Close Call

Ex-amateur boxer and failed advertising account executive Jack Doyle, hero of Blind Switch, returns to the world of thoroughbred horse racing at a suburban Chicago track. With the help of furrier-to-the-mob Moe Kellman, Doyle is hired as publicity director at Monee Park - a struggling racetrack owned by heiress Celia McCann. Celia, whose husband is afflicted with Lou Gehrig's disease, is fighting to keep the business afloat while awaiting passage of a law allowing the introduction of lucrative video slot machines. She's determined to maintain the business inherited from her beloved uncle Jim Joyce. However, she is under pressure from her co-heir and cousin, Niall Hanratty, to close the track and sell the valuable property to real estate developers. Niall will stop at nothing to convince Celia to sell, even hiring thugs from Chicago's Canaryville neighborhood to help persuade her. Can the exploits of star sprinter Rambling Rosie save the track? Or will Doyle hold the key? Written from an insider's viewpoint, and featuring a robust cast of offbeat characters, Close Call provides entertaining insight into the unique world of American horse racing with a climax as exciting as a Derby photo finish.