The Gym

A Novel

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Pub Date 7 Nov 2023 | Archive Date 31 Jan 2025

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Description

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.

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...


Advance Praise

“The Gym is darkly funny, written with wry spark and a keen eye for killer details. There are also humane and wistful notes, a tribute to the way Kevin Cowherd has coped with a lifetime in bruising, big-city journalism. Not every writer can pull that off.”  — Carl Hiaasen, bestselling author of Hoot “

“ . . . Dotted with flashes of comic brilliance.”  — Kirkus Reviews 

“A very funny book by a very funny guy.”  —Dave Barry, New York Times bestselling author of Swamp Story and Peter and the Starcatchers

"Kevin Cowherd’s latest left me convulsing in laughter and tears. The brilliance of The Gym is in its fresh take on the pain and complexity of divorce, from the perspective of husband and father. A good and decent guy can move on, with a little help from his friends. The novel is brimming with truths and insights but with lightest of touch and a big, beating heart. Anyone whoever grunted through a workout (at a modest fitness center) will adore this Baltimore tale.”  — Michael Davis, author of The New York Times best-seller Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street 

“The Gym is darkly funny, written with wry spark and a keen eye for killer details. There are also humane and wistful notes, a tribute to the way Kevin Cowherd has coped with a lifetime in bruising...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781627204972
PRICE US$22.99 (USD)
PAGES 292

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