No one would call David Rose – or ‘Rosie’ as he’s known to one and all – a star, but he’s good at his job and proud of his work as a sportswriter for a national newspaper. He’s used to seeing flashier talents come and go – both on the field, and in the competitive world of the press. Football comes first in the way he spends his working life, but he’s happy to pitch in whatever the sport – from Formula 1 to Test cricket in the West Indies, the Olympics to a heavyweight championship bout in Japan. 

He’s used to the ups and downs of a journalist’s life and has learned to keep his own head safely down – until an especially venal boss pins his own misdemeanours on the entirely innocent Rose. Rosie’s revenge is slow but sweet, as he manoeuvres through a world where egos clash, money talks and you’re only as safe as your latest by-line. 

David Rose or ‘Rosie’ as he is known is a sports writer for a national newspaper. He’s not a star but he’s good at what he does, he puts the work in and he takes pride in what he does.

Books relating to sport is not usually something I would pick up. However, I am pleased to have taken part in the blog tour for this book. As an Audible original, it was narrated by Colin Mace and he did this very well. I felt he really helped bring over the various personalities of the characters.

This book reminded me of Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch in style but Simon Barnes covers a wide range of sports. I could tell that he brought a vast amount of personal experience to this story.

I have to admit, at the beginning of the book, I didn’t like many of the characters. Even Rosie grated on me a little, mostly down to comments about women. The Game’s Gone does well to shine a light on how it would have been. As a result of this, it took a while for me to settle into the narrative but what I found as I progressed were very intriguing and interesting characters, especially David Rose.

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