George Hunter

Blood Ball Jones George Hunter

David Kirk's dreams of baseball glory must be put on hold while he plots a murder. In the summer of 1976, Detroit Tiger rookie Mark "The Bird" Fidrych is captivating the nation by talking to the baseball and acting like a goofy kid. A few blocks east of Tiger Stadium, in one of the city's worst slums, another talented young pitcher sits by the window, watching his aunt turn tricks. David Kirk has a golden right arm and a head full of trouble. He lives with his grandmother and younger twin brothers in the Cass Corridor, Detroit's impoverished red-light district. David idolizes The Bird, and dreams of joining him on the Tigers someday. But reality's always just outside the window. Aunt Mary has hustled in front of their apartment building for as long as he can remember. The years on the street have sucked her dry, and the johns aren't stopping like they once did. Her pimp, Kane, constantly thrashes her, and terrorizes David and the twins. The boys talk about standing up to him but can't muster the courage - until their cousin Amy begs them to fight back. Amy is just starting to blossom, and Kane plans to put her to work, to cash in on customers who want "the young stuff." Amy doesn't want to end up like her mom, so she turns to her cousins for help. They decide to kill the pimp. But that's easier said than done. Set in the decadent 1970s, in a neighborhood where dysfunction passes for normal, the adult urban thriller BLOOD BALL JONES follows a youthful underdog's dreams of glory and revenge. About the author: George Hunter's father was a murderer. His grandfather was a newsman. Three of his siblings were Detroit cops. Hunter doesn't just cover the Detroit crime beat; it shoots through his veins. Hunter grew up in Detroit's Cass Corridor, the city's red-light district, and he uses his life experiences to cover cops and criminals. The award-winning reporter's national and international media appearances include CNN, HLN, Fox News Channel, the BBC, Germany's Der Spiegel, and Fugi TV in Japan. He has also authored three true-crime books, and wrote, recorded and produced "Sins of Detroit," a podcast about wrongful convictions in Detroit.