GODWIN by Joseph O'Neill

An elusive African soccer phenom, dubbed Godwin, barely appears in the novel, other than in black and white soundless video.  In fact, the first section of the novel is about a cooperative of technical writers in Pittsburgh with two women as co-leads, Annie and Lakesha.  Mark, a member of the co-op, gets into a scuffle with office security, and takes some accrued time off.  Timing is everything, ass his half-brother, Geoff, hoodwinks Mark into coming to Europe to help with a business opportunity.  Why not?  Except that Geoff is sleazy and unreliable, not to mention broke.  Mark is obviously being taken for a ride at his own expense.  This is where the soccer video surfaces, as Geoff wants to find Godwin and become his agent.  This tale morphs into a wild goose chase of epic proportions with a side dish of dirty office politics involving a proxy fight at the co-op.  These two storylines are equally compelling, although a French soccer agent’s longwinded account of the quest to find Godwin is a little too detailed.  Do we care that Godwin’s hunting skills are just as astonishing as his soccer skills?  How the co-op and soccer plotlines converge at the end is a very pleasant surprise.  I found this book to be a refreshing break from the usual family drama and romantic liaisons.  There actually is some family drama here, but not in the usual sense and not as the main attraction.