Book excerpt: Blackballed! Is a murder mystery set in a rural, former coal town in Pennsylvania. The towns mayor is brutally murdered after having blackballed a political rivals son from being named to the towns Little League all-star team. The mayors political rival, former major leaguer Jack Snook, is framed for the murder. It takes the talents of a famed defense attorney and a team of detectives to find out who killed the mayor and along the way they discover a corrupt criminal justice system and uncover a rich familys 35-year-old dark secret.