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Drover #3
Drover and the Designated Hitter
Agreeing to investigate allegations that a baseball superstar for the Chicago Cubs has developed a gambling problem, former sportswriter Jimmy Drover learns that several people stand to benefit from the athlete's downfall--or death. Reprint.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
14 people want to read
About the author
Bill Granger
38 books43 followersaka Joe Gash, Bill Griffith
Bill Granger, was a newspaperman turned novelist whose fiction alternated between international spy thrillers and police procedurals set on the gritty streets of Chicago.
Usually under his own name but sometimes under the pseudonym Joe Gash or Bill Griffiths, Mr. Granger wrote 25 novels, many of which evoked the rougher environs of Chicago and included colorful characters with names like Slim Dingo, Tony Rolls and Jesus X Mohammed.
Mr. Granger’s favorite, and perhaps best-known, book was “Public Murders” (1980), in which the city is in an uproar as a rapist-murderer strikes again and again. Public and political pressure exacts an emotional toll on the tough, foulmouthed detectives investigating the crimes. Public Murders won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1981.
Two years before that, Mr. Granger’s first spy novel, The November Man,caused something of an international stir. It involved a plot to assassinate a relative of Queen Elizabeth by blowing up a boat. Later that year, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the queen’s cousin, was killed on his fishing boat when a bomb set by the Irish Republican Army exploded.
Mr. Granger always thought of himself as more of a reporter than an author. “I can’t think of a day without newspapering in it,” he said in a 2003 interview. In his nearly 40 years in journalism, he had reported for United Press International, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Daily Herald. He covered the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and wrote a series based on interviews with a veteran who had witnessed the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War.
Granger had a stroke in January 2000, and ended his writing career. From 2002 to his death he lived in the Manteno Veterans Home; the immediate cause of death was a heart attack, although he had suffered a series of strokes since the 1990s. He is survived by wife Lori and son Alec.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/0...
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Bill Granger, was a newspaperman turned novelist whose fiction alternated between international spy thrillers and police procedurals set on the gritty streets of Chicago.
Usually under his own name but sometimes under the pseudonym Joe Gash or Bill Griffiths, Mr. Granger wrote 25 novels, many of which evoked the rougher environs of Chicago and included colorful characters with names like Slim Dingo, Tony Rolls and Jesus X Mohammed.
Mr. Granger’s favorite, and perhaps best-known, book was “Public Murders” (1980), in which the city is in an uproar as a rapist-murderer strikes again and again. Public and political pressure exacts an emotional toll on the tough, foulmouthed detectives investigating the crimes. Public Murders won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1981.
Two years before that, Mr. Granger’s first spy novel, The November Man,caused something of an international stir. It involved a plot to assassinate a relative of Queen Elizabeth by blowing up a boat. Later that year, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the queen’s cousin, was killed on his fishing boat when a bomb set by the Irish Republican Army exploded.
Mr. Granger always thought of himself as more of a reporter than an author. “I can’t think of a day without newspapering in it,” he said in a 2003 interview. In his nearly 40 years in journalism, he had reported for United Press International, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Daily Herald. He covered the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and wrote a series based on interviews with a veteran who had witnessed the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War.
Granger had a stroke in January 2000, and ended his writing career. From 2002 to his death he lived in the Manteno Veterans Home; the immediate cause of death was a heart attack, although he had suffered a series of strokes since the 1990s. He is survived by wife Lori and son Alec.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/0...
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 7, 2023
Like the first novel in this series-- the conclusion is very, very satisfying. I like it when everyone gets his just desserts. What's different about the Drover novels is that Drover puts a force in motion to "fix" stuff, but there isn't some climactic shootout or fistfight to bring it about. The reader sees that Drover is the one exacting "justice" or "vengeance" but is not expected to believe that Drover is some big shot hero.
As a re-cap--- Drover is a disgraced reporter-- wrongfully indicted for mafia connections-- fired from his job as a sportswriter--- and now simply gathers information for a Las Vegas odds setter. No matter how much Drover tries to remove himself from some of the people he grew up with that are now associated with the Mafia, they manage to draw him into some of their plots anyway.
This time, Drover has a two-pronged attack coming at him. A mobster delivers an envelope full of incriminating material that puts the career of a Chicago Cubs outfield in jeopardy. Drover is both paid and threatened to make sure that he uses his connections to get this information publicized and to the commisioner's office. Second, the outfielder's ex-wife approaches him on behalf of her ex-husband and current boyfriend (a part owner of the Seattle Mariners) with a request to help the outfielder obtain a trade to Seattle. Why? Because of a car accident that injured his legs-- arthritis is setting in and he needs to play as a designated hitter, a task he is quite capable of performing.
The baseball in the novel is almost inconsequental. The theme of the novel really seems to be redemption. The player once was a heavy-drinking, gambling, womanizing racist. However, now he has met a new woman (and there is a surprise about her fairly late in the novel) who was a nurse/physical therapist that deserves credit for pushing him hard and helping him learn how to walk again after the accident. His relationship with her has developed into a romance and she has him walking the straight and narrow. He is a completely changed man, but the two-pronged attack on him is challenging that redemption.
Drover keeps digging until he discovers the reality of why the Cubs won't trade him (that is more of a personal vendetta) as well as why the Mariners owner wants him in Seattle. The hapless ballplayer is tormented by the mob, the Seattle owner, his own ex-wife, and his own manager. Drover plainly sees the redemption in the ballplayer and decides to set things right.
What is difficult to believe is that Drover does all of this on his own dime. Nobody is paying him... He's not exactly a private investigator. He doesn't carry a gun... and he almost always loses physical altercations, becoming a walking wounded warrior-- tilting at the windmills of mob threats and unresolved relationship problems.
One bright spot is the relationship he shares with Vin, the driver for Tony Rolls, a retired mobster who likes Drover. The two exchange insults like a ping pong match whenever they get together. They are usually pretty nasty insults-- but Drover feels he can get away with his rudeness because of the mobster's protective instincts-- and he thinks Vin enjoys the verbal sparring.
This was the best of the three novels and I'm disappointed that there aren't any more. Granger is the author of the November Man series, so I'll have to check that out.
Readers who enjoy a look at sports, mobsters, and relationships (not necessarily romantic relationships) will enjoy Drover-- who spends as much time looking at human nature as he does players on the field.
As a re-cap--- Drover is a disgraced reporter-- wrongfully indicted for mafia connections-- fired from his job as a sportswriter--- and now simply gathers information for a Las Vegas odds setter. No matter how much Drover tries to remove himself from some of the people he grew up with that are now associated with the Mafia, they manage to draw him into some of their plots anyway.
This time, Drover has a two-pronged attack coming at him. A mobster delivers an envelope full of incriminating material that puts the career of a Chicago Cubs outfield in jeopardy. Drover is both paid and threatened to make sure that he uses his connections to get this information publicized and to the commisioner's office. Second, the outfielder's ex-wife approaches him on behalf of her ex-husband and current boyfriend (a part owner of the Seattle Mariners) with a request to help the outfielder obtain a trade to Seattle. Why? Because of a car accident that injured his legs-- arthritis is setting in and he needs to play as a designated hitter, a task he is quite capable of performing.
The baseball in the novel is almost inconsequental. The theme of the novel really seems to be redemption. The player once was a heavy-drinking, gambling, womanizing racist. However, now he has met a new woman (and there is a surprise about her fairly late in the novel) who was a nurse/physical therapist that deserves credit for pushing him hard and helping him learn how to walk again after the accident. His relationship with her has developed into a romance and she has him walking the straight and narrow. He is a completely changed man, but the two-pronged attack on him is challenging that redemption.
Drover keeps digging until he discovers the reality of why the Cubs won't trade him (that is more of a personal vendetta) as well as why the Mariners owner wants him in Seattle. The hapless ballplayer is tormented by the mob, the Seattle owner, his own ex-wife, and his own manager. Drover plainly sees the redemption in the ballplayer and decides to set things right.
What is difficult to believe is that Drover does all of this on his own dime. Nobody is paying him... He's not exactly a private investigator. He doesn't carry a gun... and he almost always loses physical altercations, becoming a walking wounded warrior-- tilting at the windmills of mob threats and unresolved relationship problems.
One bright spot is the relationship he shares with Vin, the driver for Tony Rolls, a retired mobster who likes Drover. The two exchange insults like a ping pong match whenever they get together. They are usually pretty nasty insults-- but Drover feels he can get away with his rudeness because of the mobster's protective instincts-- and he thinks Vin enjoys the verbal sparring.
This was the best of the three novels and I'm disappointed that there aren't any more. Granger is the author of the November Man series, so I'll have to check that out.
Readers who enjoy a look at sports, mobsters, and relationships (not necessarily romantic relationships) will enjoy Drover-- who spends as much time looking at human nature as he does players on the field.
September 20, 2024
Drover is a disconcerting protagonist. Drover and the Designated Hitter is the third novel I’ve read in this series about a disgraced sportswriter who serves as a freelance researcher and ghost writer for a Las Vegas bookmaker. He is disconcerting to me because he is incredibly stubborn. That’s good when he’s actually investigating, but it isn’t good when it forces him into trouble which could probably have been avoided. Worse, his tendency to attempt to stay on the sidelines often has the consequence of causing hurt or death to innocent people where certain events wouldn’t have necessarily taken place if Drover hadn’t had to do it his way.
I also don’t get his relationships with women. He definitely seems attracted to some but there doesn’t seem to be any desire for commitment or anything other than an “open” long-term relationship. So, he sets himself up for disappointment in his romantic life. I’m just glad that at least one of the women he disappointed managed to find an enriching relationship.
Drover and the Designated Hitter complicates matters with an old adversary (a professional baseball player, literally on his last legs, who had falsely turned state’s evidence against Drover when he lost his sportswriting career, even though acquitted) with whom Drover ends up being involved against his will. Strangely, it’s a lose-lose proposition. If he goes to get revenge against his old nemesis, he ends up in the very pocket of the gangsters with whom he was falsely accused of doing business. If he does what the athlete’s ex-wife wants (and helps the old nemesis get traded to an American League team where he can become a designated hitter and extend his career by not having to rely on his injured legs), he not only wouldn’t have revenge but senses that he would be involved in something fishy. And that’s just the set-up for the story.
The story has some interesting things to say about race relations (the athlete is a rural Southerner who was raised in a racist family), redemption (considering whether people really can change), and revenge (a choice for more than one individual). As in his other novels, Bill Granger treats his protagonist as roughly as Raymond Chandler treats his (and as Stuart Kaminsky treats his in the Chandler parodies/homages with the Koko the Clown references). I like the realism in that it happens, but it seems like it happens enough in the Drover novels that it has become both predictable and tedious.
Tedious or not, it’s always interesting to see Drover fumble his way through an investigation. Fortunately, he is surrounded by friends who often serve as both physical and cerebral deus ex amici ingredients to the plot. In general, those interventions and/or interjections seem obvious in coming, but fortunately, not always. I wouldn’t turn down another Drover book; I just wanted to put some reservations on the record.
I also don’t get his relationships with women. He definitely seems attracted to some but there doesn’t seem to be any desire for commitment or anything other than an “open” long-term relationship. So, he sets himself up for disappointment in his romantic life. I’m just glad that at least one of the women he disappointed managed to find an enriching relationship.
Drover and the Designated Hitter complicates matters with an old adversary (a professional baseball player, literally on his last legs, who had falsely turned state’s evidence against Drover when he lost his sportswriting career, even though acquitted) with whom Drover ends up being involved against his will. Strangely, it’s a lose-lose proposition. If he goes to get revenge against his old nemesis, he ends up in the very pocket of the gangsters with whom he was falsely accused of doing business. If he does what the athlete’s ex-wife wants (and helps the old nemesis get traded to an American League team where he can become a designated hitter and extend his career by not having to rely on his injured legs), he not only wouldn’t have revenge but senses that he would be involved in something fishy. And that’s just the set-up for the story.
The story has some interesting things to say about race relations (the athlete is a rural Southerner who was raised in a racist family), redemption (considering whether people really can change), and revenge (a choice for more than one individual). As in his other novels, Bill Granger treats his protagonist as roughly as Raymond Chandler treats his (and as Stuart Kaminsky treats his in the Chandler parodies/homages with the Koko the Clown references). I like the realism in that it happens, but it seems like it happens enough in the Drover novels that it has become both predictable and tedious.
Tedious or not, it’s always interesting to see Drover fumble his way through an investigation. Fortunately, he is surrounded by friends who often serve as both physical and cerebral deus ex amici ingredients to the plot. In general, those interventions and/or interjections seem obvious in coming, but fortunately, not always. I wouldn’t turn down another Drover book; I just wanted to put some reservations on the record.
October 30, 2015
Nice little tale of an investigator, ex-newsman who is looking as to why the Cubs won't trade an aging slugger and his ailing knees to the A.L. where he can continue his career as a designated hitter. Someone is apparently out to damage the old outfielder and the investigator. Not bad, would have given it 3.5 stars if that was possible.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews