About the Author

(From the dust jacket) "JOHN BALL, JR., is the author of two other books for boys, OPERATION SPRINGBOARD and SPACEMASTER 1, and of EDWARDS: FLIGHT TEST CENTER OF THE U.S.A.F. Pilot, journalist, and specialist in the field of Japanese culture in the United States, Mr. Ball has written books and articles on aviation, music, sociology, and adventure, and mysteries. A member of the Judo Black Belt Federation of the U.S.A., he has cultivated his musical hobby of playing the Japanese samisen." Now Ball is best known for mystery novels involving the African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs. Tibbs was introduced in the 1965 novel IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America and was made into an Oscar-winning film of the same name. Ball's departure from the mystery genre was a bestselling what-if political thriller THE FIRST TEAM.