The Lit-Crit Take: A genre-bending, character-driven, word-burning thriller about politics, love and the haunting pain of memory. The Pure Plot Pitch: I didn’t know—or care—much about the tight race for governor of New York until someone took a shot at one of the candidates and killed his wife instead. The main suspect, it turns out, was an anti-government crazy (and a devoted quilter—yes, you heard that right) who once did time with me. So suddenly I’m trying to track him down, getting sucked into the panicky heart of a closely fought election campaign, into an affair with a troubled political operative, and into the dangerously surreal world of people who prefer casting their vote with a sniper’s bullet.

2. He was born to lead, born
for power. He'd worked
his way up through the
system to become District
Attorney of Nassau
County, then County
Executive. Now he was
ready for the next move.

3. The deals had been made,
the agreements reached.
He'd make the leap from Long
Island to Albany and run for
Governor of New York.

4. But he faced opposition upstate, considerable opposition.
A liberal downstater, blind, Hispanic--he was the enemy.

5. They watched
him, they planned,
they agreed. He
couldn't be
allowed to run.

6. Gunfire. White magnesium flashes, hypersonic
cracks. A body falls. Not his. His wife 's, pink
petals of blood rising out of the side of her head.

7. Staggered by his wife's death, he halts the
campaign. Supporters are confused by the
rumors they hear--he'll quit the race, he'll
even resign his current position.

8. Soul searching.
He goes off the grid
for a week, stays at
home, grieving and
wondering what to
do. One thing he
can't deny--his wife
would want him
to go on.

9. Back to the road. He's on a turbocharged
crusade to hit every crucial location in the state.

10. Especially those areas--which is pretty much
all of upstate--hurt the most by unemployment.

11. Life again
becomes a
blur of
rallies,
fundraisers,
auditoriums,
gyms and
county fairs.

12. He gains points
in the polls, he
loses points. The
race remains a
dead heat.

13. Hard-hit
upstaters
continue to
look at him with
poisonous
suspicion.

14. And others watch him even more closely, watch him
with hate. They stay hidden in the crowds, waiting.

15. Waiting for the moment to strike again.

16. Lit-Crit Take: A genre-bending, character-driven, word-
burning thriller about politics, love and the haunting pain of
memory.
The Pure Plot Pitch: I didn't know--or care--much about the
tight race for governor of New York until someone took a
shot at one of the candidates and killed his wife instead.
The main suspect, it turns out, was an anti-government
crazy (and a devoted quilter--yes, you heard that right) who
once did time with me. So suddenly I'm trying to track him
down, getting sucked into the panicky heart of a closely
fought election campaign, into an affair with a troubled
political operative, and into the dangerously surreal world
of people who prefer casting their vote with a sniper's
bullet.
For a quick taste, please go to http://bit.ly/nVXk6Y
more

17. DEAD HEAT is available everywhere, including the Kindle,
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iPad, Smashwords and Sony
stores. Here are some of the bigger links:
Kindle http://amzn.to/rjZPMP
Amazon (print) http://amzn.to/qHX4d0
Smashwords (all digital formats) http://bit.ly/n01h1U