Excitement is building for Super Bowl, and in just three days, millions of fans will tune in to see the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks take the field. This year’s hype has included plenty of scandal and drama – but it’s nothing compared to what crime fiction authors have dreamed up about the big game. From corruption and conspiracy to fixing the game to plots to blow up the whole thing, these football thrillers pack as much as excitement as the Super Bowl itself!
While sunny skies are forecast in Phoenix for Sunday’s Super Bowl, Thomas Harris had something else in mind with Black Sunday. In this classic thriller by the author of Hannibal, a pilot is seduced by a terrorist to pack the blimp he’ll fly over the Super Bowl with explosives. In a real race against the clock, the dangerous plot must be uncovered and stopped before thousands of fans and the President of the United States find themselves at a game where the stakes aren’t just win or lose – they’re life or death.
Edgar Award-winning author Paul Levine’s football thriller Paydirt is equally explosive – though in an entirely different way. The first book in his Super Bowl series kicks off with a breakneck thriller that includes everything from the Mafia to Miami Beach bookies to football megastars. In this story of greed, power, and betrayal, a man a little too down on his luck attempts the impossible: to rig the Super Bowl – and collect on the bet of a lifetime.
In the chilling football thriller Sudden Death, award winning mystery writer David Rosenfelt takes his hero Andy Carpenter into the dark side of professional sports in the fourth book in the series. When a star running back for the New York Giants is accused of murdering a New York Jets receiver, the defense attorney reluctantly takes the case. The discovery of similar murders connected to his client leads Carpenter into a world of drugs, corruption, and scandal.
Football provides such a great backdrop for suspense novels that Harlan Coben launched his Myron Bolitar series with the football thriller Deal Breaker. The debut mystery featuring the quick tempered sports agent finds him on the brink of the big time after signing the biggest NFL prospect in years. But when the rookie quarterback is haunted by a ghost from his past, all bets are off.
Whether you’re gearing up for the big game or you’re simply looking for a way to get in on the fun, these football thrillers are all winners. Check them out before you tune in for Super Bowl Sunday!
