Allsport is a not-for-profit sports organization run by millionaire, champion golf legend, Reid Clark to help challenged athletes find their greatness. The challenges these young people face where poverty, no education, former gang members, normally kids that would never have gotten noticed because they were not your normal, high-school or college athletes. Through the program at Allsport many of these athletes went on to either professional careers or Olympic success.
As the book opens Reid is giving a personal tour of the facilities to the President of the United States when a body is found in the flower beds on campus. Once the President is rushed to safety the body is discovered to be that of Reid’s best friend and CFO of Inner City Sports Foundation dba Allsport, Bob Thomas.
This is the second book in a series by Balkind regarding the fictional sports campus at Allsport, the first being “Sudden Death” and once again brings us into the realm of private detective and chief of security at Allsport, Jay Scott. Scott, with the reluctant help of the local police department, takes over the investigation and along with his team of investigators, funded by the multi-millions that the foundation has raised, go into the field to chase down every lose end from the accountants that the deceased Thomas fired just days ago, to his angry wife and the stalking ex-girl-friend from a recent affair, to the members of the mob and street gang members. It appears Thomas had been involved with causing distress in many people’s lives. As the alibis are met, one by one, we are led on a path that is closer to home. Could someone on the staff of the foundation, one of the trusted inner families of Allsport, have a score to settle with Thomas?
Balkind’s complex plot suddenly rushes to a climax as the bodies stack up along the way and Scott and his investigators eliminate the suspects one by one until the truth is illuminated…or is it?
( )

Big Sport, Big Money, Big Suspense - Michael Balkind hit another one right down the middle!

Reid Clark, Balkind's protagonist from Sudden Death, is back in this murder mystery that keeps you hanging like Tiger's putt on the 16th at Augusta. This time, he's haunted by the discovery of his best friend's dead body at his athletic training center, AllSport, a death that starts Clark and his loyal friends on a search through the dark alleys and smokey back rooms of high-level sports, finance, and other criminal enterprises.

Investigator Jay Scott takes the lead in his novel. His deep knowledge of the detective's craft and multi-volume Rolodex of shady characters on both sides of the law make him a worthy foe to the slickest perpetrators. Red herrings abound and the dramatic tension builds as Scott and his team pursue lead after lead with Balkind displaying his own deep knowledge of a variety of sports and martial arts. Gangsters, bankers, and various other evildoers play some surprising roles in this character feast. So do dead bodies, which seem to multiply like steroid investigations in baseball.

If you're a sports fanatic, a mystery buff, or just a looking for a page-turner for the evening, you'll like Dead Ball. ( )