Dead Heat
William Murray

Pub Date: September 2005. Dead Heat, the last horse racing novel from popular author William Murray, is a story of obsessions -- of people driven to pursue their dreams and their desires at whatever cost.

The haunted young woman who shows up one day outside the horse trainer Jake Fontana’s tack room at Santa Anita racetrack is not merely looking for work but has an agenda: She wants to become a great jockey. But Jill Aspen also harbors secrets from her past that eventually catch up with her. She finds a refuge in her vocation and in her talent, but her past refuses to release its grip on her and will not allow her the freedom she needs to find fulfillment.

Sal “Bones” Righetti, ex–mob enforcer, jock’s agent, and wily horseplayer, becomes Jill's friend and ally, determined to help her break free of her past, as he did himself. And at the heart of their personal drama is the potentially great horse that Jake Fontana trains, Tumultuous, who may one day carry all of them to what Bones thinks of as “rainbow’s end.”

About the Author:
William Murray, who died in March 2005 at age 78, was a novelist, journalist, and playwright who was for thirty years a staff writer for The New Yorker, a contributor mainly of “Letters from Italy.” His two books on Italy -- Italy: The Fatal Gift and The Last Italian: Portrait of a People -- were selected by The New York Times and the American Library Association as Notable Books of the Year. His translations of the plays of Luigi Pirandello continue to be produced all over the country.

Called America’s answer to Dick Francis, Murray wrote written three nonfiction books and nine other novels about the world of horse racing, among them Tip on a Dead Crab, When the Fat Man Sings, The King of the Nightcap, The Getaway Blues, and A Fine Italian Hand. Several of these were also Notable Books of the Year. Two novels, The Sweet Ride and Malibu, were produced for a feature film and a TV miniseries, respectively. Several of his articles have been chosen for best-of-the-year collections, and he was awarded the LOLA (Local Author Lifetime Achievement) award in 2002 by the San Diego Library Association.

Praise for William Murray and Dead Heat:

“William Murray bumps Dick Francis at the three-quarter pole and prances into the winner’s circle to the ecstatic cheers of his fans.”
-- The New York Times

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“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

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“You can smell the sweet feed and vetrolin, the details are so good. Dead Heat crosses the finish line ahead of all the others.”
-- mystery novelist Rita Mae Brown

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“...Runyonesque dialogue, picaresque racetrack vignettes, and great verve, Murray gallops in a winner.”
-- Kirkus Review

Hardcover
6 x 9
288 pages
Product #B11-1102
List Price: $24.95
ISBN-10: 1-58150-131-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-58150-131-5