of the series so far. We'll see.
I published 'Legend of the Broken Paddle' in Sept. 2020.
From March to April 2021 I wrote 3 novellas in a series for young readers titled Hunt For The Wild.
September 13, 2021 I released Poets and Philosophers, a mystery crime thriller.
I wrote and published 6 books during the pandemic so far.
My birthday is June 1, which is the first day of Hurricane Season. Some people say that explains a lot...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 22, 2014
Rating:
3 of 5 stars (good)
Review:
A group of four men gather every day for a round of match play golf. The stakes are low but the camaraderie is great and the guys have a good time. Then one day, one of them announces that he is going to propose to his girlfriend in Paris and the others are worried about the end of the golf outings. They, along with three girlfriends of the fiancée, then scheme to figure a way to stop the trip to Paris from happening.
This story has many elements that will keep the reader engrossed – there is some romance, of course. An interesting link is that the three girlfriends each dated one of the other three men in the golf foursome, although all of them are now single. There is drama in the story, especially as the reader will wonder if this rag-tag group can stop Archie from getting on that plane to Paris? There is humor as many funny passages can be found throughout the book.
Also, of course, there are many passages about golf. I do like how Thesken makes each of these men “regular” golfers, meaning they are regular hackers like most people who play on municipal course like theirs. Of course, since the story is set in Hawaii, there is some beautiful scenery, but it doesn’t take away from the realistic golf scenes. However, there is always a lucky break or two in each match. Scenes like balls that are heading out of bounds always seem to hit a tree or rock and bounce back to the fairway happen regularly in this book. I wish that would happen more regularly to me on the course!
The story moves along quite well with good interaction and character development of the other characters. It leads to a very hectic final scene at the airport when they are trying to stop Archie and his soon-to-be fiancée from boarding the plane to Paris. This final scene, while at times hilarious, was a bit over the top for me in trying to resolve the story. Without giving anything away, I just felt that this ending took too much attention and energy away from the real story of keeping the golf buddies together.
Despite the last scene, this was a book that I enjoyed reading and would recommend it to readers who love golf. Readers who also like some romance, drama and humor with the sports will also like this book.
I wish to thank NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Did I skim?
No
Did I feel connected to the characters?
Yes, especially Archie. While reading this book, even though he was clearly the foursome’s member with the most money and apparently didn’t need to work for a living like the other three, his moods, golf game and happiness because he was in love made him a very likable characters. The others, both the men and women, were realistic as well, but I liked Archie the best.
Pace of the story:
It was very good up to the last scene at the airport. At that point, it seemed like the story would not come to a conclusion. Of course, it eventually did and with something of a twist as well.
Do I recommend?
Yes. It is an entertaining story and golf fans will enjoy the long passages when the buddies are playing their matches
3 of 5 stars (good)
Review:
A group of four men gather every day for a round of match play golf. The stakes are low but the camaraderie is great and the guys have a good time. Then one day, one of them announces that he is going to propose to his girlfriend in Paris and the others are worried about the end of the golf outings. They, along with three girlfriends of the fiancée, then scheme to figure a way to stop the trip to Paris from happening.
This story has many elements that will keep the reader engrossed – there is some romance, of course. An interesting link is that the three girlfriends each dated one of the other three men in the golf foursome, although all of them are now single. There is drama in the story, especially as the reader will wonder if this rag-tag group can stop Archie from getting on that plane to Paris? There is humor as many funny passages can be found throughout the book.
Also, of course, there are many passages about golf. I do like how Thesken makes each of these men “regular” golfers, meaning they are regular hackers like most people who play on municipal course like theirs. Of course, since the story is set in Hawaii, there is some beautiful scenery, but it doesn’t take away from the realistic golf scenes. However, there is always a lucky break or two in each match. Scenes like balls that are heading out of bounds always seem to hit a tree or rock and bounce back to the fairway happen regularly in this book. I wish that would happen more regularly to me on the course!
The story moves along quite well with good interaction and character development of the other characters. It leads to a very hectic final scene at the airport when they are trying to stop Archie and his soon-to-be fiancée from boarding the plane to Paris. This final scene, while at times hilarious, was a bit over the top for me in trying to resolve the story. Without giving anything away, I just felt that this ending took too much attention and energy away from the real story of keeping the golf buddies together.
Despite the last scene, this was a book that I enjoyed reading and would recommend it to readers who love golf. Readers who also like some romance, drama and humor with the sports will also like this book.
I wish to thank NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Did I skim?
No
Did I feel connected to the characters?
Yes, especially Archie. While reading this book, even though he was clearly the foursome’s member with the most money and apparently didn’t need to work for a living like the other three, his moods, golf game and happiness because he was in love made him a very likable characters. The others, both the men and women, were realistic as well, but I liked Archie the best.
Pace of the story:
It was very good up to the last scene at the airport. At that point, it seemed like the story would not come to a conclusion. Of course, it eventually did and with something of a twist as well.
Do I recommend?
Yes. It is an entertaining story and golf fans will enjoy the long passages when the buddies are playing their matches
June 12, 2014
I was so excited to win this novel in the First Reads giveaway but had some hesitations to start reading. This is not your happy golf novel with all the fluff and mutations of reality. I have never been so engrossed in a "golf" novel. The complicated relationships between the 4 golfers and some of their girlfriends I felt were unnecessary to the plot but kept it interesting. I loved the fact that Thesken portrayed these men as being average golfers and the scenes were incredibly realistic.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews