Summer of Shadows: A Murder, A Pennant Race, and the Twilight of the Best Location in the Nation

Summer of Shadows is an intertwining narrative that tells the story of the 1954 Cleveland Indians (which would etch itself in history as one of the greatest baseball teams in MLB history) and the infamous murder of the wife of Dr. Sam Sheppard in their home along the shore of Lake Erie -- which held both the city and the nation spellbound that summer. Both of these generation-defining stories take place in the final days of the "Best Location in the Nation," the nickname for the Cleveland of the 1950s, which truly was one of the great and most influential cities in America. These two parallel tragedies harbinger an onslaught of adversity that dragged Cleveland from its lofty standing as a leading American city to one with a bleak -- even comic -- reputation.

Review :
"Knight describes the on-and-off-field pennant race and Series action with breathless excitement that will thrill readers more than half-century later..." --Akron Beacon Journal "Jonathan Knight has hammered a grand slam of a book in his account of the American League Champion Cleveland Indians, the Sam Sheppard trial, the City of Cleveland and our country in 1954. If you love the Tribe, Cleveland and history, this is a must-read." --Terry Pluto, Cleveland Plain Dealer "As a Clevelander born and bred, and an autumn child of the star-crossed year of 1954, I emerged into the world just as the events described in Summer of Shadows were unfolding. An admirably researched and readable work, author Jonathan Knight has packed his book full of surprising revelations from the worlds of sports, media, and law enforcement. Readers are treated to a compelling chronicle that seamlessly intertwines Al Rosen's inspired performance in the All-Star game--played in front of hometown Tribe fans--to Larry Doby's trailblazing heroics to the horrific murder of Marilyn Sheppard to the Cleveland Press's Javert-like editor, Louis B. Seltzer, who never relented in his zeal to see Dr. Sam Sheppard punished for the crime. "Trial of the Century" is now a hackneyed term, but surely Seltzer broke the mold when he editorialized week after week against the doctor on his own front pages, elevating the poisoning of the jury pool to a refined art. If you've ever enjoyed watching David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble in "The Fugitive" get yourself a copy of Summer of Shadows, a book I will keep on my shelf along with such classics as David Halberstam's Summer of '49 and Eliot Asinof's Eight Men Out." --Philip Turner, co-founder Undercover Books, Cleveland Bookstore Chain, and publisher of Philip Turner Books "I grew up in Cleveland, the west side, and if there is one thing I know about my home it is that the people there feed on love of misery, of near misses and tragedy. Summer of Shadows captures those moments in time that last forever in our collective imagination and reminds us that this often maligned town was once one of America's greatest. Captivating, engaging. You won't put it down." --Craig J. Heimbuch, author Chasing Oliver Hazard Perry "Knight's Summer of Shadows gives us plenty of bright summer and then patiently and respectfully shows us that the shadows were there all along. He's not a naysayer or a spoilsport. After all, he's just as much an optimistic Ohioan as the rest of us." --James Gorman review in Ohioana Quarterly Summer/Fall 2012