Robert Frey

The 10th of August Robert Frey

It's 1919 and the 10th year of August (Augie) Kruger's life. Those two facts clash head-on to produce a mystery-adventure story in 'The10th of August', the third and final book in what might be called a 'reverse trilogy' of the Augie series of novels. For August Hans Kruger, 1919 proves to be an unusually exciting year for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the Black Sox Scandal, which results from a fixed World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds of that year. Two gamblers, with black satchels, arrive in Jackson Junction from Chicago ... as does a hired killer from New York. Augie has a dream that tells him there's $10,000  in those satchels. The race is on for him to find those satchels, with help from cousin Willie and friends Piggy and Ruthie, who are all members of a childhood club. Pig Reardon, division police captain for the Michigan Central Railroad, and two local crime reporters will do almost anything to get their hands on those satchels as well. The club suddenly needs to find a new meeting place and chooses an abandoned 'underground railroad' tunnel. It is there that the members barge in on a mysterious inhabitant of the tunnel. A man who will eventually play a crucial role in Augie's life for years to come. Of course, Dottie Mae is again an obstacle in Augie's path, as is Pig's wife, Mrs. Reardon, who unexpectedly becomes Augie's substitute fourth-grade teacher. Meanwhile, Hans, Augie's father, vows never to have anything more to do with baseball after he loses a bet to his brother, Cal, on the 1919 World Series, which Hans refused to believe could be fixed. Augie simply will not allow his father to give up on a sport he has loved so much in the past. And, that leads Augie into one dangerous situation after another. It is also in 1919 when President Wilson tries valiantly to get the United States to join the League of Nations before suffering a stroke; when Congress passes