Customer Reviews

Dead Ball (Deadly Sports Mystery Series)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Through the detail and descriptions in this book, Balkind effortlessly brings life to both characters and scenery in a way only expected of New York Times bestselling authors. Readers unknowingly become a part of the action - examining the interaction between organized crime, organized sports and the world of high finance.

DEAD BALL is a refreshing new thriller, blending murder, mystery, intrigue and suspense...there is something for everyone....a real page turner!

J.R. Reardon
author, CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS

Author Michael Balkind introduced us to Reid Clark, golf superstar with the attitude of a prima donna, in Sudden Death. As the book progressed, Reid transformed into a sports figure we all would love, as well as establishing Michael Balkind as one heck of an author.
His Reid Clark sequel, Dead Ball, hits it out of the park. Reid Clark's dream to have a facility where talents from all sports can converge and learn their craft has become a reality - AllSport is the best place for the best to learn.
Something terrible happens - a dead body is found on the grounds. Turns out it is Bob Thomas, Reid Clark's best friend and Chief Financial Officer of The Inner City Sports Foundation and AllSport.
Reid is devastated, but determined to find out who would kill such a good man.
With Buck, Reid's colorful agent and friend, as well as other characters from Sudden Death, the authorities and friends try to figure out why Bob Thomas was killed and dumped on AllSport grounds.
The process of the investigation proceeds in a believable fashion and will keep you guessing 'who done it'. Balkind knows how to spin a mystery.
Dead Ball's actions are nonstop. Balkind's characters are well rounded and you care for each of them and the circumstances that have occured.
Reid Clark, our hero, has grown into a man you respect and would root for on the golf course. I think I may root for him like I root for Tiger Woods!
Mr. Balkind's AllSport Complex gives a broad canvas for future adventures as AllSport deals with, well, all sports to glean many stories from.
The proof of the pudding of an author is if he can expand on a character or sequel to make us want more.
I cannot wait for more adventures from Reid Clark and AllSport!!
Keep 'em coming Michael Balkind!

Where else can you find murder, mystery, elite sports, guns, greed, special ops, mafia, and glamour? Dead Ball has it all! The story takes place on the rarefied grounds of AllSport - state-of-the-art facilities that house & train top athletes in numerous sports to compete at the highest levels. It's no surprise then, that combining the world's most highly skilled and competitive athletes, with the best training facility in the world, and all of the rivers of money that follow and flow, makes for a combustible mix. Cutthroat tactics abound throughout the book, the players are many, and the high-stakes world of amateur & professional sports makes for a thrilling read. A brazen murder is committed and the list of suspects with plenty of motive and opportunity is long. Then the body count grows. The sports world is one where all kinds of people come to play, not just the athletes, and rules of the game are sometimes subject to dangerous interpretation. Is murder just another form of competition? Is it no more than a price to be paid as a means to an end? Or is it revenge? Dead Ball is full-throttle action from the very first page!

Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands

the author pulls you in immedialtely and does not let you go. i would have like the ending to be different, but then i am not the author. fun, easy quick read

After read Sudden Death and I really enjoy it I decide to go for the second from the same author Dead Shot and thank god for this choice! Really good sport thriller and the same characters so it help gets in the story! Well written from the author Mr. Michael Balkind. So go for it you won't be disappoint!

Golf legend, Reid Clark, is devastated by the murder of his best friend, Bob Thomas. Since Thomas was the chief financial officer of the Inner City Sports Foundation and Allsport Athletic Center, Reid wants to know if his murder has anything to do with ICSF, or was it personal? To find the killer fast, Reid brings in Jay Scott, a PI and a security consultant to Allsport. Not everyone on the police force welcomes Jay's take charge attitude in the investigation, but Reid needs answers before ICSF donors start withdrawing support for the massive sports center.

Dead Ball is a well-plotted whodunit that incorporates hi-tech, crime-solving methods with the world of sport. I loved the concept of Allsport itself, and the fast-paced competency of Jay Scott's investigative team. I doubt many police forces would be that obliging to a PI in real life, but it was fun to read. What's really intrigued me is the concept of a mega sports complex designed to train high level athletes in nearly every sport imaginable. By doing this, author Michael Balkind has created wonderful opportunities for more stories, and I look forward to reading them.

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?
Dead Ball

Michael Balkind's second work "Dead Ball" is even more fast paced and exciting than his debut "Sudden Death". Continuing to follow the career and adventures of golf-pro Reid Clark and his manager Buck Green, Balkind weaves an intricate plot of intreague, danger and subterfuge, making for a very exciting read. This book is as diabolical as Alfred Hitchcock, as detailed and complex as Agatha Christie and as smooth as Clive Cussler. If you enjoy a good mystery/adventure, "Dead Ball" is for you!!!

O. K. fans, it's the bottom of the ninth, two out, man on first. We're down by one run. Michael Balkind steps into the batter's box. Here's the pitch..............Balkind swings. Connects. It's gone! Michael Balkind smashes a walkoff homer! We win!

Down by two with 3 seconds left on the clock. The ball is passed to Balkind. He shoots from 3 point range. SWIIIIIIIIIIIIISH! Nothing but net! Balkind wins the game!

This is it folks. For all the marbles, Mike Balkind takes the snap from center as the clock runs out. Balkind throws a perfect pass to the receiver in the endzone. TOUCHDOWN! A miraculous play! Game over!

Michael Balkind's latest book Deadball is all of the above and more. A fantastic read. I eagerly await his next book.

This was the 2nd Michael Balkind book that I read and also enjoyed it as much as his first.I am looking very much forward to his next one.I know I will enjoy,I'm sure,the possible TV series or pilot that I think is in the works.