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Brad Shade #1
The Code
For fans of Elmore Leonard and Robert B. Parker, meet hockey scout turned private detective Brad Shade, from “one of the best sports writers on the continent” Brad Shade has been just about everywhere hockey is played. He has ridden the buses in the minors, shared dressing rooms with the legends of the game, closed bars with guys destined for the Hall of Fame, and dropped the gloves with journeymen like himself who’ll never get near it. And even though he’s retired after fourteen years of bouncing around the league with more losses than wins and his net worth eroding, he’s still living out of a suitcase and still taking numbers. That’s his day job—scout for LA, where someone in management owes him a favour from his playing days. But when the brutally murdered body of coaching legend Red Hanratty turns up in the parking lot after an old-timers charity game (Shade goes scoreless, again), Shade’s job of scouting the local phenom starts to overlap with investigating the killing of the kid’s grizzled old coach. When the killer goes after Shade’s girlfriend, he finds out that guys don’t stay in the league because they’re good—they stick around because they’re smart enough to know what needs to get done, and just ornery enough to actually do it. From small-town rinks to the draft tables in the big league, G.B. Joyce introduces us to a character Canadians already love—the fourth-liner with a self-deprecating sense of humour and an oversized will to win—and weaves a story out of strands of resentment, greed, and fear that span generations and build to a surprising, thrilling conclusion.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 30, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
August 27, 2016
The mystery story, for all its diversity, has three narrative structures, The police procedural, the private detective and the amateur sleuth. Early series examples of the latter would be Miss Marple and Lord Peter Wimsey. The modern twist on the amateur sleuth, however, involves giving the amateur a profession, generally one that has absolutely nothing to do with detection. Recent examples of this type include such diverse types as Australian author Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman series where the amateur is a baker or Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series, where sleuth Delaware is a clinical psychologist. One of the reader attractions to such books must be what that profession is. The Code falls squarely into what I would term my reading demographic. Series protagonist Brad Shade is a hockey scout. Shade is a former NHL player, a journeyman who had a fair career based on a limited talent. He's candid about his limitations and after some bad jobs after retirement and a nasty divorce, has landed this one as a scout for the LA Kings.
The book is filled with hockey lore, although the only real player referred to is Gretzky. Author Gare Joyce's knowledge of the game shows itself throughout the book. If you don't know how scouting works or the mechanics of the annual draft you will have a much better idea by the end. The writing is sharp and the dialogue crisp and witty as befits the genre. The mystery, the murder of the Peterborough minor hockey coach and team doctor, is intriguingly described. Shade isn't an active participant in the investigation, he figures it out on his own. How he does this makes the last third of the book particularly brilliant. I look forward to the next one in this series.
The book is filled with hockey lore, although the only real player referred to is Gretzky. Author Gare Joyce's knowledge of the game shows itself throughout the book. If you don't know how scouting works or the mechanics of the annual draft you will have a much better idea by the end. The writing is sharp and the dialogue crisp and witty as befits the genre. The mystery, the murder of the Peterborough minor hockey coach and team doctor, is intriguingly described. Shade isn't an active participant in the investigation, he figures it out on his own. How he does this makes the last third of the book particularly brilliant. I look forward to the next one in this series.
January 3, 2013
The Code is two things I generally don’t like – an amateur-sleuth mystery and a sports story – and yet I’d give it 4.5 stars if we could give half-stars on GR. How does this happen?
My beef with amateur-sleuth novels is that the sleuth in question usually has no especially good reason to be investigating the crime at hand and usually no qualifications to do so other than being a busybody. In this case, however, Our Hero – L.A. Kings hockey scout Brad Shade – has every reason in the world to be involved: his top draft pick’s coach is murdered after an oldtimer’s game in which Shade plays. Shade has to make sure golden-boy player Billy Mays is recruitable and isn’t involved in the murder so the Kings don’t waste their first-round pick and Shade doesn’t get fired. And since scouts are sleuths of a kind, he has the toolkit to do the work.
The other reason this setup works well is that Shade’s first priority is getting the dope on Mays, not investigating the murder. The information he picks up along the way also helps him eventually work out the crime, but that’s not his main focus. The police are in the background doing their thing and Shade feeds them information as he goes along; this isn’t a brilliant hero vs. doofus cops thing. Our Hero isn’t Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher.
As for the sports: author G.B. Joyce’s hockey talk flies thick and fast, the inside-hockey atmosphere hangs low over all the proceedings, and Shade – a former almost-big-time player – offers nonstop commentary on the leagues, the players, and the life. It all sounds very real to someone who’s watched a total of thirty minutes of hockey in his entire life. I suspect the level of accuracy is pretty high given that Joyce is Canadian writing for Canadians about their national sport, and that he used to be a hockey scout himself. That said, I was able to get through the book without getting lost in the world even when I had to let the rink talk wash over me while I plucked out the gist. The plot isn’t so much about the action on the ice as it is about the politics of the game – and politics is a universal game.
Shade is yet another down-at-the-heels detective hero, but at least he’s not bedeviled by the usual things. He isn’t an alcoholic or problem gambler, he has an apparently healthy relationship with a girlfriend, no dead wives or martyred children, and while he’s not flush, he’s also not poverty-stricken. As a player he used to be somebody, or almost somebody, and now is repeatedly made aware of his much more peripheral place in his chosen world. He’s a nice change from the thoroughly dysfunctional literary characters who often investigate crimes. Shade’s voice is mordant, sarcastic, and often world-weary, but is easy to get along with.
The missing half-star is because the only major female character other than Shade’s girlfriend is basically a cartoon, and that Mays is such an upstanding young man that he seems as if he’s been brought in from the 1950s by a time machine. I understand Joyce is trying to make the point that Mays is uncorrupted by the sleaze surrounding him, but a healthy 18YO with girls dripping off him and he doesn’t want to score? Come on.
The Code is a well-written mystery with atmosphere to burn and a hero you won’t mind spending 300 pages with. I bought it as an experiment in reading someone I’d never heard of, and it paid off. If you like watching ESPN with Cloo running in a P-in-P window and you can’t keep your hands off Coben’s Myron Bolitar books, this is the novel for you.
My beef with amateur-sleuth novels is that the sleuth in question usually has no especially good reason to be investigating the crime at hand and usually no qualifications to do so other than being a busybody. In this case, however, Our Hero – L.A. Kings hockey scout Brad Shade – has every reason in the world to be involved: his top draft pick’s coach is murdered after an oldtimer’s game in which Shade plays. Shade has to make sure golden-boy player Billy Mays is recruitable and isn’t involved in the murder so the Kings don’t waste their first-round pick and Shade doesn’t get fired. And since scouts are sleuths of a kind, he has the toolkit to do the work.
The other reason this setup works well is that Shade’s first priority is getting the dope on Mays, not investigating the murder. The information he picks up along the way also helps him eventually work out the crime, but that’s not his main focus. The police are in the background doing their thing and Shade feeds them information as he goes along; this isn’t a brilliant hero vs. doofus cops thing. Our Hero isn’t Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher.
As for the sports: author G.B. Joyce’s hockey talk flies thick and fast, the inside-hockey atmosphere hangs low over all the proceedings, and Shade – a former almost-big-time player – offers nonstop commentary on the leagues, the players, and the life. It all sounds very real to someone who’s watched a total of thirty minutes of hockey in his entire life. I suspect the level of accuracy is pretty high given that Joyce is Canadian writing for Canadians about their national sport, and that he used to be a hockey scout himself. That said, I was able to get through the book without getting lost in the world even when I had to let the rink talk wash over me while I plucked out the gist. The plot isn’t so much about the action on the ice as it is about the politics of the game – and politics is a universal game.
Shade is yet another down-at-the-heels detective hero, but at least he’s not bedeviled by the usual things. He isn’t an alcoholic or problem gambler, he has an apparently healthy relationship with a girlfriend, no dead wives or martyred children, and while he’s not flush, he’s also not poverty-stricken. As a player he used to be somebody, or almost somebody, and now is repeatedly made aware of his much more peripheral place in his chosen world. He’s a nice change from the thoroughly dysfunctional literary characters who often investigate crimes. Shade’s voice is mordant, sarcastic, and often world-weary, but is easy to get along with.
The missing half-star is because the only major female character other than Shade’s girlfriend is basically a cartoon, and that Mays is such an upstanding young man that he seems as if he’s been brought in from the 1950s by a time machine. I understand Joyce is trying to make the point that Mays is uncorrupted by the sleaze surrounding him, but a healthy 18YO with girls dripping off him and he doesn’t want to score? Come on.
The Code is a well-written mystery with atmosphere to burn and a hero you won’t mind spending 300 pages with. I bought it as an experiment in reading someone I’d never heard of, and it paid off. If you like watching ESPN with Cloo running in a P-in-P window and you can’t keep your hands off Coben’s Myron Bolitar books, this is the novel for you.
March 24, 2018
A surprisingly really good read! I wasn't sure what to expect, when I picked it up on a whim based solely on the fact that the Canadian TV show Private Eyes is loosely (very loosely) based on this series... if you can call it a series, with only two books in it...
It was difficult to get into, initially, and adjusting to the main character's narrative was a struggle for a while. I do prefer the show's adaptation of Brad Shade to "Matt". Also, there's no "Angie", and Brad's father is the retired police detective. So far, there's no PI business, either, and the show further deviates from this first installment in a few other ways.
Still, I found it really intriguing. I didn't mind learning more about the world of hockey (scouting, anyway...), and I liked how the mystery came together. I actually really enjoyed reading it, and it shouldn't have taken me so long to finish, if I had been able to stick to my usual reading schedule, instead of using my time for the current house-remodel projects we've got going on. I love both the books and the TV show, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book.
It was difficult to get into, initially, and adjusting to the main character's narrative was a struggle for a while. I do prefer the show's adaptation of Brad Shade to "Matt". Also, there's no "Angie", and Brad's father is the retired police detective. So far, there's no PI business, either, and the show further deviates from this first installment in a few other ways.
Still, I found it really intriguing. I didn't mind learning more about the world of hockey (scouting, anyway...), and I liked how the mystery came together. I actually really enjoyed reading it, and it shouldn't have taken me so long to finish, if I had been able to stick to my usual reading schedule, instead of using my time for the current house-remodel projects we've got going on. I love both the books and the TV show, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book.
October 3, 2012
This is a mystery novel for the sports fan. Brad Shade is a scout for the LA franchise in the National Hockey League with its eyes on a star amateur hockey player Billy Mays Jr. In the period right before the NHL drat while he is evaluating this future star the player's coach and team doctor are killed after a game. Brad's job is now twofold evaluating Billy as a prospect but he also takes it on himself to look into who murdered the coach.
The book move along well. The characters are well developed and the final outcome of the book is satisfying. I do think The Code will appeal primarily to sports fans as there is a lot of hockey lingo and it would really be helpful if the reader had some familiarity with minor league hockey. All in all, its an impressive start for a first time novelist and his new protagonist.
The book move along well. The characters are well developed and the final outcome of the book is satisfying. I do think The Code will appeal primarily to sports fans as there is a lot of hockey lingo and it would really be helpful if the reader had some familiarity with minor league hockey. All in all, its an impressive start for a first time novelist and his new protagonist.
April 28, 2013
I'm a hockey fan but not a big fan of this book.
I started this book with high hopes but my expectations went downhill quickly.
Brad Shade "the Shadow" played pro hockey (although never very well) and is now a scout. Shade never comes across as a very sympathetic character and it was a chore to make my way through this disjointed, boring story - about two murders - which should have at least added some excitement to it.
I wouldn't recommend this to: sports fans, mystery aficionados or anyone who wants to stay awake while reading.
I started this book with high hopes but my expectations went downhill quickly.
Brad Shade "the Shadow" played pro hockey (although never very well) and is now a scout. Shade never comes across as a very sympathetic character and it was a chore to make my way through this disjointed, boring story - about two murders - which should have at least added some excitement to it.
I wouldn't recommend this to: sports fans, mystery aficionados or anyone who wants to stay awake while reading.
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April 8, 2021I don't remember there ever being a book where, after 10 pages, I disliked the main character so much I had to stop reading. This isn't even worth a star.
October 26, 2024
Sono rimasto deluso da questo libro, nonostante sia comunque scorrevole e si lasci leggere ero partito con delle aspettative forse troppo alte.
Negli ultimi mesi ho visto, sulla Rai, il telefilm Private Eyes, che nella sigla riporta la dicitura "personaggi ispirato al libro The Code". Ora, dopo Lo Hobbit dovrei essere consapevole del fatto che la dicitura ispirato a significa quasi sempre ho preso il nome e rifatto il resto, ma speravo che fosse più "tratto da".
Invece la trama del libro è grosso modo quella del primo episodio della serie: Matt "The Shadow" Shade, talent scout nonché ex giocatore di hockey, nel mentre verifica il potenziale di una probabile futura stella dell'hockey finisce per smascherare il colpevole di un duplice omicidio.
Il tutto però è narrato in davvero troppe pagine e l'indagine avviene in maniera troppo sbrigativa e quasi per caso.
Negli ultimi mesi ho visto, sulla Rai, il telefilm Private Eyes, che nella sigla riporta la dicitura "personaggi ispirato al libro The Code". Ora, dopo Lo Hobbit dovrei essere consapevole del fatto che la dicitura ispirato a significa quasi sempre ho preso il nome e rifatto il resto, ma speravo che fosse più "tratto da".
Invece la trama del libro è grosso modo quella del primo episodio della serie: Matt "The Shadow" Shade, talent scout nonché ex giocatore di hockey, nel mentre verifica il potenziale di una probabile futura stella dell'hockey finisce per smascherare il colpevole di un duplice omicidio.
Il tutto però è narrato in davvero troppe pagine e l'indagine avviene in maniera troppo sbrigativa e quasi per caso.
July 9, 2021
Definitely worth a read if you enjoy crime fiction and hockey. Protagonist is well developed, with a wickedly fun sense of humor. Dialogue is authentic. Plot is also well planned. My one critique is the pacing. Probably could've trimmed out about 30 pages worth of dense shoptalk and trivial details, and kick-started the rising action a little sooner in the first hundred pages. Nevertheless, there was still enough timely intrigue, suspense, and humor to keep even a non-sports fan entertained.
FYI, don't expect much similarity to its progeny, the Canadian TV show, Private Eyes, which however, is very engaging!
FYI, don't expect much similarity to its progeny, the Canadian TV show, Private Eyes, which however, is very engaging!
January 11, 2022
Best hockey I'm gonna get this year! Great read, regardless of the NHL's lack of a season again this year. Felt like I got both my mystery and hockey fix in one. I really liked Brad "The Shadow" Shade and his behind the scenes look at the game, scouting, and the draft....and his extensive vocabulary (impressive for a ex-player). Great new approach to the mystery genre: how all that scouting helped him solve the mystery of the murder of a coaching legend and team doctor. I'd pretty much figured out the who, but the why kept me going. A fun read, will definitely look into more by Joyce.
August 13, 2018
A must for those interested or involved with Ice Hockey.
Very engaging read; a good plot with extremely plausible action.
Worth following up in the next story. You can see how the concept for the TV Series "Private Eyes" evolved.
Very engaging read; a good plot with extremely plausible action.
Worth following up in the next story. You can see how the concept for the TV Series "Private Eyes" evolved.
April 19, 2022
3.5
I liked the book because I live in Toronto and I love hockey. If you don't really like hockey, you won't enjoy this book at all.
I thought the story could have used another twist. Just fell a little short for me. A little too obvious.
I liked the book because I live in Toronto and I love hockey. If you don't really like hockey, you won't enjoy this book at all.
I thought the story could have used another twist. Just fell a little short for me. A little too obvious.
August 23, 2024
I picked up this book on a whim and it's a great summer read. It has a lot of the structure you find in a standard cop/crime book, but approached in a unique way.
It might help if you're a bit of a hockey fan, but the plot could be transposed on any sport.
It might help if you're a bit of a hockey fan, but the plot could be transposed on any sport.
December 31, 2017
This book was everything I was looking for: an interesting mystery and a peek behind the curtain of pro-sports scouting. If you enjoy sports and/or mystery novels, I'd give this book a read.
April 15, 2018
*3.5
February 28, 2020
Fun read in a hockey setting. Strong character with a strong voice.
June 21, 2021
Interesting enough. Good insight into the behind the scenes of the NHL, if you’re a hockey fan it may be worth the read just for that.
March 20, 2022
Good hockey story
August 21, 2022
Hockey culture made for an interesting backdrop for this murder mystery!
January 12, 2023
DNF. Started to read it and found too much about how life had treated him badly, etc. didn’t need a big ok like this right now.
October 28, 2012
This is a tough review to write. The Code, by sportswriter G.B. Joyce, has a lot of things that I love — a good mystery, a flawed hero, and a bit of action. But it is all somehow a bit awkward.
First, the story: Brad Shade is a former hockey player with a sad-luck story, now a scout for the team in L.A. While scouting a particularly hot young prospect, a beloved coach and team doctor are brutally murdered, and while Shade isn’t a suspect or even a witness, his scouting duties keep leading him back around to the investigation. To get the story on his prospect, he may have to solve the murder.
For the most part, I enjoyed the mystery, although it’s a little slow to get started. For the first 150-200 pages, the murder is peripheral — Shade isn’t even questioned by the police — it sort of lurks in the background, and while the scouting stuff was interesting, it wasn’t riveting. But the story keeps circling back, the murder always in the background, the questions surrounding the deaths always kind of caught up in the questions surrounding Billy Mays Jr., the hot prospect, always on the back burner. The story builds to a showdown on the floor of the NHL draft that is worthy of any courtroom drama.
I did have some problems with the book. First, the jargon. Insider jargon can be a great tool. It can make people feel like part of the club, people in the know, sharing the little inside jokes and shortcuts, but that only works if they understand it, if you provide some context. I shouldn’t have to go to Wikipedia to figure out what a major junior is. Early on, I got frustrated and called up my Secret Hockey Source (also a professional sports writer/editor who knows a LOT about hockey), to get a few questions answered. Unless you want your only readers to be hockey fans, you need to give them some explanation of why a 17 year old kid is playing on a team alongside a Russian professional player. (The answer: major junior leagues are a bit like baseball minor leagues and the traveling soccer teams you see in the US. More than a high school team, but not quite the pros.) Shade makes several references to his “old friend Arthur” before I figured out he was talking about his arthritis. (I couldn’t find anyone who had heard that nickname in years.) Instead of letting the jargon bring me into the story, it made me feel excluded.
The other thing I really had a problem with: the title. I hate titles that seem to come out of nowhere, and this one really did. Late in the book, a sportscaster made a reference to The Code (basically, the unwritten code regarding player conduct on the ice) but it still doesn’t tie into the story for me. Not only that, it’s a title that’s been used before. When I was chatting with my Secret Hockey Source, she originally thought I was talking about The Code: The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL; she couldn’t figure out why I thought it was so “mysterious.” Using the title of another well-known book is kind of a no-no, especially one so close to your subject matter.
Overall, not a bad book. I was interested in the snapshot of life as a hockey scout, and that’s far more the focus of the book than the murder. The murders are a side note — Shade was not really involved in the investigation, except as it concerned the player he was scouting. He doesn’t set out to solve the murders, and you don’t get the feeling he would care one way or the other, if it wasn’t for the fact that his team is going to invest millions in this player. It’s a fun book for hockey fans (and if you aren’t a fan, it helps to have a Secret Hockey Source, for when you get stuck). I wouldn’t be opposed to giving Joyce’s fiction one more try, but I hope next time around he’s more invested in the actual mystery.
First, the story: Brad Shade is a former hockey player with a sad-luck story, now a scout for the team in L.A. While scouting a particularly hot young prospect, a beloved coach and team doctor are brutally murdered, and while Shade isn’t a suspect or even a witness, his scouting duties keep leading him back around to the investigation. To get the story on his prospect, he may have to solve the murder.
For the most part, I enjoyed the mystery, although it’s a little slow to get started. For the first 150-200 pages, the murder is peripheral — Shade isn’t even questioned by the police — it sort of lurks in the background, and while the scouting stuff was interesting, it wasn’t riveting. But the story keeps circling back, the murder always in the background, the questions surrounding the deaths always kind of caught up in the questions surrounding Billy Mays Jr., the hot prospect, always on the back burner. The story builds to a showdown on the floor of the NHL draft that is worthy of any courtroom drama.
I did have some problems with the book. First, the jargon. Insider jargon can be a great tool. It can make people feel like part of the club, people in the know, sharing the little inside jokes and shortcuts, but that only works if they understand it, if you provide some context. I shouldn’t have to go to Wikipedia to figure out what a major junior is. Early on, I got frustrated and called up my Secret Hockey Source (also a professional sports writer/editor who knows a LOT about hockey), to get a few questions answered. Unless you want your only readers to be hockey fans, you need to give them some explanation of why a 17 year old kid is playing on a team alongside a Russian professional player. (The answer: major junior leagues are a bit like baseball minor leagues and the traveling soccer teams you see in the US. More than a high school team, but not quite the pros.) Shade makes several references to his “old friend Arthur” before I figured out he was talking about his arthritis. (I couldn’t find anyone who had heard that nickname in years.) Instead of letting the jargon bring me into the story, it made me feel excluded.
The other thing I really had a problem with: the title. I hate titles that seem to come out of nowhere, and this one really did. Late in the book, a sportscaster made a reference to The Code (basically, the unwritten code regarding player conduct on the ice) but it still doesn’t tie into the story for me. Not only that, it’s a title that’s been used before. When I was chatting with my Secret Hockey Source, she originally thought I was talking about The Code: The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL; she couldn’t figure out why I thought it was so “mysterious.” Using the title of another well-known book is kind of a no-no, especially one so close to your subject matter.
Overall, not a bad book. I was interested in the snapshot of life as a hockey scout, and that’s far more the focus of the book than the murder. The murders are a side note — Shade was not really involved in the investigation, except as it concerned the player he was scouting. He doesn’t set out to solve the murders, and you don’t get the feeling he would care one way or the other, if it wasn’t for the fact that his team is going to invest millions in this player. It’s a fun book for hockey fans (and if you aren’t a fan, it helps to have a Secret Hockey Source, for when you get stuck). I wouldn’t be opposed to giving Joyce’s fiction one more try, but I hope next time around he’s more invested in the actual mystery.
December 9, 2016
I liked G.B. Joyce's first novel, but I also like hockey, which is a pre-requisite for enjoying this hardboiled-style story. Brad Shade is an ex-hockey player who managed to play in the NHL for several years, although he was never a big name. Now he's working for a franchise, scouting out potential players to draft. His work takes him everywhere, but he mainly concentrates on the big towns and small cities of Ontario, where hockey is the only sport that matters and the teen-age players are a big deal. In Petersborough, Red Hanratty has been the coach for the junior league for decades. He's made the team a winning one and many professional players spent time skating for him. He's out-spoken and a bit of a drinker, but everyone is shocked when he is bludgeoned to death alongside the team doctor in the arena parking lot after an old-timers charity game. Shade was there, called in at the last minute to fill a slot and he was one of the last to see Hanratty alive. Shade was also there to take a close look at one of Hanratty's players, a promising young athlete who seems to have it all. While Shade isn't out to find the murderer, his interests soon make that vitally important.
When we're in the league we're not average guys with average lives. Our normal is no one else's. What we do to each other on the ice would be criminal in any jurisdiction if it were to take place on the street. Even the cleanest bodycheck would be assault. We glory in fighting. We drink to celebrate. Some do drugs, a lot steroids, but I've known some big weed smokers. A lot of guys gamble up to the line of compulsion and beyond. And we rebel against coaches who push us when we aren't inclined to be pushed, which is always, or against GMs whom we're always suspicious of. A team is just a gang by another name, playing hard, partying hard, living hard. Some harder than most. Some unable to behave differently when they hand their skates up to dry or hang them up for good.
Joyce is a sportswriter who has worked as a hockey scout and his knowledge of the inner and outer workings of the game as well as his understanding of hockey culture are what makes this book worth reading. An insider's view of how the minor leagues work is the central focus of the book, making it fascinating reading for a fan of the sport and probably unreadable for anyone else. Joyce aims for a witty hard-boiled writing style and sometimes gets there, but it mostly comes over as overly florid. The plot, while taking second stage to the atmosphere, is put together well enough to hold through the final pages. One thing that did surprise me was the author's female characters, which in this book about an entirely male sport were admittedly few. Joyce's women were as three-dimensional as the men. The love interest was better educated and comfortable in her life and skin than Shade and they interacted as equals.
When we're in the league we're not average guys with average lives. Our normal is no one else's. What we do to each other on the ice would be criminal in any jurisdiction if it were to take place on the street. Even the cleanest bodycheck would be assault. We glory in fighting. We drink to celebrate. Some do drugs, a lot steroids, but I've known some big weed smokers. A lot of guys gamble up to the line of compulsion and beyond. And we rebel against coaches who push us when we aren't inclined to be pushed, which is always, or against GMs whom we're always suspicious of. A team is just a gang by another name, playing hard, partying hard, living hard. Some harder than most. Some unable to behave differently when they hand their skates up to dry or hang them up for good.
Joyce is a sportswriter who has worked as a hockey scout and his knowledge of the inner and outer workings of the game as well as his understanding of hockey culture are what makes this book worth reading. An insider's view of how the minor leagues work is the central focus of the book, making it fascinating reading for a fan of the sport and probably unreadable for anyone else. Joyce aims for a witty hard-boiled writing style and sometimes gets there, but it mostly comes over as overly florid. The plot, while taking second stage to the atmosphere, is put together well enough to hold through the final pages. One thing that did surprise me was the author's female characters, which in this book about an entirely male sport were admittedly few. Joyce's women were as three-dimensional as the men. The love interest was better educated and comfortable in her life and skin than Shade and they interacted as equals.
December 28, 2012
I picked this up as a gift for a Canadian friend who's a lifelong hockey player and fan, but as a big reader of crime fiction, I couldn't resist dipping into the book before wrapping it up. I'm not a big hockey person (been to a handful of games in my life, never played, barely know the rules), but I was quickly sucked into the story and tore through it in a matter of days. The narrator is Brad Shade, a scout for the L.A. Kings who had a kind of journeyman career in the NHL, the highlight of which was defensively blanketing Wayne Gretzky in Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final. Now he lives in Toronto and spends much of the year traveling the "major junior" circuit in Canada, and flying economy to scout European leagues and tournaments.
When a legendary junior league coach and team doctor are murdered in the parking lot of the arena he just played an old-timers game in, Shade starts poking around. L.A.'s top prospect for its #4 pick in the draft played for the dead coach, and in the course of putting together his profile or "juice" on the kid, Shade learns some things that may or may not relate to the murder. And being the son of a veteran Toronto cop, he's not shy about grilling the locals for more info. The murder mystery is decent, with enough plausible red herrings to keep the reader at least slightly off-balance. But what separates the book from your average crime story is the inside look at the scouting life (the author has worked as a hockey scout) and various types of people hanging around hockey arenas.
The writing style isn't going to knock anyone's socks off, but Joyce has a nice ear for dialogue, wisecracks, and patter, and there are plenty of interesting supporting characters, such as Shade's girlfriend, a helpful high-school kid named Beef, and a Czech bar acquaintance with a facility in Russian, to name a few. A fun book for anyone who likes their crime stories with a dose of sports, or their sports writing with a dose of crime. And you definitely don't need to know much of anything about hockey to enjoy it.
When a legendary junior league coach and team doctor are murdered in the parking lot of the arena he just played an old-timers game in, Shade starts poking around. L.A.'s top prospect for its #4 pick in the draft played for the dead coach, and in the course of putting together his profile or "juice" on the kid, Shade learns some things that may or may not relate to the murder. And being the son of a veteran Toronto cop, he's not shy about grilling the locals for more info. The murder mystery is decent, with enough plausible red herrings to keep the reader at least slightly off-balance. But what separates the book from your average crime story is the inside look at the scouting life (the author has worked as a hockey scout) and various types of people hanging around hockey arenas.
The writing style isn't going to knock anyone's socks off, but Joyce has a nice ear for dialogue, wisecracks, and patter, and there are plenty of interesting supporting characters, such as Shade's girlfriend, a helpful high-school kid named Beef, and a Czech bar acquaintance with a facility in Russian, to name a few. A fun book for anyone who likes their crime stories with a dose of sports, or their sports writing with a dose of crime. And you definitely don't need to know much of anything about hockey to enjoy it.
September 4, 2015
This sporty, dudely tale features ex-pro hockey jock Brad Shade, a ham and egger puckster with too few prospects, too much bitterness, and too many issues, though still reasonably intelligent. He has a huge bitter streak: he’s divorced and his retirement nest egg was scrambled by some bean counting horror (grrrr). Without many shekels to rub together after a stint as a PI, he finds work as a hockey scout. When a job scouting a wunderkind syncs with an old-timer’s game, Shade goes all in. The bad news is that he goes scoreless despite being the youngest man on the ice. What’s worse is the double homicide: Red Hanratty, the “beating heart of Oldetime Hockey” gets iced along with the team doc. When Shade starts poking his nose into the situation, he finds that his prospect might have a possible career-ending injury and that dudes who commit double homicides in parking lots aren’t afraid to mix it up with washed-up nobody hockey scouts. Code is slow to start, and murky for readers unfamiliar with hockey terminology and Canadian place names. Readers will, however, enjoy Shade’s sourpuss sense of humor and a character who doesn’t take himself too seriously. VERDICT The hockey here is more milieu than plot; there’s no bashing or toothless grins. Push through the first 30 pages before you decide if you like it or not. I’m betting it grows on you…like a locker room fungus.
Find reviews of books for men at Books for Dudes, Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal. Copyright Library Journal.
Find reviews of books for men at Books for Dudes, Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal. Copyright Library Journal.
September 5, 2012
I've been an avid hockey fan since about the age of 12, and was excited to read a novel taking us inside the hockey world. My excitement, however, quickly dissipated. For me, there was just so much wrong here.
The overall tone is one of negativity. The image given is one of an entire league of players who despise one another. I have no doubt there are some who do, though I don't believe it's anywhere near as excessive and ubiquitous as this book leads us to believe.
The main character is not likable. He whines and complains throughout about his lack of notoriety. No one recognizes him or remembers him as a player. He has no lasting friendships with players. Now, as a scout, he still doesn't fit in and none of the other scouts like him. I could understand why, because I didn't like him either.
While the book is filled with hockey references, to the point that someone unfamiliar with the game would be lost, I didn't feel like I was there with the characters. The writing didn't draw me in; it left me bored.
The story moves at a snail's pace. I could skip four or five pages and miss nothing of importance. And I did skip pages, because I was bored. When something did happen, often I didn't find the action or the characters believable.
G.B. Joyce has made his career writing nonfiction. But nonfiction writing is completely different and not many authors can make the crossover. Sadly, this book is an example of one that didn't quite make the leap.
The overall tone is one of negativity. The image given is one of an entire league of players who despise one another. I have no doubt there are some who do, though I don't believe it's anywhere near as excessive and ubiquitous as this book leads us to believe.
The main character is not likable. He whines and complains throughout about his lack of notoriety. No one recognizes him or remembers him as a player. He has no lasting friendships with players. Now, as a scout, he still doesn't fit in and none of the other scouts like him. I could understand why, because I didn't like him either.
While the book is filled with hockey references, to the point that someone unfamiliar with the game would be lost, I didn't feel like I was there with the characters. The writing didn't draw me in; it left me bored.
The story moves at a snail's pace. I could skip four or five pages and miss nothing of importance. And I did skip pages, because I was bored. When something did happen, often I didn't find the action or the characters believable.
G.B. Joyce has made his career writing nonfiction. But nonfiction writing is completely different and not many authors can make the crossover. Sadly, this book is an example of one that didn't quite make the leap.
December 14, 2012
The Code starts of with NHL scout Brad Shade having his old hockey coach Red Hanratty being murdered. At first Brad isn't a suspect at all but then policemen started to question him. It starts interfere with Brad's scouting job. It's a real problem because the NHL Draft is coming and he has to decide who his team (Los Angeles) should pursue during the draft. I really was interested in this book because it showed an insight of what it's like being a NHL scout. You also knew the information was reliable because G.B. Joyce was a former scout of the Columbus Blue Jackets. There also no boring parts in the book. For example Brad at the beginning is being held up by Frankfurt airport officials and then just a few chapters later Brad finds out his old coach was murdered and after that he started being questioned by police about the murder. So as you can see this book is action packed. I would recommend this book to hockey fans because they probably don't like their favorite team's scouts because they think the scouts make terrible picks but when you read this book you see how complicating their lives are.
November 5, 2018
Sono rimasto deluso da questo libro, nonostante sia comunque scorrevole e si lasci leggere ero partito con delle aspettative forse troppo alte.
Negli ultimi mesi ho visto, sulla Rai, il telefilm Private Eyes, che nella sigla riporta la dicitura "personaggi ispirato al libro The Code". Ora, dopo Lo Hobbit dovrei essere consapevole del fatto che la dicitura ispirato a significa quasi sempre ho preso il nome e rifatto il resto, ma speravo che fosse più "tratto da".
Invece la trama del libro è grosso modo quella del primo episodio della serie: Matt "The Shadow" Shade, talent scout nonché ex giocatore di hockey, nel mentre verifica il potenziale di una probabile futura stella dell'hockey finisce per smascherare il colpevole di un duplice omicidio.
Il tutto però è narrato in davvero troppe pagine e l'indagine avviene in maniera troppo sbrigativa e quasi per caso.
Negli ultimi mesi ho visto, sulla Rai, il telefilm Private Eyes, che nella sigla riporta la dicitura "personaggi ispirato al libro The Code". Ora, dopo Lo Hobbit dovrei essere consapevole del fatto che la dicitura ispirato a significa quasi sempre ho preso il nome e rifatto il resto, ma speravo che fosse più "tratto da".
Invece la trama del libro è grosso modo quella del primo episodio della serie: Matt "The Shadow" Shade, talent scout nonché ex giocatore di hockey, nel mentre verifica il potenziale di una probabile futura stella dell'hockey finisce per smascherare il colpevole di un duplice omicidio.
Il tutto però è narrato in davvero troppe pagine e l'indagine avviene in maniera troppo sbrigativa e quasi per caso.
January 16, 2012
I really enjoyed "The Code" by G.B. Joyce...and I'm not even a huge hockey fan! In "The Code" Brad Shade, a scout for the LA Kings, former NHL player, and son of a detective finds himself in the middle of the murder of an OHL hockey coach.
The mystery aspects of the book are solid, the logical thought process of how Shade deduces the 'who dunnit' part is well done even if the answer isn't hugely surprising. What caught me was how much life and information the author, Joyce, added to the story about life in the NHL and OHL. I loved reading about the Peterbourgh and London arena's. Overall "The Code" was a fun and enjoyable read. Joyce did a wonderful job developing his characters and concluding Brad Shade's most recent mystery. If you enjoy a good mystery and are a hockey fan, this book is right up your alley. Sit back and let the puck drop!
The mystery aspects of the book are solid, the logical thought process of how Shade deduces the 'who dunnit' part is well done even if the answer isn't hugely surprising. What caught me was how much life and information the author, Joyce, added to the story about life in the NHL and OHL. I loved reading about the Peterbourgh and London arena's. Overall "The Code" was a fun and enjoyable read. Joyce did a wonderful job developing his characters and concluding Brad Shade's most recent mystery. If you enjoy a good mystery and are a hockey fan, this book is right up your alley. Sit back and let the puck drop!
September 12, 2012
Although not much of a hockey fan I am a mystery fan and I enjoyed The Code and have passed it on to the high school to add to their reading shelf. Very interesting and surprising find. Would like to read more from G.B. Joyce. 3 stars from me!
My rating system is as follows:
5 stars - Excellent, Worth Every Penny, Made It Into My Personal Library!
4 stars - Great book, but not a classic.
3 stars - Good overall, generally well written.
2 stars - Would not recommend based on personal criteria.
1 star - Difficult to read, hard to finish, or didn't finish. Wouldn't recommend purchasing or reading.
In accordance with the FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book I review was provided to me by the publisher, media group or the author for free and no financial payments were received, unless specified otherwise.
My rating system is as follows:
5 stars - Excellent, Worth Every Penny, Made It Into My Personal Library!
4 stars - Great book, but not a classic.
3 stars - Good overall, generally well written.
2 stars - Would not recommend based on personal criteria.
1 star - Difficult to read, hard to finish, or didn't finish. Wouldn't recommend purchasing or reading.
In accordance with the FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book I review was provided to me by the publisher, media group or the author for free and no financial payments were received, unless specified otherwise.
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July 28, 2014So I've not actually finished this book yet. I'm around chapter 10 so far and put it down quite a while ago. I WILL read the rest of it. I won this copy through Goodreads Giveaways and I appreciate that they give us these opporunities on here. I entered to win this book because it sounded good and I thought it would be a good one to start with to open myself up to a new genre of novel. I still believe that it could be a success, but so far it's been mainly focused on the sports side of it and it's a bit too much for an 'un-sportsy' type like me.
As I read the rest, this review will be edited and finished!
As I read the rest, this review will be edited and finished!
February 16, 2015
A unique voice that resounds well in today's big-time hockey world with all its slang and idioms. Hockey scout Brad Shade gets curious about one of his L.A. teams' upcoming #1 draft pick. The curiosity grows and he uncovers bits and pieces leading up to some major crimes surrounding the June draft pick. I didn't care for the 1st chapter or two but stuck with it and it turned out quite engaging. If you're a hockey fan you'll recognize a few of the characters. Interesting how scouting and its systems work behind the scenes. A decent book. If you're a big hockey fan it might be a great fiction book.
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