BOOK REVIEW Dying to Play by Mark Zubro $13.49; MLR Press; 229 pages
Review by Lauren E. Childers
Dying to Play is the first book in a new series by Mark Zubro that features a big-league private investigator based out of Chicago. When players on a minor-league baseball team start to receive personal threats, Mike King is initially hired to investigate these threats and then the subsequent death of a baseball player. Halfway through the investigation a single event happens in which King's Navy SEALS training comes handy—turning the story utterly upside-down.
Throughout the investigation, King is confronted by a gay player and two gay reporters who all express their attractions. King is left to ascertain who he can be intimate with while maintaining integrity in the investigation. Teammate Donny Campbell ( the only player aware of King's primary motive as undercover baseball player ) is the most tenacious flirt.
Zubro effectively sets the tone for a crime thriller romance, allowing King to settle down into a routine with the reader, meeting everyone in the town through the eyes of the investigator. As the investigator is pinged from one person to another, any level of security is destroyed in a single moment—the author creates an immediate climax that doesn't let up the rest of the novel.
The introduction purposefully doesn't prepare you for the action that ensues, leaving the element of surprise intact throughout.
Zubro currently resides in Mokena, Illinois. Dying to play was recently noted on Amazon as number one on the "Kindle hot new releases gay and lesbian mystery" list and now number one on "Kindle gay and lesbian mystery" list. Zubro's novel lives up to this award; Dying to Play is more than a worthwhile read with element of crime thriller and a subplot of romance.
Purchase at www.amazon.com .
Book on musician Ndegeocello out now
Musicians and authors Andre Akinyele and Jon O'Bergh have released Elliptical: The Music of Meshell Ndegeocello—the first book ever written regarding the Multi-Grammy Nominated singer-songwriter and recording artist.
A limited autographed print Edition—by the authors—is now available at Amazon.com ( amzn.to/19J97yD ).
From her first album, Plantation Lullabies, to her current CD, Comet, Come To Me, Akinyele and O'Bergh try to capture the essence of Ndegeocello's music from a fan's point of view.
Elliptical will be available in print for $19.99 and eBook for $15.99 in stores and at major online book retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Powell's Books.
Authors Sullivan, Conner at Gallery 400 on April 11
On Saturday, April 11, Quare Square Collective, Inc. will present a reading by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan from her debut short story collection Blue Talk and Love ( 2015 ). The event will also feature M. Shelly Conner reading an excerpt from her novel, everyman.
The event will take place at Gallery 400, 400 S. Peoria St., 3-5 p.m.
Sullivan is assistant professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. In addition, she holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania.
Conner is a visiting instructor of English at Loyola University Chicago. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a concentration in gender and women's Studies.
For more information on Quare Square Collective programming and membership, visit quare2collective.org .
