Thanks, Kent, for the list of sports noir novels. I would add
SQUEEZE PLAY. It was published in 1982, under the pseudonym
Paul Benjamin. The actual author is Paul Auster, and SQUEEZE
PLAY shows how well he writes straight-up, hard-boiled
detective fiction when he isn't penning deeply metaphysical
mysteries like those in THE NEW YORK TRILOGY (which I love,
but many on this list have mentioned they find too
experimental). Here's the jacket blurb: "Former baseball star
George Chapman didn't want sensational publicity muddying the
waters of his dive into politics. So when attempted murder
threatened to turn his plunge into a dead man's float, he
didn't go to the cops. He went to Max Klein, a tough New York
shamus who delivers wisecracks as fast as his one-two punch.
With the bases loaded, a grand-slam secret from Chapman's
past soon has Klein playing hardball with the big boys...in a
deadly game in which the final score is revenge and murder."
It's a really fun read.
Thanks again for the many titles.
Shannon Clute www.noircast.net
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