Broken Trust - The Murder of Basketball Star Jack Molinas
A MURDER MYSTERY THAT COMBINES RELIGION, POLITICS, SPORTS AND GAMBLING!
In his fourth and most riveting novel, Jerry Marcus takes the killing of basketball great Jack Molinas - and creates a murder mystery that combines religion, politics, sports and gambling. Marcus uses his knowledge of basketball and insights into human behavior, and the tragic and complex figure of Jack Molinas, to illustrate how powerful business interests, religious hypocrites, and attorneys hide behind a facade of morality and justice.
As an All-American at Columbia University, Jack Molinas was chosen in the first round of the NBA draft by the Fort Wayne Pistons. He was intelligent, handsome and talented, with the ability to take control over a game. In his first season for the Pistons, Jack was named to the All-Star team. This would be his only season as an NBA star. Jack tossed it all out the window by living on the edge - always having to beat the system. In 1954, Jack was suspended from the Pistons and tossed out of the NBA for gambling on games. He was later considered to be the lead figure in the 1961 college basketball scandals that rocked the NCAA.
According to Marcus, "Jack's story epitomizes a hypocrisy seen not only in sports, but throughout society. Some sportswriters and columnists vilified Jack on the same newspaper pages that also carried the point spreads and gambling odds on college and professional games."
"Jack would have loved how you portrayed him." Bill Tosheff, 1951-52 NBA Co-Rookie of the Year
"Great book..." Sam Amico, Editor and Senior Writer, ProBasketballNews.com
"Besides writing a gripping tale of a powerful, rich, highly competitive industry, Marcus delivers a high-impact, no holds barred, picture of modern social establishments - both religious and secular..." Rabbi Yaakov Fogelman, Torah Outreach Program, Jerusalem, Israel
Cover Design by Christy Moeller-Masel, ATG Productions, LLC
Paperback . 264pp . $24.00 . ISBN 978-0941394-06-2
SHIPPING IS FREE TO THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES
"Broken Trust - The Murder of Basketball Star Jack Molinas" will remain in print for years to come and guaranteed new books are available exclusively from Brittany Publications, Ltd. For information on reprints, electronic/digital, or screen rights to this book, and all books by Author Jerry Marcus, please contact publisher@brittanypublications.com.
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Click here to read A Conversation with Jerry Marcus about
Jack Molinas and the novel BROKEN TRUST |
Click here to Meet the Characters in BROKEN TRUST
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Excerpt from BROKEN TRUST
"It was obvious to me that Jack needed something important to replace basketball, to give him a strong direction and purpose in his life. He had burned so many bridges along the way, leaving behind many who would never forgive him. Then there were the others who had shared in Jack's guilt but were never punished for their deeds. Instead of being grateful to Jack for his loyal silence in not implicating them, they saw him as a future threat to all they had accomplished. One wrong word to the authorities, or too much said to a reporter, and all their dreams could be shattered.
"At the head of this list was an attorney, Ed Ryan. Ryan was a big basketball fan and had followed Jack's career at Columbia. At one of the games, he sought Jack out, and they hit it off immediately. Years later, Ryan was involved with Jack in one of his gambling operations. When the roof fell in on Jack, he did his best to make sure Ryan was not implicated...
"Now a very well-respected attorney, Ed Ryan was even being talked about as a future Supreme Court nominee. Although it had been many years since Ryan had been in contact with Jack, he wondered if going on the national stage would bring out rumors and innuendoes pertaining to his involvement with the then young basketball player.
"Yes, Ed Ryan began feeling cheated. His life had been clean for so many years. He was a large donor to many worthwhile charities and was on the boards of several large educational and health care research foundations. Why should he suffer for his youthful mistakes? He never even considered how much Jack had suffered and lost for his youthful transgressions.
But with such baggage, Ryan knew that if he were nominated to the Supreme Court, he had better consider all the possibilities and questions that the routine investigations of his background would raise. He began to think about the steps he should take to make sure the odds were in his favor."
Copyright (c) 2007 by Jerry Marcus. All rights reserved by Brittany Publications, Ltd.
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Reader Comments from Amazon.com (2018-19):
"I loved the suspense and the characters. The story line drew me in right away and held me. I always love a book that takes me right into it
and this was a great book to curl up and read and get lost in for hours...
I have read other books by this author and I have found each and every one of them immensely enjoyable!"
"So wonderful a read! So much happening! I didn't want it to end!"
"The characters of the book are well defined to allow my imagination to see them.
Just when I thought I had the whole thing figured out, the twist sent me into another direction. A great who-done it."
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"Masterfully told coming-of-age story... Jerry Marcus interweaves discussions of faith, marriage, intellectual freedom, and the roles of women throughout their lives.
It will help both young and mature readers explore how women gain strength in their faith journey."
Mary Lou Henneman, Congregational Libraries Today, Church and Synagogue Library Association
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"A creative and provocative...suspense-filled novel." The Chicago Tribune
"A wonderful premise...a great plot." Naples Daily News, Florida
"Prophetic...Gripping...and Enlightening." Rabbi Yaakov Fogelman, Torah Outreach Program, Jerusalem, Israel
"An intriguing story...An intellectual thriller." Marquee, San Diego
"A provocative tale that kindled my imagination..." Mary Harris, Minister, United Church of Christ, Boonville, Missouri
Chicago Columnist ANNE GERBER said Marcus' 1997 book has a "gripping premise"
and compared it to The DaVinci Code, which was published AFTER The Last Pope.
THE SALVATION PEDDLER
"A master of the suspense novel." Abilene Reporter-News, Texas
"I enjoyed The Salvation Peddler." President Bill Clinton
ABRAHAM ISAAC, JACOB and ZEV
Morton Teicher, Book Editor for The Jewish Floridian, compared Marcus to Chaim Potok, Marcus “Caused us to care about the characters he created.”
"A significant and moving novel...An important addition to books about the Holocaust and Jewish people." American Jewish Congress
"Original and compelling." The Chicago Tribune
"An extraordinary book...that deals with the agony of morals." Dorothy Fuldheim, News Analyst, Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Company