The Fireballer

The latest novel from Stevens (“Allison Coil Mystery” series) features baseball phenom Frank Ryder, star pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. Unmatched in speed and skill, Frank is the most talked-about player in baseball. But he’s haunted by an accident from his past that leaves him searching for answers in his hometown. Stevens’s writing is a love letter to baseball, full of detailed descriptions of ballparks, players, and fans. The first half of the book moves along quickly. with several chapters reading like play-by-plays of the games. While he does an excellent job of capturing the excitement and thrill of the sport, Frank’s emotional journey off the field becomes somewhat repetitive towards the middle of the book, and the story starts to recycle itself. Still, Frank’s desire for closure is relatable enough that readers will root for him until the end. However, aside from Frank, several of the other characters lack depth and almost all of the women in the novel are immediately described by their physical appearance, which comes across as superficial at best.