Meet three of the most extraordi-

nary characters in recent fiction:

"Ghost" Galvin, the white super-

star basketball player for the Los

Angeles Lakers, now repelled by

the stardom he so richly deserves

and looking for values more per-

manent and profound; Rebecca

Blesser, a reporter for Lift" magazine

whose investigation into the

mysterious death of Ghost s father

(a vice-presidential candidate, who

might have been murdered, might

have committed suicide, might

have died a natural death) leads

her into a search for the secrets of

her own past; and a street-smart

eleven-year-old called Radio (be-

cause of the Walkman he perpetu-

ally holds to drown out reality), a

basketball player himself, whose

insistence on finding his own father, incarcerated in a Michigan

prison, brings the three of them

together.

Writing with the deceptive

simplicity of a great journalist,

Peter Barsocchini weaves the

strands of love, suspense, and the

glamour of major league sports

into a novel where originality is

matched only by inventiveness--

there is a surprise in it that will

simply astound every reader. Yet

most of all it is emotional truth that

resonates here how past pain can

generate present love, how facing

up to one s heritage can bring more

reward than winning the cham-

pionship of the world. This is an

astonishing book in every way, at

once lyrical, cynical, suspenseful,

and wise.

PETER BARSOCCHINI grew up in San

Francisco, where he worked for

many years as a journalist. Cur-

rently, he is a screenwriter and

movie producer. He was himself a

"ghost --for Merv Griffin s

autobiography, Merv. He Jives in

Los Angeles.