Told from the perspective of a high school girl and a football coach, Broken Field reveals the tensions that tear at the fabric of a small town when a high school hazing incident escalates and threatens a championship season.
Set on the high prairies of Montana, in small towns scattered across vast landscapes, the distances in Broken Field are both insurmountable and deeply internalized. Life is dusty and hard, and men are judged by their labor. Women have to be tougher yet. That’s what sixteen-year-old Josie Frehse learns as she struggles to meet the expectations of her community while fumbling with her own desires.
Tom Warner coaches the Dumont Wolfpack, an eight-man football team, typical for such small towns. Warner is stumbling through life, numbed by the death of his own young son and the dissolution of his marriage. But he’s jolted into taking sides when his star players are accused of a hazing incident that happened right under his nose.
The scandal divides and ignites the town and in Broken Field, Jeff Hull brilliantly gives breadth and depth to both sides of this fractured community, where the roots of bullying reach deep, secrets are buried, and, in a school obsessed with winning, everyone loses.
I am usually drawn to thrillers and suspenseful, riveting stories about monstrous serial killers or cop procedurals. This one was a deviation for me. Because I’ve been trained to expect a seriously demented villain, when a stranded 16-year-old girl in this story gets into a car in the middle of Montana’s vastness and she doesn’t know the driver, of course I expected a mutilated dead body to follow—who wouldn’t? Not the case here. This was just a good old story about life in a small town where everybody knows everybody else’s business and teenagers make really dumb choices, and hazing incidents sometimes go awry. The writing here was intelligent and characters fairly well defined. The hazing incident, which is the theme of the book, makes the reader think about racial violence and how it feels from the victim’s point of view, as well as the perpetrator’s. I’m only giving this book three stars instead of five though because of the detailed sporting events, which I felt were exhaustively described and mind-numbingly boring, but other than that, I can sort of recommend this one.
Finished this book last night, then read an op-ed in the New York Times this morning (https://nyti.ms/2DGJu3t) about how we need the "... hometown-gym [or gridiron]-on-a-Friday-night feeling ..." to feel connected to our fellow human bean. Hull's book is a good antidote for that bulldust as it explores the underbelly of small town high school sports. Kind of an odd twist at the end, but given my penchant for just pulling random books off the fiction shelf at my local library, this one was pretty good.
I am not sure what I want to say about this novel. The story focused heavily on high school football, which is not my thing. The main story was about a hazing episode within the team. The fallout from the episode reverberates through the rural Montana setting. The book attempts to develop several character studies around the incident. But overall, I just didn't connect with the characters and in the end, there was no one who really took responsibility for the bully and his behaviors.
Broken Field by Jeff Hull is a very highly recommended look through the eyes of a teen girl and the coach of a high school football hazing incident in a small Montana town.
The Dumont Wolfpack is looking at a winning season. Tom Warner is the coach who is leading the team to the playoffs. After the last win, Tom gives his assistant coach permission to make the five hour drive home with his wife. He then sits up front in the bus, near the driver, and doses during the drive home. Obviously he didn't know that while he was dozing an underclassman was taped to a luggage rack, striped, and tormented. During a rest stop, cheerleaders got on the bus and captured the disturbing hazing on the school's yearbook camera. When they get home, a mother of one of the cheerleaders finds the pictures and calls Tom.
Sixteen-year-old Josie Frehse is a teen who is outgoing and friendly to everyone. She tries to meet the expectations of her family and the community. She is the sister of the football team’s star runner and girlfriend of the quarterback, Matt, one of the ringleaders of the hazing. Josie and Matt are at the top of the high school social hierarchy, but Josie is beginning to question what she wants. Matt is moody, has a sense of entitlement from sports, and is self-important, and Josie is not sure she actually wants to stay with him after high school.
Tom and the school principal question the players involved and Tom offers up his resignation as football coach. When word of the incident gets out, the town is polarized. Is this a case of "boys will be boys" and a "tradition" that almost all the male members of town have gone through or is this abuse? Then the incident attracts the attention of the media and cannot be ignored. The story is told through the point-of-view of Tom and Josie.
Broken Field is beautifully written novel and captured my attention immediately. Hull has crafted his well-developed his characters with such empathy and understanding that you will care about these people and have compassion for them. There are heartbreaking moments, actions that angered and polarized my feelings, and other actions that left me shaking my head. In the end I felt like I knew this town, for better or worse, and these people.
The ending was not quite what I expected after the adept, skillful, quiet, and psychological insight found in the rest of the novel, but that doesn't mean it was bad. Upon reflection, sending the novel in that direction was an astute choice. This is truly a memorable novel that touches on idolizing sports, racism, bullying, and violence against women. Hull has an intuitiveness for character development that made it a compelling, engrossing novel that held my attention throughout. (There are, obviously, several sports scenes described in the novel that non-sports fans can skim.)
Growing up in a small town of MT, this book felt a little too real. I currently attend the UM, and reading this was like a shocking fever dream. Throughout high school, the only thing talked about in my town was football. The players and the coaches got away with more than what went on in this book, except it was swept under the rug. I loved how they depicted the players and the players families reacting to punishments of their crime. This book was a five star read until about 60 pages from the end, then it took a turn for the worst. I felt like Mikie’s character deserved so much more than what the author gave. His and Josie’s relationship could have been more than what it was, and overall I thought the way this book ended was heavily racially profiled. And I feel like the ending was so horrible and did not do a justice for any of the characters. For starters, the whole part where Josie and Mikie have sex in the back of his car made my heart drop because it ruined the build that mikie’s character had through out the book. And then. The party. I was not expecting it to go the way it had gone, I had hoped that Josie would intervene Matt, and defend Mikie, but reading that Mikie would stab Matt made the book go from a 5 to a 4, but then I had hoped that it would be self defense in court, and him and Josie could end the book as friends. But the court ruled against him, so the rating went to a 3. And then. Josie visits him to tell him she’s pregnant with his baby and that he will never see the child made me instantly lose all feeling with this novel. It had so much potential but ended in a strangely weird thriller that was racially charged.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This book had so many "cringe" moments..and for me, that was the problem. Yet, I suppose that's what the author wanted us to feel. If you love high school football-it did have great moments on the field. It takes place in a small rural prairie town, where everyone knows everyone, everyone works hard and the only enjoyment it seems, is the high school football team. The old "boys will be boys" mentality reigns, until, in today's modern world, digital photos show horrible hazing has taken place while Coach let his guard down on the team bus. Trying to do a good deed for his assistant coach, and unfortunately falling asleep on the bus, opens the doorway for awful hazing that is captured in photos. Apparently, this sort of thing happens all the time, and worse, we read in the book..so some in the community feel it should be overlooked since there's a championship on the line. Lecture the boys and move on...well, that's not happening and that shouldn't happen. The town is torn apart, things happen and this hazing incident causes a dangerous downward spiral that ruins the team, ruins the coach, ruins the community, ruins lives and results in a death. I won't even get into the pet pigs...but that did make me cry!
Jeff Hull’s Broken Field is superbly written book that using football and farming metaphors beautifully. The plot covers hazing, intercultural, and the me2 movement with masterful ease. A literary page turner that runs your emotion ragged as the writer propels you to an astonishing climax and resolution.
BROKEN FIELD, by Jeff Hull, is about a small town rocked by a high school football team hazing incident. As the student body, the school ,and the community try to discover what really happened, opinions are formed and lines are drawn. As the legal judgments are made, tensions are high and the town becomes more and more divided. As most emotionally impactful events do, the aftereffects change people and forever change the landscape of the school, the team, and the students involved. Hull spends a lot time following the coach, who has past baggage, and made a few school protocol errors when the hazing incident happened. He didn't follow the guidelines, and while the overall sentiment is not to blame him for the hazing, the question becomes how should he be reprimanded and the timing of it because the football team is heading into the playoffs. One of the most intriguing and realistic conflicts that arises is that there is a faction of men, mostly former football players, who feel like the coach is abandoning at the time by resigning before the big game, even though it is clear that for the sake of the school, it is the right thing to do. This and many other issues Hull brings to light and has the reader contemplate how they would react to everything. Just to be clear, Hull does reinforce the idea that hazing is wrong, he is more concerned in the novel with considering what happens after such an occurrence. They were a couple of subplots that just seemed to slow the story down, but overall by leaving the reader pondering their own feelings on the ramifications of hazing, Hull has done a good job with BROKEN FIELD to challenge the mind and soul and force one to think how they would react to all of it. Thank you to Arcade/Skyhorse Publishing, Jeff Hull, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review!
Broken Field by Jeff Hull is an interesting portrait of a small rural town's reaction to a hazing incident perpetrated by their football team which is on the brink of a championship season.
On their way home from an away game, football coach Tom Warner breaks protocol when he allows his assistant coach to ride home with his new bride instead of on the team bus. Tom is the only adult supervising the team and not only is he distracted by a personal issue, he also drifts off the sleep. During a brief stop at a convenience store, Tom steps off the bus to keep an eye on the teenagers as they go into the store. As they prepare to leave, two cheerleaders exit the bus and the rest of their journey home is uneventful. The next day, a concerned parent contacts Tom about some disturbing photos she finds on the school's yearbook camera. The subsequent investigation reveals football players Matt Brunner, Waylon Edwards and Alex Martin were the instigators in the hazing of their teammate. Tom and the school principal investigate the incident but when the media finds out about what happened, the school board and town are divided about what, if any, punishment should be handed down.
Sixteen year old Josie Frehse is Matt's girlfriend and even before the hazing incident, she has been considering the future of their two year relationship. She has learned to manage his somewhat moody behavior but her friendship with new student, Mikie LaValle, is quickly becoming an issue. Josie is well-liked by her peers and she is friendly with everyone regardless of where they fall in school's hierarchy. She is intrigued by Mikie but Matt has taken an instant dislike to him and he frequently bullies the newcomer. As the hazing situation comes to a head, Josie is stunned by Matt's volatile reaction toward her but even more shocking is her mother's attitude about what has happened.
Although a little slow-paced, Broken Field is an engrossing novel which offers a compelling view of the dynamics of a close-knit, rural community. The characters are richly developed with relatable shortcomings and endearing virtues. The novel has a well-developed storyline in which Jeff Hull realistically explores sensitive topics such as bullying, racism and violence against women. I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend this thought-provoking novel.
This was, surprisingly, a very good story - very interesting. It had a good start with strong characters and well developed throughout. Hull took a sensitive subject/situation and showed all sides of it quite well. There were many facets to this novel, many characters who had their own stories that converged in the small Montana town of Dumont.
On a school bus heading for home after a huge football game win, the team and some of the teams cheerleaders are involved in a hazing incident. When the story comes out all hell breaks loose, the town splits, sides are taken. But it doesn't stop there. Coach Tom feels responsible; his star players are indignant to the accusations. Matt, the football star, and his girlfriend, Josie, spiral into the quagmire of the incident that leaves a trail of threats, bullying and mayhem. After the hazing incident, the Coach finds himself in the middle of a moral dilemma, Matt falls apart and Josie is just a young high school girl looking for a way out of a small town.
Hull presents a well told story with characters that are relatable and connectable.
Having come from and lived in New England, with central Ohio being my only experience of flat,endless expanse, until eloping for my second marriage in Arizona, "Broken Field" was a physical and cultural experience. The author, Jeff Hull, cetainly knows of Montana and teenagers growing up in small towns where sports is the top entertainment, followed closely by everyone else's business. An unfortunate hazing that deteriorates to harrassment brings the football team to their knees and the town picking sides. The town's Legal Counsel advises the School Board, wisely, but bad choices ruining futures cannot be avoided. And anger boils over amongst those most affected, resulting in an early teen pregnancy, one-sided love, murder, and sadness. At its conclusion, the reader understands the high rate of suicides amongst teens in the west.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This novel exudes the open high plains of the west. That’s what I enjoyed. The descriptions of the land that goes on and on to the horizon. The coach taking his dog hunting, the high school girl with the maturity of a saint, the camaraderie in the bar that serves the best pizza in town. This tells a tale of bullying in a high school where the football players are like little gods. They can do no wrong or can they? Of course the attorney despite being educated in Missoula was originally from the east coast. Boston no less. It was a decent read that covered the developmental tasks of adolescence and adulthood.
Agreed with other reviews I felt drawn into the story, it was a good read most of the time. Unlike other reviews (non-spoiler opinion here, so read on) I felt the whole "boys will be boys" side of the debate totally overblown and smothering as if no other thought to the contrary existed. It got tiresome. Anyway, what brought my review down to 3 stars (sorry) is that I felt as though there was a lot of weird wording going on, or missing words, that caused me to have to reread a lot of sentences throughout the book. The book had a decent flow until the end when it escalated a bit oddly. Overall. the same effect could have been achieved with fewer pages.
What a mess. Would the hazing incident have happened if Tom had opted to ride with his team of football players? Maybe not at that particular time but these teens were heading for some sort of crisis. Tom's coping with his own problems and now his small Montana town is in upheaval. At the same time, this is Josie's story, as she deals with the incident and what she knows (and has experienced with) her boyfriend Matt, the quarterback. This is a well done look at a rural community. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.
I think this book deserves a 3.5 rating. At first, I had trouble getting into it due to the many references of football and the plays. However, once the characters became familiar, I was eager to pick up the book to see what came next. Told from the point of view of a football coach and a high school female athlete, the reader becomes involved with a story of teenage angst, high school bullying, peer pressure, high school hazing etc. Set in a small town in Montana where "boys will be boys" attitude seems to be the standard.
Broken Field is written well using football and farming metaphors. The book covers many different topics like hazing and the me2 movement. It was a suspenseful book with great characterization. Although the story was written well an it was interesting it felt like it dragged on forever. There were no real chapters which made it hard for me to enjoy the book and follow the story because it felt like it dragged on.
4 1/2 stars This was such a heartbreaking story. But a lot of life is heartbreaking. Real life is hard and difficult and often delivers something different than we had envisioned. Jeff Hull’s writing is superb. It pulled no punches, pulled you in and left you without a doubt that all of the story was as real as life. I enjoyed the journey, bittersweet and haunting. This is real life and this story, as told, can’t be separated from reality. I will look forward to reading more by Jeff Hull.
Excellent portrayal of both small town life in rural Montana and of the Big Sky Country itself. Many times the author's word choice gave me pause and elicited a nod of agreement. The ending was both predictable and an appropriate way to bring closure. I do wish the proofreader had been more careful as there were several omitted or misspelled words that detracted from the reading experience.
I double-checked to make sure this wasn't a self-published book before I started reading it. It's not self-published but you'd never know it by the number of typos I found. There are at least 10. The typos were a big distraction for me and I'm surprised Arcade Publishing doesn't have someone competent on staff to find these errors and fix them. I'm embarrassed for everyone involved.
Deceptively good -- if you're a sports fan, you'll love it. If you're not, like me, read for the starting character depth, beautiful descriptions of the Great Plains, and well-written psychological profiles.
I loved the characters in this, but I thought the ending was a bit abrupt and not realistic. Still, Hull is a great writer, and he did an excellent job of portraying the life in that part of the country. 4/5 stars.
Between a 3 and 4 star. Great reading. Living here in the West for 6 years, I think I understand this story better than I may have before. A sincere and tragic story with characters I feel I personally know.
This could have been a 4. The book was enjoyable, but I felt the whole small town never-been-anywhere theme was so cliched, that it was offensive. Add in the stereotypical troubled mixed race teenager in a red neck town and you know the outcome. Not very realistic.
A very decent perspective of small-town life from a High School coach and teen girl. Tragedy hits the small town of Dumont and is processed very much the same way any stereotypical rural mentality would handle things. A good read for a bargain book.
This novel was just OK. It started out very slowly for me but then it held my interest for a while but overall it was nothing really special. Frederik Bachman ("A Man Called Ove" and "Beartown" is much better writing about the he dysfunctional small town story.
Gritty and rough with a harsh plot so I won't use the word "enjoyed" to describe reading it. I'll just say I found it riveting and couldn't put it down!