Coming in April: John McEvoy's newest racing thriller: The Significant Seven In 2002, seven guys, friends from their days at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, are getting together for a few flutters on the horses. On this magical day they hit the Pick Six. It's a lot of money. And their leader, Arnie Rison, gets them to agree to use some of their seven-figure payoff to buy race horses. Here they get lucky again: one of their buys turns out to be a stallion with sensational speed. A money-maker. When injury sidelines The Badger Express in 2005, he is worth a fortune more at stud fees. So Arnie instigates an agreement: if one of the Significant Seven dies, the others assume his share down to the last survivor. It's now 2009. Some dastard is fixing races. Enter Jack Doyle and his old nemeses from the FBI. But when members of the significant seven begin to drop like flies, Doyle finds himself protecting Renee Rison, Arnie's daughter. Will the always irreverent, observant, opinionated, sometimes mistaken but always persistent Jack Doyle solve not one, but two, series of crimes?

		Publisher's Weekly raves about The Significant Seven: "In McEvoy's fine fourth horse racing mystery (after 2008's Close Call), FBI agents persuade reluctant sleuth Jack Doyle to work undercover for a Chicago trainer to discover the culprits fixing races by sponging the favorite, an ugly practice that deprives the horse of enough oxygen to race effectively. Interwoven is the feel-good story of the Significant Seven--seven middle-aged friends who parlayed a huge pari-mutuel win into a small but successful racing syndicate thanks to the racing and stud career of a horse named The Badger Express. Seven years after their iniitial win, a pair of trained killers, both ex-Navy SEALS, begin systematically eliminating the syndicate members. When Jack becomes suspicious about their deaths, he also becomes a target. McEvoy is a racing expert whose knowledge permeates the pages, and, like any good tout, he's full of amusing stories about horses, bettors, and trackmen."
		Read John's essay about his Irish roots and horseracing in Ireland: Irish Connection "…the great Gaels of Ireland Are the men that God made mad, For all their wars are merry, And all their songs are sad." So wrote G. K. Chesterton in his poem "Ballad of the White Horse." Characterizing citizens of that small nation, Chesterton might well have added a stanza or three about their tremendous affection for horses. Which is where my connection to Ireland in my writing, particularly my horse racing thriller "Close Call" (Poisoned Pen Press 2008), comes into it. [... read more...]
		And look for John McEvoy's other racing thrillers...
		John McEvoy's Racing Thriller Close Call Available Now 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... Read more... Reviews for Close Call Chicago Tribune: "...McEvoy's richly described and insightful depiction of the daily ebb and flow of racetrack life is so vivid readers will almost be able to smell the atmosphere." Booklist: "...gets the details right, a rarity in racing fiction, while delivering all the suspense of a photo finish." Read more...
		John McEvoy's Riders Down wins Ben Franklin Award "Riders Down" has won the Ben Franklin Award for Best Mystery/Suspense Novel of 2006. The Franklin Awards are sponsored by the Independent Publishers Association. McEvoy previously won a Franklin for best non-fiction crime book, "Great Horse Racing Mysteries," in 2001. Riders Down Available in Hardcover and Paperback From Poisoned Pen Press, Amazon, and major book stores.