When the Lords of Five Rings-the International Olympics Committee-come to town to choose a site for the Summer Games, everyone knows the money will start to fly and ambitions boil. Murray, adviser to the Minister for Water Supply and the Arts, would just as soon steer clear of the frenzy and confront his inner beanbag on an exercise bike. Besides, in his new health kick, he needs all his concentration to count the cigarettes he'd rather not be smoking. And wouldn't it be good to have the time to spend with his son, Red, for whom distance, his ex, and a child's inevitable growth have made him something of a stranger?
But the future of the government depends on its bid, and Murray is recruited to help the cause. Of course, not long after he joins, a young athlete is found dead, and Murray learns that murder is a contact sport. He is soon mixing it up with a wily Aboriginal activist and his ex-con sidekick, a body-building psychopath, a gorgeously leotarded aerobics instructor, and the cool, ever enigmatic Dr. Phillipa Verstak."
