Hope springs eternal in this debut literary fiction that is filled with both billiards and vice.  Right on cue by new author Tom McGonagle is a good old-fashioned heart-warming love story filled with integrity, a keen wit and gets to the heart of what makes a family tick.  A novel that proves funny in it’s prose and witty manner, the drama begins in the arms of a young and fool-hearty passion during the tail end of the Vietnam war.  Later, when a woman makes a paternal connection to a pool shark on the professional circuit, her son will seek out his father and attempt to forge a relationship from a connection that was originally built on a hustle.  After a tumultuous beginning, father and son begin to bond over a shared love and natural talent for the game of billiards.  With strong roles for both male and female players, the plot keeps it’s eye on the ball at all times and goes to show that truth and goodness will prevail when there is a will within.