Payback Time by Carl Deuker

Today I’m here to talk to you about the book Payback Time by Carl Deuker. It is a phenomenal suspenseful mystery/sports novel. This is by far my favorite book by Carl Dueker. It might even be my favorite sports novel of all time!

This book is about a young reporter named Mitch True. Mitch is the reporter for the sports section in his high school newspaper. Mitch isn’t thrilled about his new job because he doesn’t know that much about sports. That all ends when he figures out that the photographer for the sports is Kimi Yon, one of the most popular kids at school. When Mitch and Kimi arrive at the first football practice they notice something a little strange. They see a kid who throws like a champ, but when asked to show his skills to the coach, he goes flat. Mitch and Kimi look into this kid, and realized that they might have one of the biggest cases Lincoln High will ever witness.

When I finished this book I was really sad because it was over. I kept turning and turning the pages till there where no more left to turn. I loved how this book mixed sports action with mystery and suspense. I was constantly on the edge of my seat.

My favorite quote from this book was, “ When I was little my dad took me to see All The President’s Men at a theatre that shows old movies. I didn’t follow politics about Nixon and Watergate, but as I watched I knew I wanted to be a reporter.” I liked this quote because it shows how much Mitch wants to and how determined Mitch is to be a reporter.

"Told in the first person, the story is initially funny, but the humor is soon eclipsed by the suspenseful plot and the copious play-by-play football action. These elements work together to create a rousing climax, which is then followed by a softer and more reflective denouement. Nicely played. " Says Kirkus Reviews. The Bulletin raves "It's a solid Cooneyesque mystery/thriller, though, with enough straight-up gridiron action to draw a crowd, and it won't take much booktalking to sell middle-schoolers on this title."

Deuker (Gym Candy, 2003) really cranks up the suspense in his newest pageturner, combining a Seattle high-school football team’s march toward the state championship game with a school reporter’s investigation of an apparent ringer that the coach has slipped in to bolster the defense. Mitch doesn’t think much of his new assignment as sports reporter, but when he sees how Coach McNulty keeps Angel—a reclusive new student who shows star-quality abilities in practice—benched until late in each hard-fought game his suspicions are aroused. Thrilled to think that he has caught wind of an actual cheating scandal, Mitch digs into Angel’s past. What he discovers stirs up far more trouble than he has bargained for, and pitches him into a series of terrifying situations. The game action alone is riveting even for readers who don’t know a naked bootleg from a hook-and-ladder play, but Deuker enriches the tale with several well-tuned subplots and a memorable narrator/protagonist who turns a corner on his own self-image while weathering brutal tests of his courage and determination. Definitely one for the top shelf. Grades 7-10. --John Peters

Carl Deuker has also written Gym Candy, Runner, and High Heat, just to name a few. This amazing author has won many awards for several of his books such as the 2010 Popular Paperback for Young Adults, and the YA Book of the Year in five different states. Payback Time unfortunately not won any awards. The recommended reading age for this book is ages twelve and up. The copyright date for this book is 2010, so it is a rather new book. I would recommend this book to boys because it involves a lot of football and the book is seen from a boy’s point of view.

If you read this book I guarantee you will read right through the 294 pages it contains. So go ahead, give this awesome novel a try.

Recommended by Alex Merten