Just Too Good to Be True: A Novel

This is my first book by this writer, and I picked it up because the dust jacket promised a "read" about family, faith and football...a winning combination, I thought. This story was good enough to stick it out to the end, but frankly, I found the main characters fairly unlikeable. The mom of one of the most talented major college football stars of 2005 has a public image of perfection and success. She has hidden a less perfect past and present from her son, and some of her secrets and deceptions seem quite unfair to him. The son, who has promised to be pure, has given in to a couple of temptations, which he hides from mom and the sports world which has taken an interest in him. The family's best friend spills a couple of their secrets foolishly to his new lover, and that gives an unscrupulous sports agent real leverage against the player. Kind of caught in the middle of all this is an overage hooker/cheerleader sent to seduce the player into signing with her adulterous boyfriend/agent. If you are interested, as I was, in learning some things you hadn't known about the pressures in big time college football, you may like the environment in which this novel is set. However, I just didn't really root for the characters I think the author wanted me to support. They are not evil, but it is hard to equate hypocrites with "heroes" either. And the final few pages seem rushed and inadequate to wrap up the story lines. The character I cheered for the most was a guy that mom dated, who ran a sandwich shop, and a man from her past who made a non-hypocritical success out of his life. The football presented here, while bearing little resemblance to reality, was more interesting than either this family, or the faith its members were supposed to possess.

As usual Mr. Harris has provided the perfect entertainment on paper. I love his books and there is always that bittersweet moment when I get to the end. I read them like I'm studying for a test, savoring every word and am crushed every time I turn the last page. Until the next book rolls off the press, I'll be recommending this book as well as all his others.

I was a little apprehensive about reading an E. Lynn Harris book that had mostly straight characters. This book was Great!!! Once I started reading this book I could not put it down. The mother Carmyn touched my heart. I had to stop reading the book for a minute to think out her situation and how I would have dealt with it. E. Lynn showed the love of a black mother for her son. I am very proud of E. Lynn and how he was able to tie in the drama and still show the importance of love for family.

It was just to good to be true that Mr. Harris was back and i know y'all know what i mean when i say back. I met Mr. Harris while he was doing a workshop here in dallas. He told us about this book and also mentioned that the character was not gay. i wasn't shocked by the character not being gay but i was shocked by the lacking of the storyline. Another thing that was going on a lot in this story was that the straight male characters were describing each other as if they were checking them out or even gay, especially Brady. So are you sure he isn't on the low Mr. Harris?

the book seemed so....episodic...if that's even a word. basically it seemed as if it was written in episodes like a script. the relationship with Camryn and Brady although, strong was a bit on the not so healthy side. i loved the respect he had for Lowell and the fact that he stepped in to be a step father. that was powerful and i wished i saw more of that with our men in today's society. The it was said that Rena wanted to apologize for what she did to Camryn a*k*a Niecey but that wasn''t the way she approached her. she was bascially acting as though she was going to expose Camryn which didn't coincide with what Woodson said at teh end.

Barrett's character was so unreal. the things she did made Brady seem as though he was a dumb jock. he had no common sense whatsoever to see what this woman was pulling. i don't understand how she could be registered in school without them catching on to her and Kilgore's game. i just find the entire story line to be unrealistic. the story really has no closure, what happened to Delmar and his stripping, his mother, Kilgore was he indicted, Kellis did she find a man, did he choose Basil as his agent, did Nico get time or what? i just felt it could've been a little more neater in the closing.

the story had a lot of potential but lacked that E. Lynn Harris shock factor that we have all come to love. i still respect Mr. harris as an invaluable author and look forward for the other books that are on the way. i think he said he had like 9 releases all coming out really close together. i hope they give us what we have come to expect with E. Lynn not saying they have to be gay because they don't all we need is the drama, divas, jocks, arrogant pretty people and mayheim that you normally bring to the forefront

The book was great. Well worth the wait. I loved the football references because I'm such a huge football fan. Great message. Thanks E. Lynn. You can't let Basil go can you? I love him and his turn around.