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When runners Drake and Melody are enticed into a marathon up the California coast, their journey almost doesn't get off the ground. Someone is threatening them, but who? The partners share a top secret past that is apparently known to their stalker. Is it sheer fear or the drive to win $1 million that keeps them in the race? Not only is there a secret menace, but the company sponsoring the race, Giganticorp, a military contractor, has very tight reins on the runners. While fellow runner and CEO Casey Messinger seems open and encouraging, he too appears to have another agenda when he announces his race for the Senate during the marathon. As Drake and Melody continue north up the coastline, things get more complicated, and they begin working with outside contacts to try and discover what's really going on. Add to that a dead runner and later another corpse, this time an employee of Giganticorp who was working with the runners, and the story really heats up. Perhaps the most interesting element author Alan Cook brings to the story is the marathon setting. Readers will enjoy following the runners' progress as they make their way up the coast. The addition of a map (with appropriate routing) would have added immeasurably to the book, but even those with just a passing acquaintance with California will find themselves picking out familiar spots along the journey. Anyone who appreciates the endurance a marathon requires or knows a little about the landscape of California will appreciate the story's backdrop. The time frame (1969) used for the story also could have been better incorporated into the story beyond its Cold War political setting. While partners Drake and Melody work well together in the story, their background detail could have been fleshed out a little more. Their murky past is never really explained, even though the story turns on political events. All in all, this is a largely enjoyable book with a new twist on the setting. Trying to run a marathon and solve a mystery is a unique combination that will find readers trying to keep pace with the runners until the journey's end.
Reviewed by Christine Zibas, May 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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