Game of Shadows : Barry Bonds, Balco, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports

This is the complete inside story of the most notorious steroids scandal in sports history from the award-winning reporters who broke the news. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams reveal how an obscure, self-proclaimed nutritionist named Victor Conte became a steroid Svengali to multimillionaire athletes desperate for a competitive edge, creating (and destroying) superstars with his potent cocktails of miracle drugs. They expose the international web of coaches and trainers who funneled athletes to Conte's company, BALCO, and how the drug cheats stayed a step ahead of the testing agencies and the law. They detail how an aggressive IRS investigator doggedly gathered evidence until Conte and his coconspirators were brought to justice. And at the center of the story is the biggest star of them all, Barry Bonds, the muscle-bound MVP outfielder of the San Francisco Giants whose gaudy home run totals are matched by the myriad questions about his late-career renaissance. A landmark piece of reportage and a page-turning expose, Game of Shadows casts light into the recesses of American sport to reveal the dark truths at the heart of the game today. Book jacket.

Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams are investigative reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle. Fainaru-Wada and Williams won the Dick Schaap Excellence in Sports Journalism Award, the George Polk Award, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award for their reporting.