The Pep Talk — Thomas Nelson Publishers

The Pep Talk is a sports story-with solid business applications-about an underdog football team defeating a formidable opponent. Typically, a novelette of this type peaks at the end of the game, but it's in the pep talk where the real story begins.

A stranger convinces the coach of a team with a 24-game losing streak to allow him to give a pep talk before they go up against a winning team. The underdog team is victorious because of the influence of this stranger. The pep talk and the actual game are intriguing, but the real story begins 29 years later when the coach, suffering from a brain tumor, discovers the stranger had prophesized specific events that occurred in the ensuing game. Is there a logical explanation? Is there a spiritual explanation? The answers to these questions capture the reader's attention to the very end.