LE MANS a novel (RUTHLESS TO WIN) [Kindle Edition]

Dakota Franklin (Author), André Jute (Editor)

Book Description

Le Mans
by Dakota Franklin
WINNER, the Best of the Independent eBook Awards 2012

“On the track a racer has no friends”

Mallory, a crashed-out, half-dead, never-has-been auto racer, gets one last chance when triple Le Mans winner Charlie Cartwright hires her as an engineer at Cartwright-Armitage. Now she’s on the fast track as an engineer, an executive, a driver — in a winning car! She even has a man she can love.

When ambitious tycoon Fred Minster steals the winning Cartwright-Armitage design, Mallory spearheads the investigation which uncovers a traitor inside Armitage.

Threatened by her investigation, Minster orders Mallory abducted by a Detroit criminal to keep her out of the race. Mallory knows that if she doesn’t race at Le Mans, her career is over.

With heart-stopping, realistic race sequences both in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and at Le Mans, set against an insider’s portrait of the high-tech jet set milieu of amoral predators whose only justification is winning, Le Mans is the key thriller for the new millenium. Here violence is never as much as skin deep, and ambiguous sexuality is merely another facet of power. Le Mans is the first novel launched in Dakota’s great new series
RUTHLESS TO WIN

Product Details

• File Size: 1444 KB
• Print Length: 560 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: CoolMain Press (December 18, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006NUB1HC
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #489,120 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Race out and buy this novel... February 23, 2012

By Sharon Tillotson

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I knew I had to read this novel the moment I first saw the cover. I knew it was going to the top of my To Be Read pile when I read the description. I knew it would be good when I read the bio of the author.

And it did not disappoint.

The novel had it all. Adventure, suspense, and a woman race-car driver. Though set in the stratosphere of high finance and even higher social life, the characters are likeable and relatable. Mallory is an auto designer who has aspirations to, as she puts it, `get a ride' in the heady company of race-car drivers. Getting a ride, we soon come to know, is the term for being hired as a driver of the car in a race.

The story begins with Mallory in hospital after a near-fatal crash where she got a ride from a less-than-honorable owner who hired an incompetent mechanic. Rather like honor in the Mafia, honor is a big thing in the world of auto racing. Lying in her hospital bed with tubes sticking out all over and multiple broken bones, Mallory does not think she will ever race again. But she soon gets a visit from Charlie Cartwright, a decent, honorable Englishman who can (and does) be as ferocious as a Mafioso. Charlie was behind her in the race and admired her driving skills. He also saw that her brakes failed thanks to the incompetent mechanic. He offers her a job and tells her to work hard on her recovery, which he has every confidence she will accomplish, and then call him. Five grueling months later when she takes him up on the offer, she is thrust into the glorified world of not only racing for a top team, but having a hand in the design of the cars she will ride. Little does she know cars are not the only ride she will have.

I had just read a novel which had a romance between a strong female lead and a wonderful, steadfast carpenter. I decided he was the perfect model for a mate. I was surprised at how fickle I could be when the love-interest Richard entered the picture. Richard is a famous cello player, and a brilliant choice for the author to make. He is the perfect, albeit offbeat, foil for Mallory. Smart, elegant, decisive, modest in all but his confidence in his art. Mallory swooned. I swooned. I now have a new perfect model.

The writing - in first person - was crisp, with the kinds of esoteric words and phrases often found in UK writing {a twee little hall; German portmanteau words which uniquely encompass an idea that English requires half a dozen words to describe}. There are several main characters and the author has a good eye for describing and integrating them into the story so that none are left begging. The suspense was just right, the description of the world of racing so detailed one can only imagine the author, Dakota Franklin (herself an auto engineer), has intimate knowledge of it. Ms Franklin states that the series was 15 years in the making. Extra Kudos to her for keeping it current (especially the techie stuff).

This is a story that should appeal to all: male, female, young, older. Though set in the world of a sport that is edgy and dangerous, the author skillfully sprinkles in only one or two coarse words - just enough to convey that such words would be used in such conversation but not enough to make it inappropriate for younger readers.

Ps. Regarding the cover - the beautiful woman depicted is none other than the author.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read January 1, 2012

By M. Weiss

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Le Mans was an excellent read - gripping, knowledgeable, and well written. I can't wait for another book in the series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Racer story for the racers at heart January 18, 2013

By Katherine Sterling

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this book, it was a well rounded story that touched on several several different aspects of the motor sports world. As a current member of the auto racing community I know a fair amount about the ins and outs of the sport. This author knows her stuff and was able to weave an exciting tale that involved the technical side in addition to the personal side of racing drivers, the team's and the rivalries that are ever present in the world motor sports
I look forward to starting the second book in this "Ruthless to Win" series.
Thank you for writing this book and this series.
If you love racing, if you enjoy excitement, passion, drama with a dash of romance by all means pick this one up and give this book and this author a chance.