Marty Slattery

Poison Weeds

Fiction
ISBN: 978-1935052401
358 pages
8.9 x 6
paperback
$21.00

July 2011

Poison Weeds is the story of a young man who goes to prison and manages to survive and grow in the midst of the violence and insanity that make up a large part of prison life. Set in a California prison in the volatile 1960s, the cast of characters is full and rich, the episodes dark and humorous. The roles are given, the dice are cast, the players are true, change is possible for only one. For the others, freedom is an illusion. The guards are no freer than the convicts; Warden Quinlan is as locked to his destiny as inmate Voodoo is to his. Some live, some die; nearly all are devoured by the system. So come along on a journey with this colorful little band through the labyrinth of life and death, deceit and dishonor, and the grim reality of living behind the walls.

Diamonds Are Trumps:
A Pitcher’s First Novel

Fiction/baseball
ISBN: 978-1-935052-00-5
268 pages
6 x 9
paperback
$17.00

April 2008

Lovers of America’s greatest game once again have the chance to spend time in the compassionate, funny, and oh-so-humane presence of author Marty Slattery with this new publication of his novel Diamonds Are Trumps. Through his character Bill Mahoney, Slattery shares his personal knowledge of the game (he pitched in the minor leagues) and his consuming passion for its players.

With bone chips in his elbow that make his arm hurt all the way up to his ear, and scars on his middle-aged soul, Mahoney is something of a wounded knight errant. But when the umpire yells “Play ball!” Bill rises to dance to baseball’s perpetual melody.

Emotionally hollow and growing more passive with each birthday, Bill is skidding through his life, aching from lost loves and unfulfilled hopes. But the Dream is not done with him yet, and gradually, Bill understands the gifts the game can give him.

In this 2008 publication of Diamonds Are Trumps—with a new introduction by Dr. James P. Elliott—author Marty Slattery gives his readers the gift of a funny, poignant, and lyrical novel about baseball as it’s played in the minor leagues and life as it’s played beyond the dugout.

Learn more at www.diamondsaretrumps.com.