More Horrifying than Fiction

The Offside Coroner is about a women's professional soccer team and a coach whose gross misconduct might be what gets him killed.

Much of what the coach did in my book was inspired by the story of the USA's women's pro league; in particular, the actions of the former coach of the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage. But I had no idea of the extent of it—and how systemic and pervasive the abuse was—until this month. That's when I read the summary of the Yates report, an investigation led by a former U.S. Attorney General into what happened. It's horrifying reading. (There's a free article on ESPN's site, though you'll need to read past their promos of their documentary. Steph Yang and Meg Linehan of the The Athletic have done a great job of...Read More