The Gym - Hardcover

Jack Doherty is a walking mid-life crisis. Overweight and lonely, newly-divorced after a spectacular act of infidelity on the part of his wife and close to losing his job as a hotshot newspaper columnist, he joins a gym hoping for an existential do-over, if not washboard abs and bulging biceps. Another shot at romance wouldn't hurt, either.

One day a mysterious new member shows up: an incredibly-fit octogenarian who seemingly defies the ravages of age. Anthony Maldon does grueling one-handed chin-ups, withering jump-rope routines, amazing cartwheels and backflips -- all without breaking a sweat. No one has ever seen anything like this geezer phenom.

But Jack and his new workout buddies soon learn that Tony Maldon harbors a dark secret: 30 years earlier, he committed a horrific crime that earned him national notoriety, a long stretch in the slammer and the singular nickname "Oven Mitts."

Like Jack, "Oven Mitts" seeks his own form of redemption in this darkly-comic tale. And when the two are thrown together in a high-stakes fitness competition, an unlikely bond forms between the enigmatic ex-con and the struggling journalist, who just might walk away with the biggest story of his career.