Cover-Up

Cover-Up Page by Trevor Gilliam

Background of Author John Feinstein is known for writing books and novels about sports. He was not only an author, but a sports commentator. Along with //Cover-Up//, he had two other best-selling novels. They were //A Good Walk Spoiled// and //A Season on the Brink//. John Feinstein was born in New York City on July 28, 1956. Education was a big part of the Feinstein family. His father was involved in the arts of the Washington National Opera. John received his first bachelor’s degree from Duke University in 1977. All of the novels that Feinstein have written about have been talking about sports. Not only does John Feinstein publish books, but he has been involved in many movies. In 1995, he wrote and published the all-time best seller, //A Good Walk Spoiled//. It was about a year inside the life on the PGA Tour. It was told through the stories of seventeen players on one of the teams. His second novel was //A Season on the Brink//. It tells about a year in the life of the Indiana State University basketball team and its legendary coach, Bob Knight. Feinstein has also written a series with multiple books that are bestsellers called; //Cover-Up//, //Last Shot//, //Vanishing Act//, //Change Up//, and //The Rivalry//.

Introduction of each main character Steven (Stevie) Richman Thomas: One of the main characters involved in //Cover-Up.// He is a fourteen-year old sports fanatic living in Philadelphia hired by a sports network, USTV. The months later he gets fired, because "he wasn't looking good enough for their network." After going to the superbowl in Indianapolis, he runs into the people from CBS. They ask him if he wants to come work for them during the week of the Superbowl. Also during that week, he finds out that the Dreams' offensive line test positive for steroids. After finding out all this information, he immediately releases the information. Susan Carol Anderson: She is the tall, pretty girl from North Carolina. Susan is known for being Stevie's partner on USTV. After Stevie breaks the story, Susan and Stevie officially decide to start dating. Eddie Brennan: He was the quarterback of the Dreams. Eddie is also on Stevie and Susan Carol's side. He decided to tell them about the cover up. Eddie also hooks them up to a doctor who gives them the offensive line's test results. After giving them the test results, he feels guilty, but also know that he did the right thing. During the Super Bowl, Eddie is the one to save the Dreams in the second half.

Summary of the Plot

Steven (Stevie) Thomas is a fourteen-year-old crazy sports fan who has saved a player from stealing at the Final Four. He has also proved that the kidnapping was actually a set-up. After that, he and his partner, Susan Carol, were hired by USTV to do a show. Three months later, he was fired because he “didn’t look good enough for their network.” This left Susan Carol furious. He flies to Indianapolis, where the Super Bowl was being held, to work as a journalist for the Super Bowl. When he lands at the airport, he meets Sean McManus who hires him to work for CBS during the week. At the Hoosier Dome, his story gets out and shows that the Ravens' equipment guy, Darin Kerns knows the star quarterback of the Dreams. His name was Eddie Brennan. Kerns and Brennan were friends back in high school. Therefore by knowing Kerns, Stevie gets some interviewing time with Brennan for the story of them playing together. After the interview he goes back to his hotel room. All while Stevie is sleeping, he gets a call from Susan Carol saying that she wants to talk to him right now. She says that she was out with friends and a Dreams team doctor came up to her and started talking to her. The doctor was drunk, so he tells her that five offensive linemen tested positive for HGH, or human growth hormone. He also tells her that it was a cover-up, that way the players won’t get suspended. Together, Susan Carol and Stevie decide that they have to try to write the story and let the public know about it. The next day CBS decides to film his story. Kerns and Brennan talk about their times together in high school. After the interview, Stevie talks to Eddie about the drug tests. He doesn’t get much information though. He only figured out Eddie was freaking out that he knew about the tests. After that, Bobby Kelleher, his mentor in journalism, sets him up with an interview with the Ravens owner, Steve Biscotti. The next morning Stevie talks with Eddie about the drug tests. This time the conversation is one-on-one. He tells them that Meeker is the one that is covering up the results so the players don’t get suspended. After that, Susan Carol calls the drunken doctor, Dr. Snow, and asks to speak with him. There they try and blackmail him so they can get the results. Come to find out, the doctor tricks them. Susan Carol and Stevie feel awfully suspicious. With their feelings, they go to the mall and meet them. As the Dr. Snow is leaving, Darin Kerns and two security guards rush to save them. It turns out that Stevie had put his cell phone on speaker and the other line was Eddie. Eddie had called Kerns, and they were ready to catch Dr. Snow in denial. Eddie calls them the next day to tell them that he was set-up as the source and that he will not be starting. Don Meeker is about to go on CBS and USTV to lie and tell people he did nothing wrong. In the process, he makes Susan Carol look like a fool on USTV. The game starts, and the backup quarterback is playing for the Dreams. Pretty soon the Dreams have a major problem. Eddie starts the second half and steers his team to a comeback. After this, Eddie and the Dreams win the Super Bowl on a miracle play. Stevie proves that Don Meeker was covering up and that the owners could vote to force Meeker to sell the team.

Book Review

When I first saw this book I somewhat wondered what it would be about. Obviously about football, so I immediately was interested. Not only did I not know anything about the book, but I didn’t know anything about the author. The author is John Feinstein. From all the books that I have read, I have never heard of him. In my opinion though, he does know what he is talking about when it comes to football. As the book begins, the main characters (Stevie and Susan Carol) have a weekly show on USTV. The USTV is a sports channel network. They all head to Indianapolis for the big Super Bowl. Instead of the Patriots and the Giants, it is the Ravens and the California Dreams. When Stevie and Susan Carol fly up to Indianapolis, Stevie finds out that he has been replaced. Not only been replaced, but he had been fired. The company told him that “he didn’t suit very well for the television company.” With a never giving up attitude, Stevie still finds a way to get to the Super Bowl. So after all the pain of getting fired, Stevie and Susan Carol are now fighting. This causes Stevie to be really upset, and down. Stevie and Susan Carol decide to put their relationship on the back burner and worry about another event. They find out that the entire Dreams’ offensive line has tested positive for the steroid HGH. This is a human growth hormone. This situation is not only embarrassing but humiliating for the owner, Donny Meeker. Come to find out, Meeker had been working with the team’s doctors and members of the media to hide his team’s test results. When Stevie and Susan Carol found out about this situation, the truth wasn’t all the way out. After the pair found out about it, they were faced with maybe the most difficult situation. They cannot decide whether to let the media know and ruin the Super Bowl, or just keep it to themselves? Feinstein has not only written //Cover-Up//, he has written numerous novels. This book doesn’t have a lot of sports actions compared to his other books. In //Cover-Up//, it also has a romance locked in with all the ethical dilemmas going on. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about steroid problems in the National Football League. I found it very interesting.