A Compensatory Gift of Unyielding Sturdiness: "The Harder I Work, The Better I Do, Straight Up"

Ronnie Leigh is born with a disfigured face and a questionable "gift" of unusual intuition inherited from his mother. He gets off to a rocky start in life, with behavioral and personality problems compounded in that he knows, from an early age, that most people are immediately "put off" by his appearance . . . and that some even dislike him on sight. With the help of his understanding and loving parents and a caring child psychologist, Ronnie learns to appreciate what he does have, and not dwell on what he does not. What he has innately are intelligence and athletic ability, and what he learns through early adversity are persistence, perspective, the value of hard work in the classroom and on the baseball field . . . and, for him especially, the healing, calming, and strengthening power of vigorous exercise, beyond what most people are capable of. Ronnie struggles to make close friends, even as strives to advance as a pitcher in the Boston Red Sox minor-league system. Meanwhile, he has a good heart, extraordinary fighting skills, and that gift/curse of special intuition . . . the combination of which forces him to make some difficult decisions, and eventually to undertake some dangerous and extreme but ultimately necessary actions.

Michael A. Connelly grew up in a blue-collar Boston neighborhood, graduated from Northeastern University with a Masters in Accounting, and enjoyed a successful business career. Retired to Florida, he remains a "Gym Rat" and an avid Red Sox and Patriots fan. His other novels are: An Informal Boston Education; One Batter One Pitch; Mandate: A Man for The Times; Blue Collar Boston Cool; and The Schraft Street Historical Preservation Society.