By: C. G. Cooper
Narrator: Will Damron
ISBN: 9781511344890
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: 12/10/2024
Format: Audio
My Rating: 5 Stars (ALC)
In this unforgettable novel from USA Today bestselling author C. G. Cooper, a college football star struggles to pull himself free from his father’s tangled past.
It’s 1989, and college freshman Michael Greco is ready to leave his dreary small town—and the grief of his father’s death—behind. He has everything he needs for a great year: a starting spot on the football team, new friends, and a promising flirtation with a beautiful grad student.
But just as Greco settles in to campus life, his uncle shows up demanding that he take care of his father’s unfinished business with a powerful Chicago gangster. As Greco is drawn further into this cutthroat world, he struggles to shield his troubled younger brother and spiraling mother from the truth. Can he figure out who he is, and what sort of man he wants to be, before the past extinguishes any hope of a different future?
Unflinchingly honest, C. G. Cooper’s Greco is a complex exploration of identity, alienation, and the weight of atoning for inherited sins.
My Review
C.G. Cooper, author of military thrillers Young Adult and the Corps Justice series, returns with an emotionally charged standalone, GRECO.
A college football star embarks on a poignant journey to break free from his father’s entangled past sins. This complex human underdog story will tug at your heartstrings, leaving you fervently rooting for the MC until the end.
“GRECO is an intricately woven, coming-of-age, small-town, powerful story of loss, hope, and courage in the face of evil and adversity.”
Audiobook...
Cooper is a new author for me. I was drawn to the audiobook because of the narrator, Will Damron (a favorite), who gave a superb performance with his keen storytelling skills, drawing you in and making the characters come alive!
About...
Michael Angelo Greco (Greco) has a bright future as a star football player. However, he has to overcome his father's sins. Now, his father is dead, and he is responsible for taking care of his mom (who is drunk most of the time) and little brother, Tommy.
He is ready to escape the small, dead-end town of Shiply, Illinois, and his childhood dysfunctional environment. He wants a fresh start. He is ready for football and academics—a bright future.
In 1989, Greco started college at Jefferson State University, the year he would become a man. This is the year everything changed. Greco wanted to build something after surviving childhood. A wonderful roommate, Leroy, and dating a beautiful grad student.
But his past finds him, unfortunately, when his uncle shows up demanding Greco take care of his father's unfinished business with a powerful Chicago gangster and organized crime.
While trying to keep up his grades, football practices, and college life, he has to worry about his troubled younger brother, a spiraling mother, and a crooked uncle, Freddy, making his life miserable with blackmail.
Who can he tell? How will he escape this mess so history does not repeat itself? Did he really know his father?
My thoughts...
GRECO is a poignant coming-of-age story set in a small rural town. It delves into the protagonist's struggle with identity and the burden of his family's past sins. You'll be deeply moved by Greco's unwavering determination to carve a better life for himself and his brother and his relentless fight to bring light into the darkness.
A line between innocence and hard wisdom, between hopelessness and faith, beautifully told, readers who enjoy tales of loss, love, family, redemption, and emotional strength in the face of hardship and adversity will cheer on GRECO to the satisfying ending.
Honest, authentic, heartbreaking and healing. The book is about good people placed in difficult situations and families doing their best to survive while carrying a powerful takeaway message of hope for humanity, even in the darkest times.
Compelling and heart-wrenching! An ideal pick for book clubs. It's a moving and uplifting story of broken families, secrets, survival, betrayal, and triumph over tragedy; the well-developed characters, particularly Greco, Shelia, and Leroy, provide ample material for discussion, making it a great choice for group reading.
I look forward to reading more from C. G. Cooper! Also highly recommend the audiobook.
Recs...
Brimming with tension, family secrets, and betrayal, for fans of the author, coming-of-age stories and family dramas. Also, for those who enjoy works by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Fredrik Backman, John Hart, Wade Rouse, and William Kent Krueger.
Thanks to NetGalley, Brilliance Audio for an (ALC), and Lake Union Publishing for an (ARC) in exchange for an honest review.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars (audio)
Pub Date: Dec 10, 2024
About the Author
C. G. Cooper is the USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of more than twenty-five thrillers, including the Corps Justice series, several spin-offs, and stand-alone novels.
Drawing on his time as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps―after earning a degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia―Cooper sifted his experience through his vivid imagination in Corps Justice, the first novel in the beloved series. Book nine of the series, Chain of Command, earned Cooper the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s prestigious James Webb Award in 2020.
While bouncing around the country in search of the perfect vacation (which is anywhere with his family), Cooper has called Nashville home since his final Marine duty station. When not enjoying the laid-back lifestyle of Music City, he’s adding more novels to the list at www.cg-cooper.com.
About the Narrator
WILL DAMRON
Author • Actor • Narrator
Will is a professional actor and writer based in Atlanta. As an audiobook narrator, he has voiced over 700 titles across a variety of genres, and garnered an Audie Award, three Voice Arts Awards, and multiple Earphones Awards and other nominations. As a stage actor, he has performed Off-Broadway and in multiple regional theater productions, and has further pursued his love of storytelling by becoming a published author. WEBSITE
