Note: Thank you to Howard Shapiro for providing a complimentary copy of “Hockey Karma… for this article. My opinions are honest and strictly my own
Here is the official synopsis:
The highly anticipated sequel to the award winning “The Hockey Saint… taking place ten years after “Saint… ends. The legendary Jeremiah “Jake… Jacobson, now thirty two, has been the world’s best hockey player over his fourteen year career because of his out of this world talent level and his smart play. But he can’t stay on top forever, and when he starts making mistakes on the ice, his career and family life start to crumble.
At the same time, Tom Leonard, his agent and best friend, is completely overwhelmed by a project that he and Jake were supposed to be working on together. A project that could have a huge impact on people throughout their city in need of a helping hand. As Jake sinks deeper into a funk over his lost status due to his deteriorating play and the emergence of teammate and rookie phenom Barclay Pedersen, Tom realizes he’s on his own. At the same time he rediscovers someone from his past who he never thought he’d see again. In that burgeoning relationship, Tom discovers the importance of taking chances and starts to believe in himself.
Can Jake break out of his downward spiral and Tom finally find the courage to step out of Jake’s shadow?
I highly recommend "Hockey Karma". You do not have to read the first two books of his trilogy to follow and enjoy this one. I did not.
I had a chance to talk with Howard about his latest graphic novel.
Before the start of each chapter you have a recommended list of songs to listen to as you read that chapter, how did that idea come about?
Howard Shapiro: The recommended listening songs came about when I did the first book in the Trilogy ("The Stereotypical Freaks") which was more of a music-based story. The songs either were featured in each chapter as far as being played or they were an influence on me when I was writing them. Actually a lot of my inspiration for writing comes from music and so I thought it would be a fun thing to do by listing those songs out at the chapter front pages. It was very well recd and I got so much good feedback that I did it again with "The Hockey Saint" and now "Hockey Karma" as well.
How did you come to pick those particular songs?
Shapiro: Really for "The Hockey Saint" and "Hockey Karma" they were songs that I was either listening to at the time of writing each chapter or thematically they have something to do with that particular chapter. For example with the final chapter we included in "Backstreets" by Bruce Springsteen because the name of the Trilogy is "The Forever Friends" Trilogy and there is a part in "Backstreets" where Springsteen sings "Forever Friends" and it's very powerful and I've always loved it. So, we used "Backstreets" as well as a song called "The Next Life" by Tom Cochrane and Red Rider because Jake is moving onto his next/new life post-hockey. Are any of the characters, particularly Jake and Emma, based on real life people?
Shapiro: Well, Jake and Emma are inspired by but not necessarily based on any real life people. The idea for having a female head coach was inspired by Becky Hammon becoming an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA and Jake was inspired by and is an amalgamation of athletes such as Arthur Ashe, Jim Brown and Ricky Williams. Arthur Ashe because of his social and charitable endeavors and Jim Brown and Ricky Williams because of their indifference or seeming indifference to playing their chosen sport... or maybe more accurately their desire to be known not just as a football player and having interests off the field he's also the anti-Sidney Crosby in that there is no better advocate or ambassador for the game of hockey then Sidney Crosby and Jake wants absolutely no part of being the "Face of the League."
Time was a factor throughout the story, not only with Jake but also Tom. How important was it to have them deal with it in their own way?
Shapiro: That's another really good question as how time relates to Tom. In the story he is 30 years old and as many 30 year old's he's sort of taking stock of his life and he comes to the realization that maybe it's not been the best thing being Jake's wingman. He's single, has no kids and wants to make a difference in his community and living in Jake's shadow hasn't given him a chance to stand out and accomplish his goals. So, time for him, even though he's still a young man seems like it is slipping away and he hasn't made high mark yet.
**SPOILER ALERT**
Before skating into the sunset, Jake kinda left it open for a return, are you planning to revisit these characters?
Shapiro: Excellent question! I don't want to say never but the plan is to go in a different direction with the next book. Still, I don't want to rule anything out for Jake because he is such a flawed and troubled in some respects character that it's those qualities that make him so fun to write. So, we'll see, at this time there is no plan to bring him or any of the other characters from the Trilogy back but I'm not going to rule it out just yet. So, stayed tuned!!
Hockey Karma is out now. It is available on Amazon.