Grade: B
Teacher’s Comments: An interesting character study.
Troon McAllister’s The Foursome is less golf story than character study or psychological thriller. As one reviewer put it, The Foursome is a golf story in the same way Moby Dick is a story about a whale. It’s less Moby Dick, though, than it is Lord of the Flies.
The main characters—a doctor, an ad man, an investment banker and an engineer— are part of a regular group with rotating responsibilities for planning the annual golf trip. Responding to a mysterious invitation, the engineer books them on a trip that bills itself as the “Most memorable golf vacation you’ve ever had or you don’t pay. No money up front.” Destination unknown.
That unknown destination is an exclusive tropical golfing paradise, run by mysterious owners for unknown purposes. The outing starts wonderfully, but begins to fall apart when the foursome becomes obsessed with playing a money game with the resort’s owners. A perfect vacation then becomes a nightmare for the foursome as greed and suspicion expose their character flaws.
Overall, The Foursome is a pretty good afternoon’s entertainment. However, as as the group falls apart, I found it sometimes difficult to read in the same way I find it difficult to watch when a character in television or in the movies is about to make a total ass of themselves.
The Foursome is one of several McAllister novels featuring the world’s greatest gambling golfer, Eddie Caminetti. I’ve not read the others yet, but based on my experience with The Foursome, I’m going to look for them.
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