While Ted is being lined up for a shot at one of the heavyweight crowns, Bobby is fighting on the second circuit, consisting of high school gymnasiums, rundown hotels, roller rink arenas and city parking lots. Oran, a bully, constantly taunts and physically abuses Bobby until one day Bobby runs away and takes a bus home to be with his mother, Alma, and his sister Carol.
Feeling alienated and alone, Bobby finds solace in the arms of Ted’s fiancé, Judith Tesch, a strikingly beautiful boxing groupie who Bobby adores and loves. He also finds a father figure in the form of Benny Bear, a 74-year-old African American cut man who once fought as a welterweight. Benny offers Bobby emotional security by showing him compassion and understanding; something Bobby needs to make his way into manhood.
Benny is offered the job of training the undefeated Black heavyweight, Tiger Murphy, out of the Left Jab Gym where both brothers train and both heavyweights are heading for a collision. When Oran disappears in what appears to be an arranged homicide, Robert Rios, the most successful boxing promoter in the United States and the president of Champion Promotions, offers an answer to all of Bobby’s dreams, but only if he and Ted sign an exclusive contract giving him total control over both brother’s careers.
Meanwhile, Detective Anthony Palmetto, working homicide out of the North Hollywood police precinct, suspects foul play by Rios in the disappearance of Oran. California Senator Harold Holt also moves forward with his plan to hold Senate hearings to investigate corruption in professional boxing while advocating for a Federal Boxing Commission.
Then Tragedy hits when Ted is badly injured in the ring, and Oran disappears. Bobby must decide if he will sign with the powerful promoter who Bobby suspects had his father murdered. Will Bobby forgo this one chance to fight for a world championship in order to align himself with his moral beliefs? Or do the intoxicants of fame and fortune overrule his conscious? Only Bobby can decide, and his decision might cost him his life.
A disturbing portrait of oppression, abuse and corruption, this novel also centers on one man’s search for love, loyalty, and redemption while making a place for himself in an unforgiving sport. Filled with passion, beauty, and tenderness, When the Sunlight Goes Dark offers the reader a look into both sides of the human dilemma: The one that offers light and hope— and the other that reveals depravity and darkness.
