[In Texas Celebrity Turkey Trot] Gent unleashes black humor upon the world of pro football the way Wambaugh does upon the demesne of metropolitan cops. Unfortunately, such slapstick doesn't go over equally well with characters outside the gridiron. A 30-year-old defensive back having his best training camp ever, Mabry Jenkins gets cut from the squad after a knee injury. Faced with a career crisis, Mabry exploits his supposed celebrity by running with a pack of Texas promoters, media heavies, among flesh pots, drug dealers…. The novel, like its protagonist, is better off at the end when Jenkins returns to the Cowboys for a last crack at receivers.

A review of "Texas Celebrity Turkey Trot," in Publishers Weekly (reprinted from the July 31, 1978 issue of Publishers Weekly, published by R. R. Bowker Company, a Xerox company; copyright © 1978 by Xerox Corporation), Vol. 214, No. 5, July 31, 1978, p. 91.