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Dark Depths #1
A Mound Over Hell
It’s 2098 and the last season of baseball—forever. After the ravages of WWIII, the once all-American sport is now synonymous with terrorism and treason. Holograms run the bases for out-of-shape players and attendance averages fifteen spectators per game. The only ballpark left is Amazon, once known as Yankee Stadium.
America, nearly wiped out by radical Islam, has established a society based on love. Religion, social media, and the entertainment industry have been outlawed. All acts of patriotism are illegal, and the country is led by Grandma. Heading up the Family in her home base in the Bronx, she works tirelessly to build a lasting legacy for the future.
As baseball historian Puppy Nedick prepares for opening day, a chance encounter lands him face-to-face with former baseball greats. Determined not to go down without a fight, the players band together to revitalize the game for one last hurrah.
But not everyone wants peace. Will baseball become the catalyst for WWIV, or will it save America?
America, nearly wiped out by radical Islam, has established a society based on love. Religion, social media, and the entertainment industry have been outlawed. All acts of patriotism are illegal, and the country is led by Grandma. Heading up the Family in her home base in the Bronx, she works tirelessly to build a lasting legacy for the future.
As baseball historian Puppy Nedick prepares for opening day, a chance encounter lands him face-to-face with former baseball greats. Determined not to go down without a fight, the players band together to revitalize the game for one last hurrah.
But not everyone wants peace. Will baseball become the catalyst for WWIV, or will it save America?
520 pages, Paperback
Published March 29, 2018
5 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Gary Morgenstein
18 books13 followersI've published six novels. My most recent book is the dystopian political novel "A Fastball for Freedom", Book Two in The Dark Depths series, published by BHC Press. It's been called a dystopian Field of Dreams. Book One is "A Mound Over Hell," characterized as 1984 Meets Shoeless Joe. My previous novels were "Jesse's Girl"; "Loving Rabbi Thalia Kleinman"; "Take Me Out to the ballgame"; and "The Man Who Wanted to Play Center Field for the New York Yankees."
I'm also a playwright. My Broadway World award-winning (Best Play) funny new drama about bringing people together, "A Black and White Cookie," is premiering July 9-24 at The Tank theater on West 36th Street in Manhattan. thetanknyc.org
I'm also a playwright. My Broadway World award-winning (Best Play) funny new drama about bringing people together, "A Black and White Cookie," is premiering July 9-24 at The Tank theater on West 36th Street in Manhattan. thetanknyc.org
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 27, 2018
How do you review a novel which defies classification? Gary Morgenstein’s A Mound Over Hell cannot be pigeonholed, and this is exactly what makes it so important and unique. The greatest works of science fiction were so great precisely because they did not remain with the limited definition of the genre. Think of Philip K. Dick, Stanislaw Lem, or Kurt Vonnegut and how they dealt with the nature of reality, not space travel and ray guns.
A Mound Over Hell does not occur two thousand years in the future, or in a far-away galaxy, or in an alternate universe. It is set right here on the earth we know, and only 80 years in the future – a time in which language and customs are not all that different from ours. People still talk about war, sport, and relationships in the same way, but the circumstances are nightmarish.
Is it science fiction, a dystopian novel? Yes. Radical Islam had defeated the United States in World War III. An elderly woman called “Grandma” who seems to be all love, all good, all about children and family, is the leader of the United States. Of course, the word “seems” may be important in this statement. Can she be trusted? Does she have an agenda of her own? Religion, social media, and banks are against the law. Americans hate and fear all Muslims, and no Jews are left. Robots who look like humans are also outlawed since they have lied about their identities, pretending to be humans and creating social chaos.
So it is a political commentary on our time, you say? In a way. Grandma attempts to reach moderate Muslims who hate the radical, corrupt Caliphate; together they hope to save both sides and restore decency. Narcissism is abhorred. All over the world terrorism and child trafficking are part of life. Treason is to be feared wherever you go, and no one can be trusted.
Is it a book about baseball? Of course. The protagonist, Puppy Nedick, is a baseball historian who works in Amazon Stadium, formerly Yankee Stadium, and the only ballpark not to have been destroyed by terrorism. It’s the final season, the last game. All games are usually played by robots and holograms – but not this one. Inexplicably, famous players from the past come back from the dead to play.
The author created an enormous stage, populated by a large number of personalities, all beautifully delineated to play their part in a highly complex story. Love, hate, friendship, cruelty, and evil, are all there as they always are in the vast panorama of life. Books like that do not appear often, and when they do, they should not be missed. I can’t wait for volume two. And three.
A Mound Over Hell does not occur two thousand years in the future, or in a far-away galaxy, or in an alternate universe. It is set right here on the earth we know, and only 80 years in the future – a time in which language and customs are not all that different from ours. People still talk about war, sport, and relationships in the same way, but the circumstances are nightmarish.
Is it science fiction, a dystopian novel? Yes. Radical Islam had defeated the United States in World War III. An elderly woman called “Grandma” who seems to be all love, all good, all about children and family, is the leader of the United States. Of course, the word “seems” may be important in this statement. Can she be trusted? Does she have an agenda of her own? Religion, social media, and banks are against the law. Americans hate and fear all Muslims, and no Jews are left. Robots who look like humans are also outlawed since they have lied about their identities, pretending to be humans and creating social chaos.
So it is a political commentary on our time, you say? In a way. Grandma attempts to reach moderate Muslims who hate the radical, corrupt Caliphate; together they hope to save both sides and restore decency. Narcissism is abhorred. All over the world terrorism and child trafficking are part of life. Treason is to be feared wherever you go, and no one can be trusted.
Is it a book about baseball? Of course. The protagonist, Puppy Nedick, is a baseball historian who works in Amazon Stadium, formerly Yankee Stadium, and the only ballpark not to have been destroyed by terrorism. It’s the final season, the last game. All games are usually played by robots and holograms – but not this one. Inexplicably, famous players from the past come back from the dead to play.
The author created an enormous stage, populated by a large number of personalities, all beautifully delineated to play their part in a highly complex story. Love, hate, friendship, cruelty, and evil, are all there as they always are in the vast panorama of life. Books like that do not appear often, and when they do, they should not be missed. I can’t wait for volume two. And three.
March 21, 2020
If you can accept the base premise, this is actually a really good book. Epic, dystopian and quite interesting, this was a decent, solid story. World War 3 and Islam destroyed 'western civilisation' as we know it, and baseball is outlawed, alongside social media, patriotism and the entertainment industry are outlawed. Baseball. is a critical part of the story, but not the whole story. It's about changing the world, and reminds me, a bit, of The Man in the High Castle' in many ways. It's a story of the worst man can do....and the best. And is beautifully written.
I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars.
I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars.
February 15, 2018
A Mound Over Hell!
Do you enjoy science fiction but LOVE baseball? Do you get excited not only about Opening Day, but even the start of spring training season? Then you’ll love A Mound Over Hell!
It’s the end of the current century, and baseball historian Puppy Nedick tries his best to keep the memory of the game alive. He’s with about a dozen long-suffering fans, getting ready for the last season of baseball, in the country’s only remaining ballpark, the crumbling place once known as Yankee Stadium.
America had been nearly wiped out in a terrorist attack in World War III. Puppy lives in The Bronx, now the center of the U.S. government, where we meet a cast of racially diverse characters, including his best friends—Zelda Jones, an African-American art teacher, and Latino dentist Dr. Pablo Sorrentino.
The Family, led by the elderly Grandma and her Cousins, have created a new American society of love and integrity, but things have changed in this science fiction world. There are robots, war-ravaged scenes, and in the old ruined ballpark, you might find a skeleton in the seat next to you. Holograms now play the game because out-of-shape humans can only bat.
After a night of too much beer, Puppy wakes up to find on his floor a sleeping, smelly old guy who claims to be Mickey Mantle. Puppy assumes he’s a homeless drunk, but a few days later, he comes home to find a courtly old man who insists he’s Ty Cobb. Next to emerge is another of the greatest baseball players ever, the female Moosshie Lopez.
In a world where everything seems to have changed, can Puppy use Ty and Mick to bring back the disgraced game for a last hurrah? Read A Mound Over Hell and see!
Do you enjoy science fiction but LOVE baseball? Do you get excited not only about Opening Day, but even the start of spring training season? Then you’ll love A Mound Over Hell!
It’s the end of the current century, and baseball historian Puppy Nedick tries his best to keep the memory of the game alive. He’s with about a dozen long-suffering fans, getting ready for the last season of baseball, in the country’s only remaining ballpark, the crumbling place once known as Yankee Stadium.
America had been nearly wiped out in a terrorist attack in World War III. Puppy lives in The Bronx, now the center of the U.S. government, where we meet a cast of racially diverse characters, including his best friends—Zelda Jones, an African-American art teacher, and Latino dentist Dr. Pablo Sorrentino.
The Family, led by the elderly Grandma and her Cousins, have created a new American society of love and integrity, but things have changed in this science fiction world. There are robots, war-ravaged scenes, and in the old ruined ballpark, you might find a skeleton in the seat next to you. Holograms now play the game because out-of-shape humans can only bat.
After a night of too much beer, Puppy wakes up to find on his floor a sleeping, smelly old guy who claims to be Mickey Mantle. Puppy assumes he’s a homeless drunk, but a few days later, he comes home to find a courtly old man who insists he’s Ty Cobb. Next to emerge is another of the greatest baseball players ever, the female Moosshie Lopez.
In a world where everything seems to have changed, can Puppy use Ty and Mick to bring back the disgraced game for a last hurrah? Read A Mound Over Hell and see!
March 31, 2018
Books can be read and enjoyed at different levels. The characters and plot can be woven into something that entertains, something that emotes feelings, something that gets the reader thinking. Gary Morgenstein’s novel works at all these levels, but it is particularly this last category that impresses me. There are social themes and issues embedded into the fabric of A Mound Over Hell, woven into the story by a master. Any dystopian fiction raises social issues, but this novel is overflowing in bold and subtle criticism of the world as we know it, of American ideals and its foundational identity. The author at times pokes fun and jests with cultural themes, while at other times he mocks and skewers modern values and society. Nothing is spared-- government, politics, the dignity of work, cell phones, sexuality, marriage, artificial intelligence, the military, sports, religion—they all are under scrutiny and satirized in a manner that sometimes represents gentle humor and sometimes represents outright blasphemy. I love it! The author certainly has the pulse of modern times and he does not shy in shining light into dark places; albeit, tempered by amusement.
One could characterize baseball as a quintessential American iconic symbol that speaks to who we are as a nation and as a culture. In this respect, it is the perfect symbol to structure this novel around. After losing a war between the East and the West, a cultural battle that extends back centuries, baseball is relegated to an afterthought, an association with an America that no longer exists. Enter Puppy Nedick, baseball historian and an unlikely hero. The story is about Puppy’s efforts to bring back this pastime and all that it represents, but it is about so much more. Old fashioned family values are on full display, promulgated by Grandma and an extended governing family. Grandma is not the typical Big Brother of Orwellian ilk, but the social arrangement is no less totalitarian, masquerading under an apple-pie veneer of love and holographic bucolic images of beauty. But conservative family values gone wild coexist with an equally crazed progressive culture of equality, robots with rights, and meaningless work as defining ones’ social value. Ouch! On this canvas, the author paints a somewhat grim picture. Power, control, and hidden agendas are in play. Who wins? Who loses? You’ll have to read the novel to find out.
It takes a bit of effort to learn the social structure, the cartoonish caricatures, and so on that are part of the world building, but the effort is worth it. Read the book. Enjoy it. Laugh. Cry. Cringe. Morgenstein delivers a home run!
One could characterize baseball as a quintessential American iconic symbol that speaks to who we are as a nation and as a culture. In this respect, it is the perfect symbol to structure this novel around. After losing a war between the East and the West, a cultural battle that extends back centuries, baseball is relegated to an afterthought, an association with an America that no longer exists. Enter Puppy Nedick, baseball historian and an unlikely hero. The story is about Puppy’s efforts to bring back this pastime and all that it represents, but it is about so much more. Old fashioned family values are on full display, promulgated by Grandma and an extended governing family. Grandma is not the typical Big Brother of Orwellian ilk, but the social arrangement is no less totalitarian, masquerading under an apple-pie veneer of love and holographic bucolic images of beauty. But conservative family values gone wild coexist with an equally crazed progressive culture of equality, robots with rights, and meaningless work as defining ones’ social value. Ouch! On this canvas, the author paints a somewhat grim picture. Power, control, and hidden agendas are in play. Who wins? Who loses? You’ll have to read the novel to find out.
It takes a bit of effort to learn the social structure, the cartoonish caricatures, and so on that are part of the world building, but the effort is worth it. Read the book. Enjoy it. Laugh. Cry. Cringe. Morgenstein delivers a home run!
September 17, 2018
Ever start binge watching a series? Ever find that even though you weren't especially enjoying yourself, the creator had a couple of really cool ideas that made you stick it out until the end? I was compelled to read to the end of this book, all 520 pages of it, but I won't be around for the sequels. As positives, the author has a cool premise involving the fall of American democracy to an Islamic caliphate that redefines our societal values. In: large families, universal acceptance of love of (almost) all kinds, and an ironclad dedication to having and keeping a job. Out: God, respect for the military, and, in what is a centerpiece of the novel, baseball. He peels back the onion of how we got here so slowly and skillfully that you need to keep going. As negatives, the lack of exposition just means that the poorly-drawn characters have to uphold the plot without being inherently interesting on their own. The dialogue is good, but not great, and there's so much "what the hell is going on here" among the characters themselves that it can lose the reader. While I would be more than happy to buy someone lunch to tell me what happens in the remaining books, I won't be reading them myself.
May 6, 2020
In a dystopian future, America is run by Grandma. Baseball is in it's last season. And Puppy Nedick, baseball historian is almost out of a job. But things get turned a bit upside down when Puppy awakens to find Mickey Mantle in his living room, shortly followed by Ty Cobb and Mooshie Lopez. Suddenly the last season of baseball has some excitement. Grandma takes it upon herself to use baseball to launch the idea that they should FORGIVE the Arab nations for damages done to America in World War III. Who would think that all this would only lead into another War?
I wasn't particularly taken with this book. For a while I thought I was going to DNF it. It picked up though in the second half and became easier to read. It still wasn't my mind of book. I do not plan on reading further in this series.
*I received a copy of this book for free. The review is my own, honest and unsolicited.
I wasn't particularly taken with this book. For a while I thought I was going to DNF it. It picked up though in the second half and became easier to read. It still wasn't my mind of book. I do not plan on reading further in this series.
*I received a copy of this book for free. The review is my own, honest and unsolicited.
May 7, 2020
DNF - I got about 10% through this book before the writing style and characters finally ground me to a halt. I struggled to differentiate between the characters; their voices and styles seemed to overlap so frequently that I would sometimes forget who was who during a conversation. I also had a difficult time with the author's stylistic choices - many sentences with multiple commas, Puppy's narrative voice and habit of injecting opinions into the middle of descriptions, and overall tone of the novel. The setting seems interesting, and the premise sparked my interest, but I couldn't stick with it.
August 21, 2020
I was excited about this one when I first learned about it. It was a combination baseball story, science fiction, and fictionalized political thriller. Gary Morganstein did a great job in bringing several characters and several different stories and weaving them together over the course of time. Just when I would wonder how one part of the book had any bearing on the rest of it there'd be something to tie it into the overall story. I await the next installment. I strongly recommend it for fans of baseball and/or science fiction.
January 10, 2022
Thank you #Netgalley for the advance reader copy of A Mound Over Hell by Gary Morgenstein in exchange for an honest review. I am a huge baseball fan and offseasons are hard, I miss my team, the Giants. I thought a book with baseball might help. This is a futuristic, dystopian version of baseball though. Where patriotism can lead to war, where America is down to one ballpark and run by The Family. This book was a bit disturbing and kinda reminded me of Futurama.
January 10, 2022
Thank you #Netgalley for the advance reader copy of A Mound Over Hell by Gary Morgenstein in exchange for an honest review. I am a huge baseball fan and offseasons are hard, I miss my team, the Giants. I thought a book with baseball might help. This is a futuristic, dystopian version of baseball though. Where patriotism can lead to war, where America is down to one ballpark and run by The Family. This book was a bit disturbing and kinda reminded me of Futurama.
July 22, 2018
Sci-fi and baseball! The dystopian, post- WWlll, almost apocalyptic world of 2098 is about to play its very last baseball game in the last surviving borough in NYC, the Bronx. Nutty, hilarious, thought-provoking, terrifying, and strangely prescient, Mound over Hell (Book One of a series) is a rollicking good time and left me longing for Book Two! (The author assured me- its in the works!
March 4, 2020
You had me at dystopian baseball!! As an avid baseball fan, I was immediately intrigued by the description of this book. It took me a bit to buy in to the new America that this story takes place in, but once I did that, the plot too over and I was hooked.
Thank you to NetGalley and BHC Press for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and BHC Press for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
March 14, 2018
Science fiction about a dystopian society, hate, and baseball. Out of the three, baseball is my only interest and there wasn't enough in this book to make it worth the read for me. Two stars just because the writing itself was good.
Copy provided by Library Thing.
Copy provided by Library Thing.
March 23, 2018
Gary Morgenstein created a truly unique story in his novel "A Mound Over Hell." It is unlike any book I've ever read. There are so many things happening in this book: a physically fractured United States recovering from a destructive war, a new government system run by "Grandma", robots, old timey baseball players mysteriously popping up in a baseball historian's apartment, and three friends looking for meaning and connection in their lives. In spite of all the side stories, it all does work together to make this novel a fun page turner. The characters are lovingly brought to life and keep the reader engaged. The plot can get a little complicated, but it most definitely is not boring. I did not expect to enjoy reading this book as much as I did and I look forward to the next step in the series.
May 1, 2018
Unjque and ruvering
Please read this book . It is fascinating and entertain ing while being thought-provoking and funny. Confused a favor and enjoy yoysekf!
Please read this book . It is fascinating and entertain ing while being thought-provoking and funny. Confused a favor and enjoy yoysekf!
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June 30, 2018If you like baseball and dystopian books, you'll love A Mound Over Hell. America has lost World War 3 and Muslims has pretty much taken over the world. America is a shell of it's former self, Grandma is the leader of the "Family" is what the population is being called now and is mostly concerned with repopulating the country after the war. Baseball has been banned because it is seen as the reason for the take over of the country. Puppy is the baseball historian for the last season of baseball ever and he comes home to find Babe Ruth on the floor of his apartment. 2 more players who have been dead for quite a while show up and convince the government to bring baseball back for one last hoorah. All this going on while the government is trying to figure out how to take the country back. Baseball, AI, dystopian America, this book has it all. You won't be sorry when you read this book!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews