GREEN MONSTER

When the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, the baseball world was turned upside down with sports journalists, fans, and players alike declaring an end to the curse of the Bambino. But what if the curse was never broken at all? What if the Red Sox won only because the games were fixed? This appears to be the case in Rick Shefchik's latest novel, part noir mystery, part all-American sports story. Much praise goes to narrator William Hughes for making this story more believable than the notion that Roger Clemens has never taken steroids. By mixing fact and fiction, Shefchik weaves a plausible tale of deception for which Hughes’s hard-nosed vintage tone is perfectly suited. The result is a classic mystery that engages listeners, whether they’re baseball fans or not. L.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2009]