The Champion Maker

The Champion Maker
Kevin Joseph
Lulu Press
ISBN: 1411668790
Fiction, Sports, Thriller
Reviewed by John R. Clark

In this 'art imitates life' story about running and murky intrigue, a strong story line is diminished by a lack of editing. It is a credit to the plot and the author's ability to hold his vision that the flaws don't detract enough to stop one from reading all the way through.
When a runner cum sports writer whose personal and professional life have been devastated by the Moscow Olympic boycott and the subsequent suicide of his wife discovers a teen running prodigy, little does he know how quickly his life will change.
After convincing his editor to let him write about the teen, he soon finds himself determined to redeem himself by coaching the boy in preparation for the Olympics. Unbeknownst to him, there are other, very sinister forces in play that keep tossing roadblocks in front of him and his prodigy. Add in a young woman with telepathic powers who is on the run and a disgraced college professor whose experiments with ESP have the bad guys on edge and you have plenty of grist for a great story.
I wish the author had toned down some of the descriptions of how the characters were reacting to each other emotionally and left it up to the reader. That would have elevated the book to a much higher level. In any event, it was an enjoyable read.