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Welcome to the Game

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

From a brilliant new voice, Welcome to the Game is a gripping thriller that races through the Motor City at a heart-stopping pace as its protagonists swerve to avoid danger at every turn

Craig Henderson screeches onto the scene with this fast-paced debut starring ex-rally driver Spencer Burnham. Having moved his family from England to Detroit and opened a foreign car dealership, Spencer's life was derailed by the death of his beloved wife. Now disconnected from his young daughter and losing control of the cocktail of drugs and alcohol that gets him through the day, he only just keeps Child Protective Services at bay while his business teeters on the edge of bankruptcy.

Then he has a seemingly chance encounter with a charismatic but lethal gangster, Dominic McGrath. Feeling the squeeze from informants, the rise of tech surveillance, and a hotshot detective who's made busting him a personal crusade, McGrath's been planning a last heist that would allow a comfortable retirement, provided he can find a very special type of driver—one who's capable, trustworthy . . . and naïve.

Spencer quickly proves himself behind the wheel, with his innate senes of timing and precise, high-speed maneuvers. And McGrath even pays cash, lots of it. But it comes at a price; Spencer finds himself playing in an arena where rookies don't last long. Wising up to the ruthlessness behind McGrath's charming façade, he tries to break free, but McGrath has too much invested to allow him to leave.

As the city swelters in a heat wave, the two men apply their considerable talents to besting each other, while mistakenly assuming they have only each other to beat.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 12, 2022
      Henderson, a host of the BBC’s Books That Made Britain series, debuts with a tense crime thriller set in Detroit. Englishman Spencer Burnham has left his home country and his successful career as a rally car driver and moved his family to the Motor City, his wife Marielle’s hometown, where he operates a dealership specializing in foreign cars. When Marielle dies in a car accident, he’s left the widowed father of seven-year-old Abby, and serious money troubles place his business on the verge of bankruptcy. With the walls closing in and his alcoholism risking his custody of Abby, Burnham takes a desperate gamble. His superior driving skills and intimate knowledge of the city’s streets have attracted the attention of Dominic McGrath, a vicious money launderer. Burnham accepts a job offer to drive for McGrath’s operation, replacing a man executed on McGrath’s orders after being suspected of being a snitch. Henderson makes his flawed and troubled lead easy to sympathize with, and fleshed-out characters match satisfying plot twists. Fans of the Fast & Furious movie franchise will be riveted. Agent: Clementine Little, Coward & Little (U.K.).

    • Booklist

      September 15, 2022
      We've met Spencer Burnham's kind before, notably in Michael Mann's 1981 film Thief. Mann's thief and Henderson's Brit race-car driver are likable rogues, with scofflaw streaks. Spencer, the star of this remarkable blaze of a novel, has relocated to Detroit, ""Michigan's broken heart."" He's reeling from his beloved wife's sudden death, struggling to raise his seven-year-old daughter, and haphazardly running a car dealership. He's caught the eye of crime-lord McGrath, who seeks a driver to move cash quick. The plot is predictable, sort of: after a major haul, Spencer seeks to retire; McGrath abducts Spencer's daughter to keep the game going, and the action builds to a blood-soaked finale. The real joy here is the wonderfully vivid language--""the needle of her sympathy tank bounced at zero."" And there are shocking scenes, too--a man we're fond of is wasted--that make the pages vibrate. Plus creepy moments, as a thug charms the daughter: we know what's going on, but she doesn't. It's quite a romp, all in all, and there's some nifty car lingo. What's a ""prancing pony""? A Ferrari, of course.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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  • OverDrive Read
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  • English

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