Dead Heat
Dead Heat, William Murray’s final novel, is a story of obsessions — of people driven to pursue their dreams and their desires at whatever cost.
PRODUCT DETAILS
Product #:
B11-1102(BHP)
Pages: 288 pps.
Publisher: Eclipse Press
ISBN: 1-58150-131-5
ABOUT THE PRODUCT
Dead Heat, William Murray’s final novel, is a story of obsessions — of people driven to pursue their dreams and their desires at whatever cost. A haunted young woman who wants to become a famous jockey, an ex-mob enforcer fleeing his past, a trainer struggling with his own demons, and a potentially great racehorse inhabit the richly idiosyncratic racing milieu that is Murray’s hallmark.
Set against the panoramic backdrop of Santa Anita racetrack,
Dead Heat is an evocative and elegiac tale of conflicting desires, sudden tragedy, and personal redemption. Amid the turbulence, the rhythm of the racetrack remains a constant.
Dead Heat is William Murray at his finest.
William Murray, who died in March 2005, is often described as America’s answer to Dick Francis. Murray was also a journalist, a playwright, and a 30-year veteran of The New Yorker. He wrote four non-fiction books as well as nine novels involving the world of horse racing. Two novels, The Sweet Ride and Malibu, were produced for a feature film and a TV miniseries, respectively. Murray lived in San Diego, California, and was a regular at Del Mar racetrack.
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
“You can smell the sweet feed and Vetrolin, the details are so good. Dead Heat crosses the finish line ahead of all the others.”
--Rita Mae Brown, Mystery Author
“Once in awhile, a book comes along that sneaks into your soul and sets up shop for good. Dead Heat could be that book. William Murray takes the reader on a thrilling ride to the peaks of the racing game, with side trips down dark, twisting alleys of human behavior and haunting intrigue. Murray, a rare man of letters, saved his best for last, a story that belongs on the shelf beside the best of Dashiell Hammett and James Cain.”
--Jay Hovdey, Daily Racing Form
“William Murray has done it again. In Dead Heat, a brightly written narrative that moves with grace and pace from the gate to the wire, Murray demonstrates why he has long been — and still is — America’s most popular racing novelist.”
— William Nack
“An eloquent celebration of the thoroughbred sport with all its highs and lows.”
--Ellery Queen, Mystery Magazine.