Trophy Son - Paperback

by Douglas Brunt (Author)

"Trophy Son brings Conroy's The Great Santini and Malamud's The Natural into the present day...A terrific book." -Harlan Coben

New York Times bestselling author Douglas Brunt's third novel, Trophy Son, tells the story of a tennis prodigy, from young childhood to the finals of the US Open, Wimbledon, and other tournaments around the world.

Growing up in the wealthy suburbs of Philadelphia, Anton Stratis is groomed to be one thing only: the #1 tennis player in the world. Trained relentlessly by his obsessive father, a former athlete who plans every minute of his son's life, Anton both aspires to greatness and resents its all-consuming demands. Lonely and isolated--removed from school and socialization to focus on tennis--Anton explodes from nowhere onto the professional scene and soon becomes one of the top-ranked players in the world, with a coach, a trainer, and an entourage.

But as Anton struggles to find a balance between stardom and family, he begins to make compromises--first with himself, then with his health, and finally with the rules of tennis, a mix that will threaten to destroy everything he has worked for.

Trophy Son offers an inside look at the dangers of extraordinary pressure to achieve, whether in sports or any field, through the eyes of a young man defying his parents' ambitions as he seeks a life of his own.

A USA Today Notable Book
A New York Post "Must Read" Book
"Keenly observed and provocative." - Sports Illustrated

Author Biography

Until 2011, Douglas Brunt was CEO of Authentium, Inc., an Internet security company. He is the author of two previous novels, the New York Times bestselling Ghosts of Manhattan and The Means. A Philadelphia native, he lives in New York with his wife and their three children.