By Ruffina Oserio

The Fade-Away by George Jansen is a historical novel with powerful cultural themes, and tale that speaks of the transition to modernity. The reader is introduced to the life of a small time baseball team with its squabbles, the events that punctuate its life. With the young moving away from Port Newton to bigger cities, this has a very bad effect on the baseball team. But then something unusual happens -- a tall American Indian wearing a tuxedo is pulled out of the water, unconscious, by Constable Long John and this event is about to change a lot of things in Foghorn Murphy's Railroad Exchange Saloon. Follow this unusual tale of love and greed and a community's journey into the twenty-first century.

George Jansen is a great storyteller, one of those writers who succeed in grabbing my attention from the very start of their story. The opening of the novel has many elements that make it intriguing. The author gives us an idea of the period in which the narrative takes place and then, in an intriguing way, announces an event. It's Eastertide and Good Friday in Railroad Exchange Saloon in Port Newton, California when Jack Dobbs "floated into town." The writing is gorgeous and the diction reflects the historical period in which the story takes place. The Fade-Away features very interesting characters and explores relationships within a small community, both business and personal, providing readers with social and cultural commentaries that allow them to feel the soul of a people. The author combines humor with suspense to make the reading experience a delightful one.

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