Short Synopsis
Award-winning author Tom Stanton weaves a stunning tale of history, crime, and sports in Terror in the City of Champions.

Full Synopsis
Detroit, mid-1930s: In a city abuzz over its unrivaled sports success, gun-loving baseball fan Dayton Dean became ensnared in the nefarious and deadly Black Legion. The secretive, Klan-like group was executing a wicked plan of terror, murdering enemies, flogging associates, and contemplating armed rebellion. The Legion boasted tens of thousands of members across the Midwest, among them politicians and prominent citizens—even, possibly, a beloved athlete.

Terror in the City of Champions opens with the arrival of Mickey Cochrane, a fiery baseball star who roused the Great Depression's hardest-hit city by leading the Tigers to the 1934 pennant. A year later he guided the team to its first championship. Within seven months the Lions and Red Wings follow in football and hockey—all while Joe Louis chased boxing's heavyweight crown.

Amidst such glory, the Legion's dreadful toll grew unchecked: staged “suicides,” bodies dumped along roadsides, high-profile assassination plots. Talkative Dayton Dean's involvement would deepen as heroic Mickey Cochrane's reputation would rise. But the ballplayer had his own demons, including a close friendship with Harry Bennett, Henry Ford's brutal union buster.

"If you’re looking for a book that combines sports, crime, and history in one package, look no further. . . . this book is a must-read." ---Booklist Starred Review

"First-rate reporting and a seminar in how to employ context in investigative and historical journalism." ---Kirkus Starred Review

"Glittering triumphs cover up a sordid racist conspiracy in this lively vignette of the Motor City in its heyday." ---Publishers Weekly

"Stanton's masterly prose is thoroughly engaging from cover to cover." ---Library Journal

"Stanton weaves these aspects of the city together with rigorous research and skillful prose, and Heller brings the heroes and villains to life with his easy style and pleasant timbre." ---AudioFile

Booklist Review

Kirkus Review

New York Times Bestseller