The Dart League King

This is a review from my blog, New Jersey Darts: [...] It is narrowly focused on one aspect of the book of particular interest to dart players. Last weekend I finished reading a book written by Keith Lee Morris called "The Dart League King." How could I resist a book with a title like that? In September Dartoid did a good review of the book. I will leave the literary reviews to the literary reviewers, and focus on one narrow question: How well did Morris capture the feel of a dart league night? My readers from way back know that a lot of my early posts were weekly accounts of league matches, so I find that particularly interesting. Morris quickly caught my interest in the first fifteen pages by describing the buildup to league night. The team captain, Russel, has conversations in advance with his friend about matchups for a big league night. Anyone who has filled out a roster for a league match knows what I am talking about...all the little distracting anxieties about who you should play where to maximize your team's chances of winning. I also enjoyed Morris' description of the dart bar in question, the 321 club, and how the players interact with the setting and each other. There is live music at the bar that tends to distract the dart players, and they complain about it. That amused me, because every dart bar has something like that, and the acquired ability to tolerate it is something of a home field advantage. At the Corner Bar in Elizabeth, there was a loud buzzer that went off any time someone walked into the adjacent liquor store...usually when you were lining up that shot for a game-winning double! Then Morris describes how dart players sometimes try to reach a "zone" where they feel loose but not too much so, usually involving a certain number of beers, drinks, etc. One of the characters describes how he looks forward to the Thursday night league match, but dreads going to work the following Friday morning after a night out. Very authentic. The players from the opposing teams inevitably size each other up while warming up, but at the same time there is a loose cameraderie. There is a bit of trash talking but it is good natured. I also found that authentic and he did a good job of creating the feel of it. I particularly liked it when Morris reached into the heads of the players. One of the top players, Russel, has a case of the nerves and Morris describes it as follows: "it was as if his motor memory had suddenly been erased...and so his heart struck up against his chest like a little hammer and his fingers pulsed strangely...Russel missed and missed and missed." In my opinion, he did a good job of describing a character who has let nerves get the best of him. Haven't we all seen that! Morris also does a great job of examining the pressure of a game winning shot. It's not always so easy to hit that single bull with your last dart when you have a bar full of people looking at you, the room goes suddenly silent, and there is a good

I think this was a great book. The characterizations were fabulous. I really liked the different points of view presented and was hooked on the story. The suspense built all the way through the story, and I could not put it down. It was an very entertaining way to spend a snowy day in New England. You do not have to be a dart player on know anything about darts to enjoy this book>

I picked this book up because I was so impressed with the writing in the early pages. After 50 pp, I was almost ready to give up on it. I was getting tired of the alternating chapters told in a stream-of-consciousness style by multiple characters. I was longing for some straight scenes with description and dialogue etc. But I kept going and became completely drawn into the vividness of these exceptionally drawn characters -- Russell, the early twentysomething struggling to find his way because the only thing he's good at in life is darts; Vince Thompson, his coke-dealer and town outcast who bears an angry grudge against everyone; Tristan, the handsomest boy in town, who gradually becomes unhinged because he didn't report the death of a woman who'd accidentally drowned while swimming with him; Kelly, the prettiest girl in town, who's hoping to use Tristan as her ticket out of their small Idado town with the daughter she bore with Russell (who initially doesn't know he's the dad); and Brice Halberstam, the ex-professional dart player whom Russell has to beat to maintain his status as the town's Dart League King (there's more to Brice's identity, but it would be a spoiler to reveal it). The whole novel takes place the night of the dart tournament and it's amazing how much action and character development the author packs into this one eventful night. Be forewarned, the novel will break your heart, but it is one of the powerful, moving novels I have read in a while. The internal voices, so frail, so real, and so distinct from one character to the next are a tour-de-force of writing.

Morris once again creates characters that are so true and real that it's scarey. From the first pages you become wrapped up in each of these very real characters' lives. The story takes place in one life altering night. All the characters fates are interwoven creating a suspense that builds steadily until the final chapters when you can't put it down. This novel would make an excellent suspense movie!