Game of Shadows

The fascinating story of Barry Bonds and the people and companies that allegedly supplied him steroids is so well-written that the quality of the reader seems irrelevant, but not with Scott Brick at microphone. The authors' research is encyclopedic, documenting not only Bonds's controversial life, but also the lives of a Who's Who of sports. Brick's reading could not be better. His style is laid-back, and his timing is so good that the listener becomes thoroughly engrossed with the book. However, Brick turns on the intensity at the end, reading with a biting style that pulls no punches. GAME OF SHADOWS will appeal not only to sports fans, but to anyone who wants to learn a lot about the seedy world behind many of our athletic "heroes." D.J.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Starred review from January 1, 2007
This audio has all the information anyone needs to understand doping, including the use of steroids, in track and field athletics and among professional U.S. athletes. This is a story of big ambitions, big egos, big bucks, and big sleaze, told in gym rat/locker room adult vernacular. "San Francisco Chronicle" reporters Fainaru-Wada and Williams present convincing evidence that doping is widespread among Olympic athletes and marquee players from major league baseball (MLB) and the National Football League (NFL) and that BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative) was a major player in the development of undetectable steroids for performance enhancement. There are really very few "good guys" in this story: even the authors' employer was among the San Francisco-area newspapers that published secret grand jury testimony in order to expose steroid use in MLB. Also, it becomes obvious that kids die emulating their MLB and NFL heroes. To truly understand why Barry Bond's personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was recently imprisoned for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury, get this audio. Read by Scott Brick, "Game of Shadows" is highly recommended.Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH

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