From a veteran Florida journalist comes a novel of dark suspense and even darker comedy. Daytona Beach will never be the same. Ah, Daytona Beach, home of sun, sand, and motor oil. For stock-car racing heir Nick Van Horne, it's a place worth millions--tens of millions--once he gets his RaceWorld theme park under way, but there's just one little problem: his estranged wife, Barbie, is suing to keep all cars off the beach for the sake of the sea turtles. With time running short, Nick does what any red-blooded Daytona Beach husband with a troublesome wife would do--he decides to have her killed. And in another time-honored Daytona tradition, he decides to do it on the cheap. In the world of murder-for-hire, though, you get what you pay for, and soon, to his bewilderment, Nick finds himself consorting with enterprising bikers, sexy pool hustlers, venal fortunetellers, a stepmother with alarming ideas about family, a top state legislator with a keen eye for graft, and a former SEAL with a disconcerting fondness for sharks and plastique. Each, in his or her own way, is about to plan a surprise for the unsuspecting Barbie Van Horne--but, with a little help from her friends, Mrs. Van Horne just might have a few surprises of her own for them. Filled with razor-sharp characterization, pinpoint observations, and a plot with more turns than the Daytona 500, Speed Week is a gem. Speed Week peels off the line like a car designed by Jeff Gordon, built by the Marx Brothers and piloted by Carl Hiaasen. It's scary, sexy, and, most of all, hilarious, all the way to the finish line."--Les Standiford, author of Deal to Die For