Suckerpunch: Round One in the Woodshed Wallace Series

Woodshed Wallace Series #1

by Jeremy Brown

Despite the best efforts of his trainer and mentor, 28-year-old heavyweight mixed martial artist Aaron “Woodshed”Wallace just can’t move beyond the low-level MMA fight rungs. His criminal past and self-destructive tendencies have proven to be the biggest hurdle he can’t seem to overcome. So when Woodshed is offered a match against the rising heavyweight star of the largest MMA organization in the Western hemisphere, he’s all over it. The night before the fight, Woodshed runs into Lance, a small-time criminal from his past, and Lance’s bookie Kendall. Ever the opportunist, Kendall plans to bet big on Woodshed to win; and to increase his motivation, Kendall kidnaps Lance. Blaming himself for the kidnapping, Woodshed resolves to attempt a rescue. But in order to have any chance of tracking Kendall down, Woodshed has to reconnect with a gunrunner and a drug dealer from his crime-ridden past and risk losing his big MMA opportunity.

Genres: Fiction, Ebooks

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Having a great book to read makes me happy, and I try to provide that for you.

I have written ten books across multiple genres, and my day job is writing lore and story arcs for a very popular video game. I used to write technical validation documents in the basement of a pharmaceutical company--novels and video games are much more fun.

My wife and I have a rescue dog who collects mud and two cats who aren't impressed by anything we do. We bought a lawn tractor last year and took turns posing with it. That was a great day.

If you'd like to contact me, please visit jeremywbrown.com.

Reviews

[Dan Trudeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's the deal:
If you're into crime novels, you should read this book.
If you're into martial arts or MMA fighting, you should read this book.
If you like hard-hitting, bone-breaking action, you should read this book.
If you're a fan of Raymond Chandler-style prose and wit, you should read this book.

The only thing I listed I'm not a fan of is MMA, so I enjoyed this book to no end. It was a good read and then you hit the halfway point and it becomes a great read. It goes without saying it's a promising first novel. Not many can handle the noir-style prose without making it sound labored, but Jeremy Brown is one of the few who can.

[J. Gates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brown's adult fiction debut is a thrill ride dripping with blood, sweat, and humor. If you have any testosterone in your body - or if you know someone who does - you owe it to yourself to read Suckerpunch!

[Luke Shiras · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I was a little skeptical of this book as it was 1) based around an MMA fighter and 2) was written like a crime noir, first-person narrative. But after getting past the initial reaction I found that I really enjoyed this book. The character is quite relatable and funny (not taking himself too seriously) while dealing with a dangerous situation (no spoilers).

One of the things I liked about this was that the author describes MMA fight moves in such a way as they could be understood by the reader without prior background, and is only used to advance the story, much like any action story would.

The plot had several twists and turns which kept me hooked on what would happen next and how our "hero" would get out of the situation, both the immediate problem and the bigger problem.

I generally lean towards the sci-fi genre but I found this a pleasant diversion from my usual books and would like to read the next book in the series.

I received a free digital copy of this book in exchange for a thoughtful and honest review and hope I've done that. If you've seen some of my other reviews, you'll notice I've not always been kind, so you can tell this is an honest review.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know basically nothing about MMA or fighting, but I can say that the action in this book was exciting and had enough variety to keep me interested. I liked the characters, especially the protagonist and the voice was fun.

Best of all, it has the kind of weird I love most in the genre.

It’s no life changer, but it’s a good read.

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well-written, but I do not recommend it for anyone who cringes at MMA fights, or even WWE wrestling.

[Carl Alves · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this novel, Aaron “Woodshed” Wallace is a professional mixed martial arts fighter with a very shaky past. He’s rough around the edges and is the kind of person who only knows fighting, so he might as well get paid for it. He’s a club fighter operating in regional shows when promoter Eddie Banzai from the world’s largest fighting organization (this novel’s version of the UFC), offers him to fight one of their most prominent fighters on two days notice, who Woody incidentally had previously beaten, in the co-main-event of a Pay Per View card. After he signs a contract all hell breaks loose. He is out to dinner with Marcela, the cousin of his Brazilian training partners when an old friend whom Woody owes a big favor asks to back him up to a bookie he owes money to. Woody intervenes when the bookie’s henchman starts beating up his friend. This later leads to Marcela being kidnapped. Woody is told that he has to win the fight or bad things will happen to Marcela. The story then evolves into rival gangs, illegal pit fighting, and the Yakuza.

There is some good and bad and this novel. I enjoyed the training and the fight scenes. The author either has a background in mixed martial arts or has done a lot of research because this aspect of the book is very well done. The book is extremely fast paced and was a quick read, things that I appreciate it. The main characters, such as Woody, his training partners, and Marcela arr well done. The villain characters in this story, such as Eddie Banzai, Kendall, and Chops weren’t quite as well developed. My biggest issue centers about the believability aspects on certain plot points. The quandary that Woody gets himself could have been explained better and was hard to buy into. The way he gets himself out of it is also a stretch. The climax was hard to follow in spots and could have gone through a bit of rewrite for clarity. Overall, I find this to be an enjoyable read and would recommend it.

Carl Alves - author of Reconquest: Mother Earth

[Kaylah Hancock · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story that was quick and simple. The different character interactions made them interesting but I was disappointed by the lack of character development; Woody being my favorite by far because he was comical and tough. The author did an excellent job describing the world that these characters were in, his writing style made for a rather vivid picture. I enjoyed the amount of action, but found that lack of knowledge of fighting in general kept me from fully appreciating the scenes. In general the book was alright, but it didn't leave that great of an impact on me, nor was I sucked into the story so much that I felt compelled to read it no matter what; I actually had to put it down for a day because I just didn't really want to read it. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to read Hook and Shoot, the second book, but I'm not in too much of a hurry to pick it up.

[Larrygebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Suckerpunch thru The Fight Card series.I read this book straight thru in one sitting.Fantastic.I am looking foward to the next one. Hook and Shoot.

[Yankey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Modern yet classic, engaging, solid character building, exciting and unpredictable story line, action galore.

This is a guy's guy series and I'm hooked.

[Heather Berkowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was short and a quick read, but much better than I was expecting!

[Pete731 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Solid thriller, good writing. Looking for others by this author now.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome book fast read first book I've read in 3 days

[Jerrle Gericke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might've liked this book more if I was a fan of mixed martial arts....