Game of Shadows

Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports

By: Mark Fainaru-Wada, Lance Williams

Narrated by: Scott Brick

The complete inside story of the shocking steroids scandal that turned the sports world upside down

For years, in the shadowy reaches of the world of sports, there were rumors that some of our nation’s greatest athletes were using steroids, human growth hormone, and other drugs to run faster, jump higher, and hit harder. But as track stars blazed their way to Olympic medals and sluggers brought fans back to baseball, sports officials, the media, and fans looked past the rumors and cheered on the athletes to ever-higher levels of performance. Then, in December 2004, San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams broke the story of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a tiny nutritional supplement company that, according to sworn testimony, was supplying elite athletes with banned drugs. The stories shocked the nation and the exposés led to congressional hearings on baseball's drug problems and a revived effort to purge the U.S. Olympic movement of drug cheats.

Now, in GAME OF SHADOWS, Fainaru-Wada and Williams tell the complete story of BALCO and the investigation that has shaken the foundations of the sporting world. And at the center of the story is the biggest star of them all, Barry Bonds, the muscle-bound MVP outfielder for the San Francisco Giants whose suspicious late-career renaissance has him threatening Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record.

Shocking, revelatory, and riveting, GAME OF SHADOWS casts light into the shadows of American sports to reveal the dark truths at the heart of the game today.©2006 Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams; (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"A sober, skillful and utterly damning account of not just the Bonds fiasco but the pervasive influence of steroids in sports."—Los Angeles Times

"Devastating. . . . groundbreaking. . . . Necessary reading for anyone concerned with the steroids era in baseball and track and field and its fallout on sports history."—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"A compelling portrait of conspiracy. . . . Fascinating."—The Boston Globe

"Scorching. . . . A testament to baseball’s failure."—Newsweek

"Superb. . . . Important and disturbing."—San Francisco Chronicle

"The evidence is detailed, damning, and overwhelming. . . . It’s a growing bonfire of controversy. This book is one of the matches."—The Philadelphia Inquirer

"[Fainaru-Wada and Williams] have got the goods and they reveal them methodically. Everything is well-sourced and meticulously explicated."—Chicago Tribune

“A shocking exposé of the seedy side of pro sports that underscores just how easy it is to cheat.”—Entertainment Weekly

Drugs Are Bad

Third time with this book, first time listening. All these years later, I will never understand Bud Selig’s complicity.

Eye opening

Great book, well researched and narrated. I hadn't realize the extent of doping in sports. It's amazing how some of the athletes alleged with doping in the book are still doing the stuff and getting caught.

Worth a listen

This book was a great insight to what is actually going on with many professional athletes, not just Barry Bonds. It's a real eye opener to what these athletes are willing to put in their bodies to succeed at their sport. Definitely worth a listen, especially before the Mitchell report is released next month.

Extensive research that backed up everything he wrote about

Since I was in Major League Baseball for 30 years, including when steroids were suspected and later proven, there was no doubt their was rampant steroid use. The problem was we, as medical professionals, weren’t allowed to do testing. I repeatedly talked to players about the dangers associated with anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. But Bud Seileg and the players association chose to ignore the program because home runs were put people in the stands and money in the owners pockets. Also it is a little late, I commend the writers who exposed it for what it was CHEATING,

Irresistable

Game of Shadows is audio book crack -- I was mesmerized from beginning to end. My only caveat would be -- if you love sports, the revelations in this book are gonna hurt.

Great narration too -- amazing how important that is.