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Billion Dollar Bracket
Many lives collide in this quest to win a billion dollars for picking all the winners in the annual National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament. Some are looking for riches, others for simple survival and personal redemption.
Mathematician Sinclair Dane sponsors the contest, seeking money for a safety net for her troubled mother. She does not have a billion dollars to pay a winner. Risking her reputation and possible legal charges for fraud, she pins her hopes on the astronomical odds against anyone picking all the winners. Math professor Lewis Cusac uses the basketball contest to teach remedial math to college students, two of whom are playing in the tournament. He enters the contest and finds himself having selected all the winners with only three games remaining. He also gets a call from the NCAA investigators for suspicion of trying to fix the outcomes of games. Add to the mix a flamboyant retired casino operator, a group of twenty-something social media wizards, and professional basketball’s next megastar. As the contest goes global, the story races to an ending that will surprise the reader. |
Reviews
Billion Dollar Bracket
by Drew Bridges
BQB Publishing
book review by Kat Kennedy - The US Review of Books
"Are you interested in a proposal to make you the easiest $5M you will ever make?"With March Madness just around the corner, Sinclair Dane contacts a handful of heavyweights in Las Vegas and proposes they support her Billion Dollar Bracket contest. Contestants pay a two-dollar entry fee for a chance to win a billion. However, the odds of winning are astronomical, which is good as Sinclair doesn't have the billion to pay a winner. Meanwhile, Dr. Lewis Cusac has moved to Boiling Springs to care for his dying niece and assume responsibility for her intellectually disabled eleven-year-old daughter, Cheeky. Taking over a remedial math class at Gardner-Webb University, he must find a way to interest the students in mathematical concepts. When a student in his class states he'd like to learn about statistics to win the Billion Dollar Bracket, Cusac proposes to use the playoffs as a class project. Will this mathematician find a way to use statistics to win the bracket, and if so, how will Sinclair pay?
Bridges scores a three-pointer (and it's all net) in this intriguing look at college basketball and March Madness. The novel, however, entails more than just sports and statistics. It is also a tale of family loyalty as Sinclair and Cusac struggle with family problems during the tournament. Cusac must forge the delicate steps of talking with Cheeky about her mother's impending death. Sinclair's mother, who is mentally ill, chooses to live on the streets of Las Vegas. Each of these storylines is handled with humility and humanity and provides balance to the book. The author also delves into the political arena of college sports and money by addressing the problems facing college athletes who must rely on scholarships alone while navigating NCAA rules. Whether one is a sports fan or not, this one is a fascinating and fun read.
A 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
by Drew Bridges
BQB Publishing
book review by Kat Kennedy - The US Review of Books
"Are you interested in a proposal to make you the easiest $5M you will ever make?"With March Madness just around the corner, Sinclair Dane contacts a handful of heavyweights in Las Vegas and proposes they support her Billion Dollar Bracket contest. Contestants pay a two-dollar entry fee for a chance to win a billion. However, the odds of winning are astronomical, which is good as Sinclair doesn't have the billion to pay a winner. Meanwhile, Dr. Lewis Cusac has moved to Boiling Springs to care for his dying niece and assume responsibility for her intellectually disabled eleven-year-old daughter, Cheeky. Taking over a remedial math class at Gardner-Webb University, he must find a way to interest the students in mathematical concepts. When a student in his class states he'd like to learn about statistics to win the Billion Dollar Bracket, Cusac proposes to use the playoffs as a class project. Will this mathematician find a way to use statistics to win the bracket, and if so, how will Sinclair pay?
Bridges scores a three-pointer (and it's all net) in this intriguing look at college basketball and March Madness. The novel, however, entails more than just sports and statistics. It is also a tale of family loyalty as Sinclair and Cusac struggle with family problems during the tournament. Cusac must forge the delicate steps of talking with Cheeky about her mother's impending death. Sinclair's mother, who is mentally ill, chooses to live on the streets of Las Vegas. Each of these storylines is handled with humility and humanity and provides balance to the book. The author also delves into the political arena of college sports and money by addressing the problems facing college athletes who must rely on scholarships alone while navigating NCAA rules. Whether one is a sports fan or not, this one is a fascinating and fun read.
A 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist
RECOMMENDED by the US Review