All Biggie Bluestone wants is to keep the world at arm’s length until the state high school wrestling championship, when he’ll beat the legendary Rick Berkenmeier (whose picture he’s taped to the freezer door). But the world has other ideas. Both love and tragedy intrude. Killer Kowalski Takes the Mat is a novel about wrestling, friendship, honor, and the person Biggie will become.
Praise for Killer Kowalaski Takes the Mat:
“As charming as it is wise, this big-hearted, richly textured novel of growing up, falling in love, and discovering one’s path and self at the dawn of the 1970s centers on Illinois high-school wrestler Dan “Biggie” Bluestone as he strives to make it through his senior year undefeated. . . . Complex, tender, and casually hilarious, . . . The novel’s heart is in Dan’s discovering that he has more to offer the world than that he can bench 360. . . . Guiding him through that journey is Gloria, a character as memorable as Dan himself, . . . probing Dan with the incisiveness of an analyst and the hot-and-cold wit of a wounded, world-class flirt. Their slow courtship thrills and moves, a dance between guarded souls, wary yet drawn to their obvious connection. ”—BookLife, Editor’s Pick
“Eron is an adept storyteller who delves deeply into the lives of high school wrestlers. . . . A highly engaging read with a likeable character at its heart, Killer Kowalski will delight wrestlers, of course. But even non-wrestling fans will eagerly turn the pages to find out how Biggie and his teammates fare as this original plot unfolds.”—BlueInk Review (stared review)
