Greatest Player Who Never Lived, The

J. Michael Veron's engaging fantasy begins when young law student Charley Hunter accepts a summer internship at the Atlanta law firm in which the great Bobby Jones was once a partner. Assigned to catalog Jones's dusty files, Hunter comes upon an intriguing correspondence that hints at an extraordinary story. True to his name, Hunter then sets out to learn the truth behind the unlikely exchange of letters between Jones, golf's erudite and nonpareil pillar, and a semiliterate phenom named Beau Stedman, who, on the verge of golfing greatness in the early '30s, disappeared under the cloud of a murder charge. With Jones's secret help and support, Beau manages to survive. A fugitive determined to honor his golfing destiny, he emerges here and there to play the greatest golfers of the era. Hunter isn't satisfied just with uncovering Beau's past, though; his obsession turns into a search for Beau's present, with unexpected complications.

The novel is filled with lots of good golf, and with good writing about golf's enigmatic hold on those captivated by the game. But Veron, a Harvard-educated lawyer, aims beyond golf here--and holes it. In Player, he's crafted a solid legal thriller that smartly confronts issues of character, truth, justice, and guilt, which are, of course, pretty much the same issues every golfer confronts the moment he or she steps up to the first tee. --Jeff Silverman

Product Description
Unwritten in the annals of the sporting world is the story of a man with unlimited potential who was denied his rightful place in the lore of golf...

It is a story that might never have been told had Charley Hunter not accepted a summer internship at Butler & Yates, a prestigious Atlanta law firm.

Bobby Jones, the legendary amateur golfer, had once been a partner at the firm and his old legal files had been severely neglected over the years. The task of cataloging those files soon presents Charley with the remnants of a man's life, as he pieces together a tale that spans decades.

Who is this mysterious golfer with a golden swing, whose life and career Jones followed with such interest? An accused felon fleeing from the law? Or a man falsely accused, whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time? And why would one of the greatest athletes of all time risk his spotless reputation to help a man he met only once?

Charley quickly learns that there is a compelling tale buried within the files of Bobby Jones. Charley uncovers stories of unfulfilled promise, fleeting justice, near captures, and unyielding friendship - and to what end? Charley hopes to find the truth. But what he ultimately finds will change his life and understanding of life forever.