Covering Avoidable Contact

by Tammy

The cover is here! And it's gorgeous! How's this for evoking the mood of the 24 Hours of Daytona?

And to whet your appetites, here's the summary:

Racecar driver Kate Reilly is suited up and ready for the start of the legendary 24 Hours of Daytona. But what’s ahead will test her will and nerve more than any other endurance race.

Even before the green flag waves over Daytona International Speedway, Kate receives word her boyfriend Stuart is fighting for his life after a hit-and-run earlier in the day. Still reeling from that news, Kate must absorb other shocks in the race’s opening hours, including an on-track accident with tragic consequences and an eyewitness who claims Stuart was run down deliberately by someone from the race paddock.

Alternating stints behind the wheel of her Corvette racecar with stretches of quizzing colleagues and searching for clues, Kate taps every possible source—friend, foe, and family—to find out who’s after Stuart and why. As the race clock counts down to zero hour, Kate must come to terms with her own fears about the past and decide who she’s willing to trust. Only then can she identify who’s willing to kill to keep a secret buried—and stop them before they lash out again. 

_________________

Avoidable Contact will be released in August 2014. Pre-order on Amazon or Barnes & Noble (I know it's got the old title, we'll fix it).

My Racing TBR

by Tammy

Suddenly, I have an enormous pile of books about racing and racers to read (TBR = to be read). I read a lot, and mostly it's fiction. But I am compelled to also collect stories of motorsport and those who love her.

Here's my current booklist ... tell me if there's anything you want to borrow, or anything I'm missing!

Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, a motorbike journey around the world
Race to Dakar, Charley Boorman, the story of riding a motorbike in the Dakar Rally
Rush to Glory, Tom Rubython, the true story of the James Hunt/Niki Lauda rivalry
Driven by Desire, the Desiré Wilson story, by Alan Wilson (biography)
The Cars of Vel Miletich and Parnelli Jones ... OK, that's mostly photos (gorgeous photos)
Carchitecture, Frames, Fenders, and Fins ... also mostly amazing photos
As a Matter of Fact, I am Parnelli Jones, with Bones Bourcier (autobiography)
Bugatti Queen, Miranda Seymour, about Hellé Nice, racer and all-around adventurer of the 1920s and 1930s (this was the racer Jay Leno asked if I knew about when I met him briefly a couple weeks ago; I didn't know, so I got the book quickly)

What are some of your favorite non-fiction books about racing or racers? Simon and I have covered some of our favorites in the past (The Limit, Sunday Money, Driving with the Devil, and The Mechanic's Tale, to name just a few) ... but it's going to be a long off-season! Time to stockpile some reading material.

See Us Saturday!

TAMMY: We're not conversing on the blog today because we'll be talking live and in-person tomorrow in Southern California ... and you're all invited to join us. Come talk mysteries and racing--and help celebrate the release of Simon's second entry in the Aidy Westlake series, Hot Seat.

Saturday, June 30, 2 p.m.
Book Carnival
348 S. Tustin Avenue
Orange, CA
714.538.3210

(Maybe we'll even take a better photo together.)

Hope to see you there!

The Why of NASCAR

by Tammy

(I picked up this book recently, to read it for, I don't know, the third time? And I still love it. Partly it's his writing style, partly it's the reminder of why fans are they way they are. So I'm rerunning my review, hoping to prompt other people to check it out.)

Long, holiday weekends … perfect for overeating and, when you’ve worked up a sweat from outdoor fun and games, perfect for sitting in the shade with a book. In honor of the long weekend, and our nation itself, I wanted to share one of my favorite racing books, and the best thing I’ve ever read about NASCAR.

The book is Sunday Money: Speed! Lust! Madness! Death! A Hot Lap Around America With NASCAR, written by Jeff MacGregor, a senior writer with ESPN. The basic facts are that MacGregor and his wife got themselves a small motorhome and cris-crossed the U.S., following the NASCAR season, trying to understand how and why the sport has become so popular and pervasive.

The time was 2002. The nation was reeling from the September 11 attacks, and a certain subset of the nation was reeling also from another blow: the death of Dale Earnhardt. MacGregor is a man who gets how sports tap into our collective human psyche, but he doesn’t really yet understand NASCAR, so he sets out in search of enlightenment. The journey I took with him gave me a new level of insight into racing and the fan experience.


All of this makes it sounds hifalutin and boring—which it most definitely is not. In fact, the book is freaking hilarious. MacGregor is a great writer, regardless of topic or genre. I've read the book three times, and I laughed out loud at a couple scenes every single time. And then again when my husband read them. (I’ll pay you a dollar if you don’t laugh at his description of driving the motorhome for the first time.)

So if you're curious why more than 75 million Americans have joined "NASCAR Nation" or why you see race car drivers emblazoned across  commercial product packaging, read Sunday Money. You'll be entertained and enlightened ... about NASCAR, of all things. I’d like to hear what you think.

Holiday Book Recommendation: Sunday Money

Long, holiday weekends … perfect for overeating and, when you’ve worked up a sweat from outdoor fun and games, perfect for sitting in the shade with a book. In honor of the long weekend, and our nation itself, I wanted to share one of my favorite racing books, and the best thing I’ve ever read about NASCAR.

The book is Sunday Money, A Hot Lap Around America with NASCAR, written by Jeff MacGregor, a senior writer with ESPN. The basic facts are that MacGregor and his wife got themselves a small motorhome and cris-crossed the U.S., following the NASCAR season, trying to understand how and why the sport has become so popular and pervasive.

The time was 2002. The nation was reeling from the September 11 attacks, and a certain subset of the nation was reeling also from another blow: the death of Dale Earnhardt. MacGregor is a man who gets how sports tap into our collective human psyche, but he doesn’t really yet understand NASCAR, so he sets out in search of enlightenment. The journey I took with him gave me a new level of insight into racing and the fan experience.

But all of this makes it sounds hifalutin and boring—which it most definitely is not. In fact, the book is freaking hilarious. MacGregor is a great writer, regardless of topic or genre. I've read the book three times, and I laughed out loud at a couple scenes every single time. And then again when my husband read them. (I’ll pay you a dollar if you don’t laugh at his description of driving the motorhome for the first time.)

So if you're curious why more than 75 million Americans have joined "NASCAR Nation" or why you see race car drivers emblazoned across commercial product packaging, read Sunday Money. You'll be entertained and enlightened ... about NASCAR, of all things. I’d like to hear what you think.

Happy Independence Day!