Book summary

Touching factual reminiscences are woven with historical hardboiled fiction in this account of Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier in baseball, written by the author of the bestselling Spenser, PI series. Injured at Guadalcanal and subsequently abandoned by his wife, WWII vet Joseph Burke is suffering from physical and emotional wounds. He gets an unexpected renewed lease on life when he's hired as Jackie Robinson's bodyguard for the black ballplayer's first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Interleaved with this fictional account are the author's own memories of being a boy--and devoted Dodgers fan--during the same time period.

Media reviews

"...[D]eeply felt and intimately told....[H]ugely entertaining."