Book Review: Enforcer

by Valerie Wood

Reviewed by INSIDE HOCKEY columnist Frank Krewda

Rating: 4 Pucks

What would inspire a young, female Alabaman to write a novel about hockey hooliganism? Turns out love for the underdog, respect for the NHL's top cops, and - yes - old-fashioned bad-boy magnetism.

But Valerie J. Wood, author of Enforcer (1stBooks Library), is no garden-variety sycophant. After working as a photojournalist in the ECHL and AHL, Wood has earned her chops as an insider. Even Link Gaetz, for whom Wood runs a Web site, put his stamp of approval on her knack for authenticity in the foreword.

Cole Bowman, on the other hand, seems more difficult to explain. Bowman, NHL goon and Enforcer's central character, conjures up images of the late John Kordic.

In contrast to his imposing appearance on and off the ice, Bowman is emotionally frail and complex. Torn between pleasing his father, who wants him to develop his playing skills, and his win-at-all-costs coach, who depends on his toughness, Bowman gets caught in a web of self-loathing and doubt which leads to a substance abuse problem that nearly ends his life.

Complicating Bowman's daily existence even further is a complicated love triangle among Cole, his working-class girlfriend, Mitzi, and Barbara, the team owner's rich bitch daughter.

Barbara, ostensibly to stabilize Cole's frayed life, showers him with meals, limousines and her company. By the end of the book, readers are all too aware of her true motive: to shut Mitzi out of the picture by making Bowman 100% dependent on her and her money.

The only real problem with Enforcer is that Wood assumes that readers are extremely well-informed hockey fans. For example, she gambles that readers will know the Kordic saga, but the gamble doesn't pay. Casual hockey fans are less than likely to understand Bowman's motivations, which aren't sufficiently explained throughout the novel.

Why, for example, is Cole so desperate to please his father? Why does he let an opposing player pummel him into semi-consciousness during an important game? How can coach Al Farrell justify shooting up players with near-lethal doses of pain-numbing drugs minutes before a game?

Wood makes the common mistake of telling, rather than showing, readers her character motivations. But that doesn't take away from a still very entertaining experience. Let's face it, Enforcer is the first novel I am aware of that looks under a goon's helmet to see what's swirling around. That alone makes it an interesting read. And since Cole lives, Wood may be sitting on a (hopefully, longer and more detailed) sequel.

Although I sometimes wondered if I was reading a romance novel about an NHL enforcer or a hockey book about romance, I read the book twice in two sittings. Considering the speed with which I read, I cannot give Wood a higher compliment.

July 14, 2003