Fourth Down and Out

March 24, 2014
Reporter Welsh-Huggins’s workmanlike debut, the first in a series, introduces Andy Hayes, a Columbus, Ohio, PI, and—for reasons explained late in the story—perhaps the most reviled former football player in Ohio State history. On the behalf of client Ted Hamilton, Hayes manages to retrieve a laptop from high school student Pete Freeley with an embarrassing video, of which Hamilton is the unwilling star, but Hayes is beaten and robbed of it before he can wipe it clean. The missing laptop has information that affects not only Hamilton but also police detective Henry Fielding, O.S.U. booster Bobby Fletcher, English teacher Anne Cooper, FBI agent Cindy Morris, and Pete’s father, businessman Doug Freeley. Hayes proves an appealing, if not terribly effective, investigator. The author’s use of iconic Columbus landmarks and lots of Buckeye lore will appeal to O.S.U. fans.

May 1, 2014
A former Ohio State football star tries to make his way in the world as a private investigator.Andy Hayes used to be on top of the world, playing for a Buckeyes team that seemed destined for the playoffs. Now he's living in German Village, a modest neighborhood in south Columbus, trying to eke out a living tailing unfaithful spouses. Ted Hamilton's job is about midpoint on Andy's sleazometer. High schooler Pete Freeley, who has a video of Hamilton necking with underage Jennifer Rawlings, threatens to go public if he doesn't pay up. Andy punches back with a threat of his own: Give up the video or face extortion charges. When Pete turns over the laptop with the video-which a surprising number of people had access to-all hell breaks loose. Pete's father, Doug, wants it back because it contains sensitive business files. OSU adjunct instructor Anne Cooper wants it because it holds her private stock of plagiarized English papers. But no one's gonna get it, because a thug named Danny Reilly clocks Andy with a shotgun and steals it. Then Danny's body turns up in the local quarry. Between Andy's search for Danny's killer, his hunt for the laptop and his repeated confrontations with all the people who want what's on its hard drive, the story of his betrayal of his football team dribbles out, and you can finally understand why people all over Columbus hate his guts.Another fallen angel seeking salvation through detective work. Legal reporter Welsh-Huggins' debut won't bump Sam Spade off any Best Detective lists, but it's still perfectly respectable.

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May 1, 2014
It's kind of a sleazy job, but with two child-support payments on his plate, Columbus, Ohio, investigator and disgraced former OSU quarterback Andy Hayes can't be picky. His client was videotaped making advances toward a friend's 18-year-old daughter, and now he's being blackmailed. Andy confronts the blackmailer (the teenage boyfriend of the girl), confiscates the laptop, and figures he'll clear the hard drive in a day or two. The kid's dad calls and asks for the laptop back. Andy says no. Then someone assaults Andy and steals the laptop. The FBI gets involved when the guy who whacked Andy is found dead. Suddenly, everyone wants that laptop, and Andy tries to minimize the body count. Andy is an agreeable narrator with a dry wit and a bit of a martyr's complex. His dark past under center for the Buckeyes plays into the satisfying conclusion of this solid debut thriller from an AP legal-affairs reporter based in Columbus.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)