Bill LittlefieldRezensionen

The novel opens with a first-person narrator --Jack, a neighborhood family man -- who is prone to introspection, and we think "Ah, this is the author speaking through this character." But the novel quickly and frequently shifts into other voices and perspective, giving glimpses into the lives and thoughts of other characters. One whole chapter is given to a little girl in the neighborhood named Libby, who gazes out from her upstairs bedroom window, very early on a summer morning, like a god or omniscient narrator.
Although how the various characters are connected to each other is obscure at first, they all have some connection to notorious crime boss Arthur Baladino, a Whitey Bulger-like gangster. Mercy is set in the suburban, middle-class neighborhood where Baladino, nearing death, has been released from a life sentence and allowed to come home to die. Neighbors and local journalists may wonder why a violent criminal like Baladino – a mobster not known for showing mercy to his victims – was granted the mercy of dying at home instead of remaining locked behind bars, but it remains speculation. No one knows for sure.
Don't read Mercy for the suspense (Though there is some.) or the sports (Only one sports metaphor – "The best team doesn't always win.") Read it for the multifaceted human characters in need of forgiveness and forgiving, and the thread of human connection binding us together, however different the lives we lead.
Read full review at https://baystatera.com/book-review-mercy-by-bill-littlefield/
Disclaimer: I received a free, digital advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a very well written book. I was drawn into the characters and felt like I was sitting with them as they told me about their lives (even though its clear lots of them would not have shared their thoughts/experiences). I loved that the theme of forgiveness and mercy went through the book, and connected all the different tales together. It also described being released from prison as an act of mercy. Overall I loved this book, it made me laugh out loud at times and I'd love to read another book by this author. (4/5 stars)

Please note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for providing an unbiased review.

Various individuals musing on life and death. I was confused at first and had trouble keeping the various characters straight but as their stories fleshed out and the characters connected together it became easier to follow. The jumping around in time was a little disorienting and a few of the chapters/story lines/narrators didn't quite fit. The description of the events around Tommy Baladuci's death didn't really fit in since there weren't really any other significant events in the book and also because it had taken place many years before (presumably) the rest of the book was set. I enjoyed how most of the storylines eventually came together even if only peripherally.

Champions: Stories of Ten Remarkable Athletes, by Bill Littlefield, is a collection of well-told biographies briefly describing the lives of both female and male athletes who competed in a myriad of sports. These athletes are brought to life through narration. Little field's style mixes direct quotes by the athletes, as well as quotes from people who knew the athletes or watched them compete firsthand. Bernie Fuchs does an outstanding job illustrating each selection with a series of paintings featuring each athlete in his or her respected sport. Great Read!

Slim but delightful book of sports-related doggerel. Littlefield, known for his perceptive and witty hosting of the radio show "Only a Game," brings the same qualities to these poems, which were quite fun to read at bedtime. This would be a good stocking-stuffer for any sports fan.

For all Littlefield's struggles to avoid being lumped in with those that claim "the game" used to be better, the tone of the book is exactly that, with all the sepia-toned nostalgia for baseball's status as the national pastime that feels so impossibly dated in the modern era. Sadly, that's not even the worst of this book's sins.

His characters are so stereotypical as to be almost offensive, and the plot, what little of it there actually is, moves so slowly and so obviously towards its end, that it seems some strange miracle that I even bothered to finish it. It shouldn't take more than a couple pages for even the most obtuse of readers to realize that sassy black lady is going to push the old man who thinks he has no more to offer so that they can get the impossibly talented and humble young athlete into the big leagues.

On a more nitpicking note, Littlefield's decision to insert an imaginary team into the midst of all the real-world teams and players he references (endlessly) throughout the book smacks of utter cowardice. Was he really afraid of offending the lawyers of any baseball team in this disgustingly sloppy kiss on the ass of Major League Baseball? Just make the team the Red Sox, since you so obviously wanted to do so, and quit playing coy.