Novel: Score!

Overview

"Score!" follows the fortunes of the wealthy Lorne family as their ambitions and appetites collide with the rougher, high-stakes world of professional soccer. The novel follows multiple interwoven storylines that pivot around ownership and control of a major football club, a family dynasty accustomed to getting its way, and the combustible mix of sex, power and money. Events move from boardroom maneuvering and newspaper newsrooms to locker rooms and luxury bedrooms, with Cooper's trademark eye for scandal and comic malice ensuring that no reputation remains intact for long.

Main players and conflicts

At the center stands the Lorne dynasty, a clan used to social prominence and political influence who become embroiled in the politics of modern sport. Their pride is a soccer team that becomes both a trophy and a lightning rod: asset, status symbol, and battleground. Around them swirl a cast of ambitious executives, manipulative journalists, hungry politicians, and players whose loyalties shift as quickly as the scores on matchdays. Private passions, torrid affairs, jealousies and clandestine alliances, dovetail with public schemes such as takeover bids, editorial vendettas and campaign smears, each amplifying the stakes for everyone involved.

Tone and satirical edge

The narrative balances juicy melodrama with sly satire. Cooper delights in exposing the hypocrisies of the rich and powerful, skewering the self-importance of philanthropists, the venality of media barons, and the bluster of political figures who crave headlines more than substance. Sexual antics and romantic entanglements are described with a knowing, earthy humor that undercuts any romantic gloss. At the same time, matches and sporting rivalries are portrayed with affection; the grit and unpredictability of soccer provide a kinetic backdrop that keeps the pace brisk and the stakes tangible.

Intrigue in media and politics

Newspapers and politics form two of the novel's most combustible arenas. Print editors wield scandal as a weapon, proprietors manipulate stories to settle scores, and politicians learn to play the press as deftly as they play constituencies. This interplay fuels many of the plot's reversals: a carefully nurtured image collapses under a lurid exposé, a promising political career is derailed by a revenge piece, and business maneuvers are sabotaged by strategically leaked secrets. Cooper captures the symbiosis between media and money, showing how headlines can topple empires as decisively as any hostile bid.

Resolution and consequences

By the novel's close, alliances have shifted, reputations lie in tatters, and a few characters emerge victorious while others are left to pick up the pieces. Triumphs are often pyrrhic: legal wins come with personal costs, social standing survives only after humiliation, and romantic unions are complicated by the very ambitions that created them. The saga ends less with neat moral closure than with an energetic reminder that in worlds defined by appetite and influence, power is always provisional and scandal never far from the surface.

Why it resonates

The book's appeal lies in its blend of escapism and social commentary. Readers are drawn into glamorous settings and uproarious private dramas, while also being made to laugh at the follies of privilege. The soccer milieu offers a fresh arena for Cooper's familiar preoccupations, injecting sport's passion and unpredictability into a long-running fascination with class, sex and status. The result is an entertaining, fast-moving saga that livens both the glamour novel and the modern satire.