Enter the highly competitive world of Standardbred horse racing, in this exhilarating debut from an insider. The story, however, goes far beyond that and touches on universal themes that every reader will recognize.
You’ll be thrust into the front car on a roller coaster ride, through triumph and disaster, that begins on page one. You’ll feel every twist and turn of the story in the pit of your stomach.
You’ll laugh and cry with the rough, tough guys who put on the show, rain or shine. You’ll empathize with the women who give this world a heart. You’ll meet the cheaters who use horses as pincushions, who want to win at any price.
You’ll get to know the equine athletes who give their all, whatever challenges life throws at them. Last, but not least, you’ll feel the overwhelming sense of community that pervades this world, despite the sharp edges of a highly competitive sport.
If that’s not enough, there’s a backstory that will keep you on the edge of your seat and which takes you on a journey from Ontario, Canada to the Rocky Mountains, the US, the Caribbean and even the UK. The icing on the cake is an ending full of surprises that will leave you well satisfied.
The characters leap off the page: a brilliant harness horse driver whose drug habit risks costing him everything, his cousin, a trainer who refuses to compromise her integrity, a mysterious individual known only as the Scorpion, lurking in the shadows, pulling the strings, the Director of Racing trying desperately to clean up the industry, his mentor and best friend who has his own agenda, a low life groom who knows too much for his own good, the Canadian Mountie who inadvertently gets involved, with unforeseen consequences, a veterinarian caught between two worlds, young horses unaware of what’s in store for them and trainers whose livelihoods hang by a thread, who face a Hobbesian choice if they are to survive.
These are just some of the players in a story where passions run high and where the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, is always blurred. Fascinating, fast paced and with shocking twists and turns until the very last, HORSE FLESH is a breakthrough debut novel set to entertain not only horse and racing enthusiasts, but fiction fans looking for a fresh next read.
About the author:
Tina Sugarman’s debut novel, HORSE FLESH, was born out of her personal experiences and portrays a faithful and compelling insight into the world of harness racing. Tina has been involved with Standardbred horse racing in Ontario for nearly two decades, spending summers on a horse farm a few kilometres from Mohawk Raceway, a premier harness racing track in Canada. She lives in Poole, Dorset with her husband and their maine coon cat, Juliette and enjoys driving their hackney mare, Mango, in the New Forest. She still takes a keen interest in the sport.
HORSE FLESH by Tina Sugarman (published September 1st 2016 by Clink Street Publishing) can be ordered from online retailers including Amazon (e-book and paperback editions) and from all good bookstores.