Roughnecks
By:Thomas Cochran
| Roughnecks is a plain
and simple story. It is based in the small town of Oil Camp, Louisiana,
where life centers around only one thing – football.
Thomas Cochran’s novel focuses on the high school football career of Travis Cody. Travis plays tight-end. He talks about the football tradition and how everybody knows the players in this small community and wishes them luck for the big game, the state championship. They play for the town, not just for the team, their school or themselves. This novel is intriguing and exciting. It keeps pulling you in deeper to the life of a key high school ball player. You share his pain, fears and hopes throughout the story. I kept reading the story with the interest because I am familiar with the high school football situation and could relate to the characters. The personal pressure, the school rivalries and the need to succeed were familiar. I found it easy to understand and follow the plot, but I think you need to understand and enjoy football to fully appreciate this book. I admire the characters' will to win and the attitude to always strive to do your best. This is one of the reasons the story pulled me in. This novel is easy to read with plain and simple wording and a bit of southern drawl. I understood it well and enjoyed the reading. The book was just the right size at 247 pages. Roughnecks is probably best read by those with a certain love and bond for football. |