Bullet Work — Steve O'Brien

"They lived for that one chance; the chance to get home first. They waited for that one second. For that moment when they broke into the clear down the home stretch, and no one was going to catch them. Behind the glamorous exterior of horse racing, lies the gritty reality of the backside. Within this fiercely competitive world of owners, trainers, vets, and jockeys something has gone terribly wrong. As opening day approaches, one racehorse is poisoned, another has her leg crushed by a lead pipe and a third mysteriously disappears. Shock and horror grip the racing community.Despite all security efforts, the brutal killings continue. For Dan Morgan it becomes personal when his precocious two-year-old filly is targeted. Dan befriends AJ Kaine, a lonely, horse whispering young man. AJ is a hotwalker, the lowest of jobs in the backside food chain. But AJ has a secret--perhaps a secret that can corner a killer. With AJ s help, Dan must crack the extortion scheme or risk becoming the next victim. "