Athens City, Alabama, is a town that lost its heart the day the high school football team lost the state championship and suffered a tragedy. Since that night, the town that once enjoyed superstar status has fallen on hard times. Now, years later, the former coach returns to head up one final season aided by a local who tells the story with a fresh voice. Together, they fight Goliath and learn that love and reconciliation are more important than winning ever could be.
Amazon.com Review
The coauthor of the blockbuster Left Behind series inks the appealing, happily-ever-after Hometown Legend, about a small town in severe financial straits and its former championship football team, written in a made-for-the-movies style that will earn author Jerry Jenkins some new fans. There are some likable characters in this yarn. Lonely widower Cal Sawyer is juggling several balls at once: raising his teenage daughter Rachel, helping coach the down-at-the-heels Athens City High football team, and trying to keep the American Leather Football Company from going belly up. He doesn't count on the impact Elvis Presley Jackson will have on the football season--and on his daughter. Bev Raschke, Sawyer's single, 40-something assistant, has her eye on him, but as Sawyer says, "She's got two cats, and that's about all I need to know about a woman." Romance is inevitable. As the novel unfolds, mostly told in Sawyer's rambling, Southern drawl, we see trouble brewing in his personal life, on the football team, and with the unfolding of Elvis's past. But never fear--there's a happy ending in sight. No loose ends are left dangling, and there's a heartwarming, feel-good wrap-up with a bit of a spin that will satisfy Left Behind aficionados who enjoy a predestined finish to their leisure reading. --Cindy Crosby
From Publishers Weekly
The author of the blockbuster apocalyptic Left Behind series scores points here in his first novel for Warner's new Christian line, penning a homey, feel-good story about a small town's former championship football team. Athens City, Ala., is gasping for breath businesses are closing, people are leaving in droves and Athens City High is playing its last football season before the school is consolidated. Assistant coach Cal Sawyer narrates most of the book in a comfortable, rambling drawl. He's raising his teenage daughter, Rachel, alone, while engaged in an uphill battle to keep the American Leather Football Company afloat. When Rachel befriends player Elvis Presley Jackson, she finds herself forced to address questions of faith and loss that she has only glossed over in the past. Jenkins relies more on dialogue than descriptive settings, but his trademark ability to bond readers with characters is in strong evidence here. Loose ends are wrapped up into a happy, made-for-the-big-screen ending albeit with a bit of a twist which should appeal to Left Behind readers who enjoy knowing that the end of the story is pretty much a foregone conclusion. The short epilogue, however, is anti-climatic. While there's nothing here that will pull readers out of their comfort zones, this is a pleasing read that should nimbly cross over between the general and Christian markets. (Sept.)Forecast: The Left Behind series hasn't sold 40 million copies for naught this stand-alone novel will be promoted to the hilt. Print advertising is planned for USA Today, People, Sports Illustrated, Southern Living and various Christian magazines. Guideposts plans a direct-mail promotion to 1.6 million homes, and Jenkins Entertainment has filmed a movie version that will have its theatrical release this fall.
Description:
Athens City, Alabama, is a town that lost its heart the day the high school football team lost the state championship and suffered a tragedy. Since that night, the town that once enjoyed superstar status has fallen on hard times. Now, years later, the former coach returns to head up one final season aided by a local who tells the story with a fresh voice. Together, they fight Goliath and learn that love and reconciliation are more important than winning ever could be.
Amazon.com Review
The coauthor of the blockbuster Left Behind series inks the appealing, happily-ever-after Hometown Legend, about a small town in severe financial straits and its former championship football team, written in a made-for-the-movies style that will earn author Jerry Jenkins some new fans. There are some likable characters in this yarn. Lonely widower Cal Sawyer is juggling several balls at once: raising his teenage daughter Rachel, helping coach the down-at-the-heels Athens City High football team, and trying to keep the American Leather Football Company from going belly up. He doesn't count on the impact Elvis Presley Jackson will have on the football season--and on his daughter. Bev Raschke, Sawyer's single, 40-something assistant, has her eye on him, but as Sawyer says, "She's got two cats, and that's about all I need to know about a woman." Romance is inevitable. As the novel unfolds, mostly told in Sawyer's rambling, Southern drawl, we see trouble brewing in his personal life, on the football team, and with the unfolding of Elvis's past. But never fear--there's a happy ending in sight. No loose ends are left dangling, and there's a heartwarming, feel-good wrap-up with a bit of a spin that will satisfy Left Behind aficionados who enjoy a predestined finish to their leisure reading. --Cindy Crosby
From Publishers Weekly
The author of the blockbuster apocalyptic Left Behind series scores points here in his first novel for Warner's new Christian line, penning a homey, feel-good story about a small town's former championship football team. Athens City, Ala., is gasping for breath businesses are closing, people are leaving in droves and Athens City High is playing its last football season before the school is consolidated. Assistant coach Cal Sawyer narrates most of the book in a comfortable, rambling drawl. He's raising his teenage daughter, Rachel, alone, while engaged in an uphill battle to keep the American Leather Football Company afloat. When Rachel befriends player Elvis Presley Jackson, she finds herself forced to address questions of faith and loss that she has only glossed over in the past. Jenkins relies more on dialogue than descriptive settings, but his trademark ability to bond readers with characters is in strong evidence here. Loose ends are wrapped up into a happy, made-for-the-big-screen ending albeit with a bit of a twist which should appeal to Left Behind readers who enjoy knowing that the end of the story is pretty much a foregone conclusion. The short epilogue, however, is anti-climatic. While there's nothing here that will pull readers out of their comfort zones, this is a pleasing read that should nimbly cross over between the general and Christian markets. (Sept.)Forecast: The Left Behind series hasn't sold 40 million copies for naught this stand-alone novel will be promoted to the hilt. Print advertising is planned for USA Today, People, Sports Illustrated, Southern Living and various Christian magazines. Guideposts plans a direct-mail promotion to 1.6 million homes, and Jenkins Entertainment has filmed a movie version that will have its theatrical release this fall.
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