Author: Justin Weber
Genre: Sports Fiction
Year Published: 2024
Nerdection Rating:
“Nerdection Worth to Read”
A gripping tale of professional hockey, addiction, and the pursuit of dreams unfolds in “High and Out,” a compelling sports fiction novel by Justin Weber.
Spoiler-Free Plot
This is the fictitious autobiography of Jason Wagner, a pro NHL player, living out his dream as a professional athlete with all the riches and comforts that come with it. We watch him as he continues reaching for his ultimate goal: to see his name etched on the Stanley Cup. But time is running out. Jason is acutely aware that he is at the back end of his career and needs to get himself onto a team that will give him the best competitive chance of making this dream a reality.
The story is divided into three parts, which are all themed by a hurdle Jason needs to overcome. In part one, that problem is Marty, Jason’s agent. Marty does Jason dirty, chasing money instead of setting his player up for his best chance to win the Stanley Cup. When Jason dumps Marty for a new agent, the ex-agent becomes mean and vengeful. Part two sees Jason in hot water for getting into fisticuffs on the Las Vegas Strip, which jeopardizes his chances again of getting himself onto an NHL team that he could turn his dream into a reality. Part three sees Jason slipping and sliding down a steep slope into addiction after sustaining a head and back injury whilst playing the game he loves so much.
We follow Jason through his highs and lows as he navigates the messy world of agents, therapy, love, broken and strained family ties, injury, and addiction in a desperate clawing attempt to keep a childhood ambition in the realms of reality. Change is the only certainty in this story, but Jason will fight to stay in control of his fate. The real question is the cost…
My Take on High and Out
After doing some research into the author, Justin Weber, it was fun to reflect on some of the little pieces of himself he gifted to his debut novel. Some of my favorite parts of High and Out related to the attention to detail paid to the quiet, little moments around cooking and food, the texture of water during a swim, and the simplicity of enjoying films and books. I believe these moments are an expression of Weber’s passions. I can also see Weber in how Jason and his mates put around the golfing green, and G’s journey into the world of finance. Even though this is ultimately a story about hockey and the professional athlete lifestyle, Weber dispersed the story with details that he has expertise in. It made the story more interesting and the characters more human.
While I found Jason to have underdeveloped cognitive empathy himself, I found his experiences enlightening and have given me a new perspective on the plight of professional athletes. Jason’s feelings of vexation over the lack of control he had, hopelessness for the imminent lack of purpose after hockey, family difficulties, and the experience of concussions (particularly with all the new research coming out about chronic trauma encephalopathy amongst contact sport athletes) were heartbreaking. Being a professional athlete seems not only physically tough but also tolling for the health of family and romantic relationships—ironic considering the amount of support Jason needed to overcome his hardships.
I was fascinated by the dynamics between Jason, Nick, and G. The fact that they were all on their own developmental arcs meant that there were always multiple problems brewing and triumphs to celebrate in this story. I found myself invested in the success of their careers, intrigued by their hobbies, and hopeful for their romances.
The themes around change and the natural flow of life made for an interesting comparison when you looked at the differences in the boys at any given time during the story. In the beginning, it was clear that Jason and Nick were, while on an uncertain trajectory in their professional sporting careers, definitely doing well for themselves—there was a lot of hope in their futures. Meanwhile, G had no game with the ladies and was cringingly reclusive, playing video games and smoking weed most days. He lacked a discernible ambition when compared to his two housemates. However, by part three of the novel, while Nick had just lost a big fight and Jason was in the middle of a drug and alcohol crisis, G had finally found an interest and was on his way to a lucrative career as a financial analyst. Interweaving these three storylines and constantly providing points of comparison made it easy to appreciate the complexity and challenging reality of how life is never stagnant.
Rating and Content Warnings:
This book is an adult-only read. Readers beware of course language, references to suicide, depictions and references to drug and alcohol addiction, and sex scenes.
About The Author Of High and Out
Justin Weber is an American Husband, Dad, Son, Brother, Private Pilot, and Writer. As a fifth generation native of Arizona, he spent his childhood playing hockey, then spent the first ten years of his adult life in financial planning where he found his love for writing. In 2019, Justin was on the cover of the Top 100 People in Finance. He was also writer and host of Weber’s Grill, a cooking show he produced with his brother, Zachary, that’s available to stream on Tubi and Amazon.
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