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, 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.

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.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars (audio)
Pub Date: Dec 10, 2024
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Greco by C. G. Cooper is one you won't want to miss reading.
Such a well written story.
I couldn’t stop once I started.

A coming of age story with an implausible premise. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This wasn't for me but I'm sure it will find an audience.

This book is a different type story for Mr. Cooper and it is well done. I have read most if not all of his books. The story keeps the reader wanting more and you won’t be disappointed. I highly recommend this book and all of his other books.

Book was amazing, it had a variety of twists and turns. It was well written showing an insight of a disfunctional family and how they survive, a boy becoming a man before his time and what saves him. Once you start on the journey of the story, you will not be able to put it down until you finish the book!

Greco is well written and captivating! It is one of those books where the reader feels that the author could write anything and it would be exceptional.

This is a story of overcoming challenges and adversity at a young age. The main character, Michael Greco, starts out as a sympathetic underdog. He has had a rough upbringing and isn't perfect. Although he is an athlete who has talent, so do many others. He doesn't seem destined for anything extraordinary. Fate steps in to elevate him, and he somehow manages to rise above the circumstances.

Readers will enjoy the book even if they are not fans of football. It's not really about football. It's a story of making it past what someone is born into and discovering that goodness and success are already inside of you, despite the negatives that have been given to you in life.

I found myself fascinated by what could happen next. An enjoyable element of this story is the support and friendship found within a team. I absolutely recommend this book to others!

The story was sort of slow until halfway through the book But then the characters were more intriguing and interacted more. Thanks for the ARC.

I received an advanced copy of Greco and am so glad I did! I was captured by the very first chapter and engrossed until the very end. Greco, the title character , is written as very likable. There is some conflict throughout the book, and I found myself actually rooting for Greco. The other characters are fully fleshed out, and one will either love them or hate them. The storyline moves fast until the climax and has a satisfying ending. I've loved all of C. G. Cooper's novels, but this may be my new favorite!

Best known for his book series, such as Corp Justice, Greco is a stand-alone that is a spell-binding, interesting, and emotional read, set in the world of Big-Time college football, and maybe the Mob (to really make it interesting), while still rooted in the same values as the Corp Justice books.

This book is told entirely in first person narrative. Young Michael “call me Greco” Greco, is a young man just beginning college, totally immersed in the world of college football and navigating the challenges of juggling school work and his football obligations.

But he has an enormous family secret—actually, MANY family secrets, that are literally giving him nightmares. Can he trust his teammates, his coach, or even his own brother to share the truth—and perhaps get the help he truly needs?

The first-person narrative is very conversational, and reading it feels as though someone is speaking directly to you, or you are watching a movie. In fact, Greco would make a compelling movie.

The FPN is so intimate that you can’t help but get emotionally involved with Greco and his trials and tribulations, all the while rooting deep down that it will work out for him. Football, love, family, there’s a lot to juggle for this lad, but don’t be fooled into thinking this is some kind of Hallmark story or an Afternoon Special. It’s realistic, and uncompromisingly hard-hitting.

The emotional involvement, the breezy narrative style, and the big stakes involved makes for a compelling read—the cliché that you “can’t put it down” can be appropriately applied.

Highly recommend.

I chose this book for two reasons: the author and the description. Having read most of the author’s books, I don’t feel this one measures up to the high standard he has set. The book is entertaining and well-written, but missed pulling in my interest.

I'll admit I picked this book up because, after reading the synopsis, I was curious to read a story about a young adult man with a dramatic background because of his father. Personally, I love family drama, especially between fathers-sons or mothers-daughters.
So, I can safely say that I went for this book for the family drama alone.
Which, unfortunately, ended up being a disappointment to me.
GRECO is, in my opinion, most focused on the protagonist's life in the field, as a football college player. The dynamics among all his fellow college players, his relationship with his coach, the matches they play. I mean, there is a lot of sports talk here. Which doesn't suit me. I don't care or like sports in general. So, to read so many passages and chapters about the games and stuff was quite boring to my personal taste.
I did enjoy, though, Greco's friendship with Leroy, his roomie and Greco's personality itself. I could relate to him several times.
The dramatic and troublesome relationship Greco has with his uncle was also a miss for me.
What I'm surprised to say is that I didn't mind the YA aspects of this book. I'm not a YA reader, and I confess I was a little concerned that this book would annoy me because of that, but no! I never minded the college YA stuff going on in this book, probably because Greco himself was more mature and responsible than the majority of people his age.
In the second half of this book things get more dramatic but it never got to the point I was hoping for, which was a big drama between father and son - and the fact that Greco's dad wasn't in the picture anymore increased the let-down feeling I had when I first started this book. What we have is actually the repercussions of what Greco's father caused to him.

All in all, it was a fine read. It didn't meet my expectations but I cannot pinpoint nothing essentially wrong with this book.
I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy character-driven stories with a lot of sports talk and some family drama.