The Way to Dusty
Death: Alistair Maclean

Harlow never needed any introduction. He was the face of the
country, the world and perhaps the universe. The best people fetches a lot of
privileges; but excelling in the world’s most popular sport gets you all of
them. Johnny Harlow had exactly that, being the World’s No. 1 in Grand Prix
Racing.

He was a man with a content life desired by many. But a
devastating accident which Jacobson termed as a ‘driver error’ turned his
career over the top and left Harlow’s fans lose hopes in him. A horrific and
unexpected swerve by Harlow sent him right out of the race-track, and Isaac
Jethou, another stalwart racer who was just behind him, straight up to Heaven.

Harlow took this blow way more than he his own expectations
and suddenly went off-track, turning to alcohol- a practice which he once
believed to be ‘disgusting’.

Ever since his younger brother’s death in the Spanish Grand
Prix, Harlow had noticed something fishy going on in the Coronado Racing team.
Alexis Dunnet, his friend and also the journalist reporting on the Grand Prix
seemed to know this too, and had taken a very keen interest on the Coronado
Racing team.

He often fell into deep discussions with the billionaire Mr.
Macalpine, Manager of the team. He did not have good terms with Harlow ever
since the incident made his daughter Mary, lose one leg. Other than Alexis,
Mary seemed to be the only person on Harlow’s side. Rory, Macalpine’s son, had
a sudden change of heart and started hating Johnny Harlow- his all-time idol.

Harlow’s mate Tracchia, too ceased to respect him. All these
shattered and drove Harlow paranoid. However, he had other reasons to worry
about. Harlow had fallen into a trap so ingeniously designed that it left him
without hopes of getting out. He lost his friends and somehow felt that someone
kept smirking every time he lost a race.

The number kept increasing since he began to lose each race.
Johnny, being sure that something was really wrong, began to investigate. But
trouble seemed to be lurking around every corner, as he fell into traps every
now and then. Harlow ended up in a mind-blowing maze of secrets, finding his
way to learn about the dark secrets of the so-called famous ‘Coronado Racing
Team’.

Alistair Maclean proves his extravagant storytelling skills
as he once again shows the readers his proficiency to write on any field- Navy,
Army, Secret Organisations and in this case, Racing.  He is one of those rarest of authors who can
lure us into to a sinister plot, tricking with unexpected twist, and yet
leaving us mesmerised.  Maclean has this
gift of an author whom we can call, ‘A chip off the old block’.

Coordinator, Class IX, Don Bosco School