It was him, Graham was sure of it. He might not have seen him for years, but no one forgets their oldest friend's face. But as much as he tries to get Adi Varney's attention through the window, the local football legend stares straight through him. Why had Adi ignored him, and why had Graham seen him in the company of an American businessman reputed to be involved with the Mafia? Graham begins asking around. He visits the Sports Centre Adi founded and quickly learns that the charity is on the verge of closing down. A firm of lawyers is trying to take it over and a name is mentioned - Rocco Lonza - the same business man Graham saw with Adi. Convinced that something is very wrong Graham is determined to work out what has happened to his friend and quickly discovers Adi is in well over his head. Will he be able to save his friend's life again, like he did when they were kids, or will the local star finally be snuffed out?

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believeable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Can't wait to read what the author does next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.  This is my own honest voluntary review.

I’m afraid I found this all a bit derivative and not really credible - from the start, Graham, a local journalist, just knows by seeing them, that Aldi, a football star returning home, is in league with the Mafia - and by God it turns out that’s true - he’s got in deeper than he meant too , tricked by a ‘friend’ and it all goes bad - he’s killed too. This just didn’t work for me despite the energy and geniality of the prose.

Will this Local Legend survive...?

If you were to ask anyone that knows me they would tell you that I couldn't possibly be less sports minded. Never have been and never will be. But that doesn't stop me from enjoying a good sports themed novel now and then. I've read the previous two 'Local' books, both of which are good, and I've come to appreciate Paul Trembling's ever improving writing style. Each book is better than the last. 

Local Legend has a little bit of everything. Starting out with a wedding reception, dropping into the mystery of what happened to Adi Varney, trips through memories of a middle-aged semi-retired journalist, and winds up with a literally explosive finish complete with shocking revelations.

Despite the fact that the titular Local Legend is a soccer..eeerrr...football player, I couldn't put the book down and finished it in a day. I quickly found myself involved and invested in Graham and Sam's search for the elusive Adi. And trust me, I didn't see many of the revelations in the final showdown coming at all. 

If you enjoy books with a modern British setting, that are relatively clean but not preachy, and you like a good mystery with some tense action scenes, Paul Trembling has you covered in his latest addition to the 'Local' books.

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)

A good, quick, easy read. This story had a good plot and interesting characters. I enjoyed it even though I don’t watch football. There was enough happening in the story that you do not need to like football to enjoy reading this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Different kind of thriller with an unlikely main character who is determined to get to the truth and a son full of surprises. A few twists and turns.

Graham Deeson has carved out a nice niche as a  journalist in his home town. He benefitted greatly from his close friendship with local football legend Adi Varney, who he often wrote about until Adi left to manage a US team. Attending a wedding, Deeson thinks he glimpses Adi through the bar room window. Tapping on the window, there isn't a glimmer of recognition from Adi, so Graham goes off in search of him...

A boys own story with thrills and spills and twists and turns.

My first Paul Trembling book and I would like to thank Netgalley for the introduction and Lion Fiction for the advanced copy.
Local Legend is a cracking good read, It tells the story of two life long best friends, Graham and Adi the latter being a successful footballer and manager for the Fictitious Vale united and a father and sons relationships after some time apart.
The story that Paul tells is expertly navigated with all its twist and turns and that was a nice surprise as I didn't think this would be that sort of thriller, Its well written and all the characters that inhabit this world are well fleshed out and very believable. 
The books starts of slow as we get some world building but the pace soon quickens up once Graham and Sam (Grahams Son) start their little investigation that soon turns into a fun rollercoaster ride for them both and the reader, There relationship for me was at the heart of the story as under immense pressure both father and son become true heroes and show that anyone can be a hero. 

Paul has taking the leap to the premier league with this highly enjoyable mystery, thriller great stuff.

Well worth your time and money.

Even though sports and football don't interest me the story still kept me interested throughout. I haven't read any previous books from this author and it became apparent that there are book that precede this one, there is however all the information needed to be able to follow the story line