Years ago, I read SEABISCUIT, and loved it-all those stirring horse races-and it inspired me to write a racing book about humans, retaining the competitive atmosphere while adding in the complexity of human psychology. That's how THE RELAY TEAM was born. It's a coming of age tale about friendship, betrayal, identity, good parenting, bad parenting, living in a small town, being a sports fan, being an athlete, and being a troubled soul in a troubled world. And racing. There would be no story without the thrill of racing. The main characters are Ace, the star sprinter, who is so confused by his messed-up family that he doesn't recognize his own talent, and Luther, a restless soul, who, after being expelled from both Himstead High and a distant boarding school has found a home at tiny St. Tom's, or thinks he has. In Coach Helfin, Luther finds a replacement father, and in his fellow relay runners, he finds replacement brothers, but his compulsive skirt-chasing creates a love triangle that eventually leads to tragedy. The other runners are Keith, an A-student, who excels at everything except beating Ace, and Bob Brown, the only senior on the team, who is torn between the plain girl he loves and the rich beauty who promises entrée into a world of wealth and status. Mix in Ace's crazy mother, Luther's brutal father, a crippled brother, an obese agitator, bullies, peacemakers, heroes, hero worshippers, Katie Long, and the incomparable Mrs. Johnson, and you've got a whole world. It's a simple world, but it's complicated, and while the book reads like speed, what sticks in your memory is the people. They're both kind and cruel, doing noble things one minute and making giant mistakes the next, but no matter how selfish they are or how badly they screw up, it's hard to forget them. They're as real as the people you went to high school with.
