By Alan Cook
AuthorHouse
January 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4389-2350-5
Paperback, 239 pp. $14.49

Reviewed by Theodore Feit for Spinetingler Magazine

The year is 1969, the Vietnam War is in full blast and a large, privately held
California defense contractor offers a million-dollar prize to a group of
runners to traverse the state from the Mexican border to San Francisco.
Among the runners are Drake and Melody, paired as a team. They, many years
before, had worked as some kind of government agents in England.

Along the 500-mile route, we are treated not only to a scenic description of the
California coast, but to a series of incidents of an increasingly violent nature.

At the beginning, there is an accident caused by a pickup truck banging into the cab
in which Drake is riding to the starting point of the race, severely injuring
him to the point that he can hardly run. But perseverance and ingenuity prevail,
and Drake and Melody continue running up the coast and discovering more events
affecting the race, prompting the pair to apply their past training to try to
figure out what is happening.

Who would ever have thought that a race featuring a marathon distance every day
could provide the basis for the kind of intrigue included throughout the plot,
which combines a Cold War setting and subversive conspiracy? Not to mention
the various tricks inherent in running a foot race. Somehow, it all comes
together in a good read, one which is recommended.

Return to Mystery page.