THE RACER

A novel of sports car racing which is at its best in capturing the high-octane excitement of a sport as vicious as it is glamorous, but which slips into second gear when it leaves the track. This is Erich Lester's story as his feverish determination to become a star admits no scruples and the sacrifices of his wife and friends. An accident almost loses his life and leaves him with a crippled leg which does not interfere with his first triumph. He forfeits his only friendship to become top man on the top team, and while unchallenged for many years, he does not realize that he has lost the love of Monica until a new youngster, on the upgrade, threatens his reputation as well as his marriage. In the knowledge that retirement may be considered a retreat, Lester decides to crash in a last race to insure his immortality- but it is young O'Hanlon who steals his grandstand gesture and leaves him behind to a meaningless future..... The quite fatal fascination of these stepped-up crates which are more often caskets, the cruel competition of the sport and its disrespect of human values- all come through and give this its vitality rather than any distinction.