While the hockey players in the NHL get the glory, those
who are Black Aces are in the game's gulag. Back in 1991,
Brad Shade was in the limelight in L.A., but his roommate,
Martin "Whisper" Mars, was the team's Black Ace, one of
those luckless spare players forced to work harder than
every other player, stuck on the sidelines forever, but
always ready - just hoping for that one moment when they
might get called and get in on a game.
Now, after being out of touch with Martin for twenty years,
Brad is working as pro-hockey scout with a small sideline
business of being a private investigator. Hockey is tough
and none is tougher that professional hockey and promises
made to Sandy, his girlfriend, to be home more often are
left like garbage after a game as another roadtrip or
gander at a potential player comes first. Brad respects
her professionally as she helped his daughter, but dislikes
her unsolicited advice, especially about hockey, but she
gets him thinking about Whisper. So, after hearing that
Whisper had committed suicide, he coerces Warren Bear
( "Chief" as almost all Aboriginal hockey players get
called) , one of his regional scouts, to drive him out to
Swift Current, Saskatchewan, so he can pay his respects.
When he gets there, things are different from what he
expects. Martin Mars is not a loser, but a wealthy
business with a string of gas stations, good prospects for
future business deals and a very attractive wife who he has
loved. Mitzi, the widowed wife is heartbroken and can't
stop crying. In her heart, she knows Martin didn't kill
himself. If he didn't then, who did?
After a rough and violent welcome to the town, Brad
realizes that the RCMP are too quick to pass the death off
as a suicide and starts to do a quick check himself for
Mitzi's sake. He knows it is murder, but what can he do
when he finds himself beaten down by the small town closing
ranks on an outsider as well as by thugs intent on getting
him out of town?
THE BLACK ACE is the second book in a popular new mystery
series featuring Brad Shade written by G.B. Joyce who
is
very well known and highly regarded for his considerable
sports knowledge and non-fiction writings. While Joyce's
fans will certainly relish this follow-up book to THE CODE,
the first book in this exciting new series, it also reads
very well as a standalone novel.
Having been a scout himself, Joyce skillfully develops this
intriguing story of an old and odd friendship of two ex-
hockey players and the mystery that is Whisper. The
backstory of their early days of playing in L.A. and
Brad's current job as a talent scout with ruined knees
provides powerful and realistic insights to the dark side
of hockey and how brutal it can be on and off the ice.
Joyce also paints a stark story of small town meanness that
covers the Saskatchewan gamut from hockey to Hutterites,
casinos to churches, uncaring RCMP to Aboriginal racism
with a sprinkling of sharp wit and small town sports
politics for good measure. As the tech savvy and still
lusty Brad chases down clues with his ever handy Blackberry
and google searches, Martin's story gets revealed as to why
he had a crushed larynx and an old Mercedes that he cared
for as it was his first born child.
While the writing varies in consistency at times, I still
found THE BLACK ACE to be highly engrossing mystery with
a very intriguing plot, sharp wit and I am not even a
hockey fan. I am sure sports fans will find this fast
paced story with its short chapters to be highly engaging
and entertaining. The title, THE BLACK ACE, is interesting
as it references not only the lowly status of spare hockey
players as well as linking it to the gambling "Dead Man's
Hand and Martin's death. Definitely will be a hit with
hockey and mystery loving fans, so for a winner of a book
in the hand, do check out THE BLACK ACE!
Hatred, blackmail, and murder—a Brad Shade hat trick. The
Black Ace reunites us with our favorite, savvy fourth-liner,
with plot twists, wisecracks, and an ending that could only
come from G.B. Joyce.
Thanks to Shade’s work at the NHL draft last season, he gets
to hold on to his job as scout for L.A.—at least for now.
But a journeyman’s work is never done. Shade is checking out
small-town talent with his old friend and teammate “Chief.”
But when they learn of the suicide of an old teammate from
their playing days in L.A., they take a sometimes violent
detour through the dark side of a small town with no
shortage of secrets it wants kept at almost any cost.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy