In the years following World War II Americans in every city in the United States enjoyed bowling. Men and women bowled in separate leagues or together. In bowling's early days, pin boys risked the dangers of flying wood to set pins from afternoons through early mornings, often in seedy surroundings. When pinspotters replaced the pin boys, national advertising campaigns changed the sport's image. Huge bowling lanes welcomed people of all social levels. Bowling boomed. Hidden Agendas is set in the 1980's, a time when bowling's popularity was universal. The story focuses on a young New York man hired to participate in an Arizona bowling match with a $20 million dollar jackpot. Edward Vincent Karol has worked his way to the top of two professions. Smart enough to realize the people bankrolling his opponent might want him removed, he vanishes from his usual haunts. Yet, two dominant needs remain. One is regular practice, and the other, a way to get to Arizona unharmed. His challenges are complicated by his mother's incessant demand for a grandchild, and a meeting with a young woman whose physical and mental health verge on total disaster. He'd like to help her. Doing so would mean added tension throughout the most difficult month of his career.