When Rugby Turns Romantic: The Unexpected Passion Behind the Game in T.C. Bettise’s Latest Tale
You can name your poison at the Jackpot club, and whether ingested cheerfully or passed through the convenient, drive-up window, it is always delivered with a smile – but when a dead bouncer leaves Conor a briefcase full of cocaine, cash, and anxiety, things unravel quickly. What follows is a darkly comic spiral through amateur athletic mediocrity, questionable loyalties, and life consequences that the protagonist is profoundly unequipped to handle.
Rehab offers no salvation—only complications. There’s Charlene, enigmatic and disarmingly perceptive, who seems more interested in saving his soul than sleeping with him, and “The Cat,” a predator in every sense of the word. But when violence rears its inevitable head, Conor finally finds something he’s good at: a perfectly executed rugby tackle that might be the closest thing to redemption he’s ever known.
