Play Dirty    by Sandra Brown Order:  USA  Can Simon & Schuster, 2007 (2007) Hardcover, CD      Reviewed by Joan Burton Griff Burkett, a former Dallas Cowboy football star, has just been released from prison. He served a five year sentence for throwing a game and conspiring with the mob to cheat fans of a victory. Once he is released from jail, one of the wealthiest couples in the Lone Star state offer him a deal he cannot refuse. Foster and Laura Speakman own the first rate Sun South Airlines. Their wealth can buy them anything they want, and now they want Griff Burkett. The job they propose to him will pay out half a million immediately. Once he fulfills his end of the deal, he will get a million dollars a year for the rest of his life. All they demand is secrecy, and privacy to close the deal. The disgraced football star, down on his luck, accepts their offer. He does not know how dangerous this job will become, and what dirty players are involved. Overcoming a difficult childhood and making the big mistake that ended his career, Griff hopes to move forward and put the past behind him. Not wanting to ever return to prison, and doing his best to become a good upstanding citizen, Griff finds himself at odds with the Speakmans, his foster father and coach, and Stanley Rodarte, a police detective out to teach him a lesson. Griff soon realizes that his arrangement with the Speakmans is in jeopardy after he becomes attracted to Laura. He knows that this will cancel the deal if Foster becomes aware of the situation. With his every move being monitored by Rodarte, Griff cannot afford to make a mistake or he will be back behind bars. But an unsolved murder comes back to haunt him and soon he is being set up in a current murder investigation. Play Dirty is a great read with plenty of action, twists, and - yes, Sandra Brown does not disappoint - romance too. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews