The Feathery
July 29, 2009 by Golf · Leave a Comment
The Feathery plot centers around a unique type of golf ball used during a record match at St. Andrews, Scotland in 1849. It starts with a description of that golf match and how a feathery ball was made using 1849 technology.
Fast forward to the 21st century where the story is set in San Diego, London, New York, Scotland and Ireland The game of golf blends with mystery and suspence surrounding an obsession so strong by some to own this valuable feathery golf ball that they’ll even commit murder to satisfy it.
The owner of feathery, Scott Beckman, is a PGA touring professional who inherits the ball from his mentor, Sandy McNair, a decendent of that record setting St. Andrews player, Hugh McNair. Sandy was the club pro who had steared Scott and his friend, Matt Kemp away from trouble when they were teenagers. Sandy takes them under his wing teaches Scott the game of golf and Matt how to be the best caddie. They start out on tour after passing the grueling test of Q-School, but fail to make expenses. Scott reluctantly submits the feathery to a London auction. After he does so he starts winning and earning. He then pulls the feathery out of the auction much to the chagrin of a few scrupulous collectors and who are still determined to possess it by any means to include robbery, murder and kidnapping.
Scott leaves the solution of the crimes up to Chief Inspector Trevor Bradshaw of Scotland Yard and Francis X. Riley of the NYPD while he competes at the British open in Turnberry, Scotland agains hot competition. He is leading when his best friend and caddie Matt Kemp is abducted and a threatening note is sent to Scott with a piece of Matt’s ear lobe. The note tells him to withdraw from the tournament or more mutilation will occur.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Golf History and Intrigue
After reading this book I strongly recommend this novel by Bill Flynn called The Feathery. I do love history and when a writer uses that as part of their novel then I am interested. Bill Flynn the writer used golf history as a start of his novel but it also included suspense and intrigue about an old 1849 Feathery golf ball that the main character Scott Beckman inherited. Since this Feathery golf ball was so valuable it came part of the story of murder and greed but also a story about two boys whose life was turned around by golf.
I liked the way the author built up the story by giving you a good background of the characters involved. The main characters were Scott Beckman and his friend Matt Kemp who got into trouble as youths but a kind hearted police officer turned them over to Sandy McNair an elderly golf teacher at a country club. Sandy had worked with many troubled youth but became close to these two young boys. Scott worked very close with Sandy and he began teaching Scott the game of golf. Scott goes on to become a golf Professional and Matt became a tour Caddie and the two finally get to work together.
The intrigue starts when Scott finds out he inherited Sandy’s belongings when he passed away. In these items it turns out to be some antique items from St. Andrews in Scotland where Sandy’s family was from. When Scott professional career became low on earnings he thought about selling these items to fund his golf tour. Scott finds out how valuable they were when he puts them up for sale at an Antique Auction House. This is when the mystery, murder and theft become mixed up in the many tour golf tournaments Scott was playing in.
The author using his writing skill, weave in and out of intrigue of the feathery golf ball and golf tournaments we all are familiar with like the Masters and the British Open. Scott’s begins to win golf tournaments and the money follows, so he decides to keep the feathery ball and that is when the greed of the collectors becomes more involved with Scott and Matt’s life. You won’t be bored with this book as the action helps you keep turning those pages.
I would recommend this book especially to any golfer as it will be a fun and fast read. It will be a good gift for father’s day or even mother’s day if she is a golfer. It will hold your attention and the story moves along very well. I like this type of novels, I do not like it when the authors move you back and forth between time periods and you get mixed up in characters. The author starts this book with the first chapter about the event in history that made the Feathery golf ball famous. This book holds true to the characters and includes the mass greed of collectors and what they will do to own a valuable item. If you like detective stories throw in some golf history with golf tournaments you have a winner. Check out Bill Flynn’s book called the The Feathery you will even find out how they made those leather golf balls filled with goose feathers. Mr. Flynn has a way of weaving it all together making it a good book but maybe even a better movie.
4 Stars Golf History and Murder
Bill Flynn has does a great job of weaving the backstory concerning the history of golf and the collecting of golf memorabilia with the main story of a young golfer on tour who encounters murder and kidnapping.
Main character Scott Beckman is fortunate enough as a child to receive golf instruction from people who recognize his talent and dedication to the game. Later Scott gets to join the PGA tour and he inherits a set of golf memorabilia, including a rare feathery golf ball that was used to set a record. A handful of greedy collectors vie for possession of the feathery and one of them will stop at nothing, including murder and kidnapping. Though deeply concerned, Scott has to continue on the tour while the police work feverishly to find the killers before they strike again.
The author has done a good job of writing about golf in such a way that even non-golfers can easily understand the game and experience the suspense as Scott Beckman goes for his first PGA win. The fast-paced action and interesting settings add to the book’s appeal.
4 Stars Very Enjoyable
I enjoyed the mixture of golf, suspense, and history rolled into an easy reading novel.
4 Stars A modern book destined to become a cherished antique!!!
Bill Flynn’s “The Feathery” is a very fast read. Not only is it well crafted, but it is written wonderfully. Many people read books to “escape,” and this book helps the reader to do just that - whether it be to 18th Century Scotland, modern day California, modern day England and Scotland and New York.
I am by no means considered an expert in the world of golf, let alone the history of golf balls, yet I was absolutely able to dive into this story to the point where life would interrupt my reading. This book’s focus is not just golf - it is a true “whodunit” coupled with a “whatshouldIdo” type of story, with an interesting twist - with the world of golf as the landscape.
One may think by the book’s cover that “The Feathery” is just about a type of golf ball, crafted by hand in the 1800s. It is far beyond that. “The Feathery” incorporates greed, love, loss, survival, and it’s relation to the world of gambling, antique collecting and pursuing one’s dreams. Right from the start, the reader begins to “root” for the characters.
I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and look forward to Mr. Flynn’s next novel.
J.R. Reardon
author, “Confidential Communications”
5 Stars No Mulligans Required - The Feathery is A Great Read
The Feathery is a terrific read on many levels. The author begins weaving this tale by showing the reader the origins of a feathery, an antique golf ball. One of the things I loved in this book is author Bill Flynn’s respect for tradition. He tells the story of a father and son’s (Scott Beckman) connection shared through golf interrupted by unfortunate events. Without his father’s guidance, the son and his friend become delinquents, and by a stroke of luck, they are tied to an old-school golf pro. This crusty gentleman invests his time in developing the boys into men.
As adults, the two childhood friends hook up to try their hand on the pro golf tour. Here is where the intrigue begins. When Scott Beckman inherits a valuable feathery, he and his friend become targets of various plots to extract the antique golf ball for financial gains. The author makes the case for the traditionalists - those who respect the feathery and the game more than simply financial advancement.
It is a wonderful winding adventure of intrigue and drama on its face. On a deeper level, I can infer from this book that the author might have a disdain for artificial turf and the DH in baseball, domed stadiums in football, and three pointers in basketball. Maybe,maybe not. But at least as far as golf goes Bill Flynn shows a deep respect for the game through the characters we come to like in his book. The Feathery is a salute to golf tradition and stand-up role models, and is a complete celebration of “the gentleman’s game”.
The book had me wanting to head to the driving range to hit a few “feathery’s” into the sky. All the pieces fit well in this book, like getting on a green in regulation, on the low side of the hole, up and in for a birdie. This is a great book for all, but especially for people starting out in golf who do not yet know why the game commands so much respect. The Feathery, as you might hear on the links, is, “well played chap!”
Yale R Jaffe
The Essential P G Wodehouse Collection
July 19, 2009 by Golf · Leave a Comment
The Essential P G Wodehouse Collection
Some of the best P.G. Wodehouse novels in one collection (With an active table of contents):
The Clicking of Cuthbert,
Head of Kay’s,
The Intrusion of Jimmy,
Man With Two Left Feet, And Others,
Mike and Psmith,
Tales of St. Austin’s,
The White Feather
Sudden Death
June 16, 2009 by Golf · Leave a Comment
Pure fun, pure intrigue. The action never stops until a fascinating climax! –Clive Cussler
You like golf, you like murder mysteries, then Sudden Death is your book! –James Patterson
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Fast-paced golf mystery aptly named!
Sudden Death is one of those books that you pick up, and don’t want to put down. The story moves at a pace similar to what I imagine the big golf tournaments do - it speeds by, with moments where you hold your breath, riveted in the moment, eager for what will happen next.
I can sometimes guess endings to novels, but this time I was fooled - the book had a fantastic surprise ending worthy of its title. Though I don’t golf much, I did enjoy the game, (in spite of golf-ball topping being my unfortunate specialty) and I can appreciate what it must be like at the elite levels. The sections describing the game were very interesting, and very well done. Getting a sense of the ultra-competitive, and oftentimes glamorous life of a top athlete in the world of golf was tantalizing. It makes me wish I was one of them!
Sudden Death is a fast, sharp murder-mystery that does indeed live up to its name. It has highly entertaining lead characters that are so fully fleshed out, you can very well imagine them walking into the room. I felt rewarded by the book, first because it’s a good read, and second because I feel that I now know more about the world of pro golf - this book is an exhilarating peek into something the average person will never experience.
If you are in the mood for a quick, fun, interesting, fast-paced murder mystery, then Sudden Death is your book!
Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands
5 Stars Grabs your attention and never lets go…
Prior to purchase, I hoped that this wouldn’t be another boring sports thriller where the hero wins a tournament by one shot. “Sudden Death” grabbed my attention from page one and never let go! It’s pure intrigue that rates with five star thrillers like Patterson. It contains everything a male reader would enjoy…suspense, sports, money, women, competition AND has things that a female reader would like…a hot male superstar, a touch of romance and the thrill of a chase. I usually figure out a whodunit by the first third of a book. Not this time!! That’s how good this book is…I guaranTEE you won’t be able to either!!!
1 Star Boring…more about food than fiction.
I am a golfer. I also like to read. This book failed in fulfilling either. The plot was unilateral and linear. No subplots, no twists, no surprises were incorporated into the fiction. Once a threat was established, the rest of the dreary narrative addressed reapeatedly what the characters ate, how often they ate, the whereabouts of the body guards, and underdeveloped family and friend relationships.
The only reason I finished the book was to prove that I was wrong. There would be a twist, something unexpected, something dramatic I told myself. I wasn’t wrong. Boring, expected, pedantic, sophmoric…did I say boring? I was very disappointed.
5 Stars Sudden Death
Reid Clark is a tempermental man, who plays golf in the PGA, and might I add that he is “the best out there.” He has caused many enemies, but that isn’t all. People want to kill him due to his temper tantrums and he has to play knowing that it may kill him due to the death threats he has received. He is so sure of himself off and on the golf course with the ladies. Other players and business associates resent his temper. Known as the “Bad Boy” his threat is to: Never win another golf tournament.
Will he stop playing? You must read to find out.
This novel could be a wonderful movie. There is suspense and mystery and a lot of egotistic mannerisms. Great read! Oh, and read the reviews from other top authors. Quite impressive!
4 Stars A great read! Even if you’re not a master of the game!
Michael Balkind’s “Sudden Death” is a great read, even if you are not a master of the game. I never would have thought that I would enjoy unraveling the mystery of golf while unraveling a mystery in a book. And believe me, I enjoyed all of it - A very, enjoyable quick read.
Sudden Death will keep you guessing right up until the exciting end!
J.R. Reardon
author, “Confidential Communications”
