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ArticlesA whole new ballgame: Tim Green's latest thriller has nothing to do with footballSyracuse Herald American, September 2000 By William LaRue Tim Green, a novelist known for writing books with football themes, says it was time to go for a conversion of a different sort. His eighth book, The Letter of the Law, which just arrived in stores, is the first that makes no mention of the sport. There's no locker-room chatter, no star running backs, no murdered team owner—not even an ex-jock—in this crime thriller about a young attorney defending her former law professor on trial for a brutal murder. Excising the game from his writing was a creative challenge and a frightening prospect for Green, a former star linebacker for Syracuse University and the Atlanta Falcons. Nearly two years ago, when Warner Books first suggested he drop the football references, Green balked at a change he worried would alienate loyal readers. "I said, 'Absolutely not,'" Green recalls. Then he pondered it more, talked about it with his wife, Illyssa, and soon convinced himself that Warner was right. Although Green's novels did well, typically selling 10,000 or more copies, they didn't come close in popularity to big-name authors whom Green admires, including thriller writers David Baldacci and Nelson Demille, who often sell 100 times that number. Green found himself agreeing that being known as the novelist who writes about football could turn off lots of potential readers, particularly women. "The books were selling well, but they really weren't expanding the way I would have liked," Green says. "It's really nice to sell 10,000 or 15,000 copies, but my goal from the beginning was to become a perennial best-selling author where a million people are reading your story and enjoying it. So it was a pretty logical step when you consider that was my objective." Green, 36, who retired from the Falcons in 1994, remains an analyst for Fox network telecasts of the National Football League. He also is a football commentator on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition. The Letter of the Law does stick with some main themes in Green's other novels, including police detective work and courtroom drama that have natural appeal to Green, a Syracuse attorney who got his law degree from SU. Green also brings back the fast-paced prose, surprising plot twists and a strong female attorney character. This time, the woman at the center of the story is Casey Jordan, a brash and ambitious lawyer. Jordan's defense of a creepy former law professor tests her belief that a defense attorney must do everything within the law to win a case. She develops over the course of The Letter of the Law the kinds of heroic qualities that Green gave attorney Madison McCall in his three last novels, Outlaws, The Red Zone, and Double Reverse. Warner Books has so much confidence in The Letter of the Law that it's printing 100,000 copies. That's four times the number for Green's last book, according to Rick Wolff, his longtime editor at the book publishing firm. Also this time, Warner is stressing in publicity efforts Green's talent for writing legal thrillers, not the novelty of a former football player turning out books. "He's still a multitalented guy. But the truth is, whereas 10 years ago it was interesting that he was an active player writing a book, he's no longer that. That time has come and gone. We're now trying to present him as a master novelist," Wolff says. Although it's too early to know whether that strategy will pay off with increased book sales, Green says, losing the football image won't be that tough. He acknowledges with a laugh that neither his work with the NFL nor with Fox has turned him into a household name or face in most places. "It's not like I'm (the Miami Dolphins' former star quarterback) Dan Marino, you know," he says. "The truth is, most people don't know who Tim Green is. "If Warner is successful in its marketing efforts, then it would probably be more likely that people would know me as a writer than with anything to do with football. If they saw me on TV doing football games, they'd probably think it's another person, which is fine."  |
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