About the Author

The Sport of Ruining Lives: Political & Religious Persecution in Modern America is the gripping debut novel by Joanne Stoner, an international entrepreneur, Harvard Business School graduate, and a former senior executive at global companies across multiple industries.

She first gained international attention as the founder of eDressMe.com, one of the world’s earliest and most successful online fashion retailers, which drew more than 15 million shoppers each month. After decades of navigating high-stakes corporate and international environments,

Stoner began to recognize troubling patterns that extended far beyond business. What initially appeared to be isolated instances of government misconduct gradually revealed something far more alarming: systemic corruption reaching the highest levels of power. She witnessed ordinary people drawn into geopolitical forces beyond their control, their lives shattered not by criminal behavior but by institutional excess. By 2021, she observed what seemed to be a disturbing shift within the U.S. Justice Department, once a steadfast defender of liberty, now deploying its vast authority against individuals based on their faith rather than any evidence of wrongdoing.

In The Sport of Ruining Lives, Stoner turns these observations into a riveting work of fiction that follows an ordinary American family caught in the crosshairs of institutional injustice. This pulse-pounding story of faith under siege and freedom at risk is more than a thriller. It is a warning. When justice falters and fundamental rights erode, everyday citizens can become expendable pawns in a ruthless struggle for power.

Fast-paced, tense, and unsettlingly plausible, The Sport of Ruining Lives is both a compelling novel and a stark wake-up call. When governing institutions fail to protect the innocent and uphold fairness and accountability under the law, the very foundation of society begins to crack.