"Something to Keep You Scratching Your Head"

Have you ever wondered how some athletes seem to have a personality transformation the minute they put on their uniforms? It is as if mentally, spiritually and emotionally their psyche has been modified to such an extent that they seem to have a marked edge over their opponents. Suppose we were offered a drug that could easily accomplish this feat. Would we take it not knowing its side effects?

With this in mind, first time novelist, James D. Chlovechok, M.D., author of Game Face, manages to combine his private passions with matters of a public nature. Dr. Chlovechok is a board-certified emergency physician and founder of the Ohio Sports Medicine Institute. According to the information I gleaned from the author's description of himself, it is stated: "while writing Game Face, he also pursued fellowship training in forensic medicine." After reading some of the book's descriptive crime scenes, I could see where this training must have come in very handy.

Focusing on the theme of drugs that are able to do wonders for athletes without even being detectable, Dr. Chlovechok crafts an exciting plot with a very surprising twist for an ending.

The beginning of the story finds the team of Mark McKenzie, who is a forensic medicine specialist and his boyhood friend, Detective Sergeant Tim McGregor, investigating the death of an elite woman athlete. What follows is a series of scenes, characters and events that initially do not seem to be interconnected, and at times I felt like I was caught in "rumbling traffic." However, when you reach the last page, you realize how everything nicely fits in, leaving the reader with a memorable story that is sure to linger on well after you have put the book to bed.

As the novel progresses, readers are informed that a football player had seriously pummeled a policeman. The player's excuse was that he was taking a new potent drug that he described as "attitude in a bottle." Apparently, it has the power to transform your personality and is called "Game Face." We later learn that "the drug is unpredictable and makes the people who take it unpredictable. But once they're taking it they may not believe that."

Following this event, an unexplained death occurs at a Sports Institute, where experiments pertaining to this wonder drug have been taking place. At this same institute mysterious computer files, which are supposedly lost, are retrieved under the file name of "Game Face" exposing some very interesting findings pertaining to experiments performed here. Thrown in is the rivalry between two of the principal scientists connected to the institute, and their breakup due to a difference of opinion as to how to best use the drug. And to add another dimension to the story, the reader also learns about the hostility between Tim McGregor and his twin brother, Carl, leading the reader to some very intriguing and teasing speculations.

What is noteworthy about the author's "gung ho" style is his ability to partially disclose facts and then gradually reveal them to his audience. In this way, the reader is kept off balance trying to figure out the "good guys" from the "bad guys."

Beyond doubt, in writing Game Face, the author perfectly exemplifies the old adage-you should write about something you know in order to create something that is not only believable but also memorable. Dr.Chlovechok effectively succeeds in leaving his readers with something that challenges and provokes thought pertaining to the world of sports and athletes, where winning seems to be the only thing that matters, no matter the consequences.

To read the interview with the author click HERE

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted June 21, 2004

Summary

Track world under microscope...British sprinter tested positive for designer steroid undetectable until recently...Name of U.S. runner arises amid steriod scandal...Biggest steroid bust in sports history...100 athletes could be called to testify...White House drug czar's office interested...NFL says it will retest for designer steroids...Senate weighs action...Dozens of top Olympic and professional athletes to testify before a federal grand jury... Were these recent newspaper headlines written before or after these journalists read Dr. James Chlovechok's new novel "Game Face"? What if you were offered a pill that promised to solve all of your problems? It would make you better at what you do. At everything you do. It isn't illegal, and no one would know. Would you take it? And what happens if people you know start dropping dead? You don't know if that pill is responsible, or if those people were even taking it! You only know that if you stop taking that pill, you will lose everything. This is the errie and cutting edge premise that "Game Face" offers its readers. Mark McKenzie is a forensic medicine specialist recruited by his boyhood friend, Detective Sergeant Tim McGregor, to investigate the death of an elite athlete. Mark is also a former decathlon star who never lived up to his potential. He had the power, the speed, and the brains. What he lacked was the attitude. The fire. In the course of the investigation, he makes a startling discovery: Now, attitude comes in a bottle. "Game Face" is the name of a secret performance-enhancing drug. It provides something that no other chemical can: A mental edge. But its effects are erratic...and so is the behavior of some of its users. Neither this nor the fact that people are dying stops athletes from scrambling to get it. And this new chemical offers a bonus: It is undetectable by current testing methods.