About the Book:
Laila , has just been offered the opportunity of a lifetime – a year-long work experience placement with F1s most prolific reporter. It’s the chance of a lifetime and Laila is determined to impress. But during the first race in Bahrain, a terrible crash plunges Laila straight into the action. Rumours start to circulate that there is sabotage at play and Laila makes it her mission to uncover the truth before her apprenticeship ends.
But as she gets closer to unmasking the culprit, she risks her own life and position in the paddock. And will she get to the truth before it’s too late?
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org UK (affiliate link).
About the Author:
Alexi Cross is the pen name of Georgia Bowers. She co-hosts the Delete My Browser History podcast with Cynthia Murphy where they chat with authors about warm and fuzzy research topics such as leeches, death by escalator, and taxidermy. A winner of the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices competition and the Slushpile Challenge, Georgia has also achieved her width and length swimming certificates and can deadlift 100kg.
How the drama of F1 creates the perfect setting for a thriller:
A race for number one. A global stage. Breakneck speeds. Glamorous locations. And billions of dollars at stake. It’s all part of the rubber-burning world of Formula One. So, when Laila Finnerty signs up for her dream journalist apprenticeship in Drive Or Die, she soon finds herself climbing a podium built on lies, sabotage, and murder. But what makes the drama of Formula One the perfect environment for a thriller?
Stakes
Drivers risk their lives every time they get behind the wheel. State-of-the-art safety measures keep them protected at speeds of over 200 miles per hour…but the same isn’t true of everyone at an F1 event. Engineers and crew, media personnel, hospitality, spectators…all would be in the firing line if a speeding car lost control. What if someone wants to cause catastrophe for their own gain, by any means necessary?
Global crime-scene
The first thing an investigator does when they’re suspicious is go back to the scene of the crime. But that’s impossible in F1, when everyone has already packed up and travelled across the globe for the next Grand Prix, destroying any useful evidence in the process. Laila must find a way to look for patterns in the crashes and keep track of her suspects, from ever-changing hotel rooms and circuits.
$$$
The enormous financial rewards for teams and drivers in Formula One are unfathomable to Laila – drivers can earn bonuses of up to $1m every time they place first in a race. Plus, there’s cash exchanged for exclusive sponsorship and luxury brand deals. Money can be a good old-fashioned motive for a killer, and if they can manipulate the VIP drama and secrets of The Paddock Club, maybe they’ll benefit from the fallout.
Secrets
Principals and engineers talking strategy behind their hands. Closely guarded test data. Heated conversations behind closed doors. Spy photographers. Every team wants the best results possible. . .perhaps so badly they’d be willing to kill. Laila is new to F1, but she knows to look where nobody else is looking and which whispers to follow to prove there’s more to the crashes than people want her to believe.
Driver drama
F1 drivers start young in karting and grow up together as they move through the ranks. They respect one another, but Laila soon learns that all their eyes are on the same prize and there isn’t space for everyone on the starting grid. They’ve made driving their life, and sometimes their families have sacrificed everything to invest in them. Or maybe they feel aggrieved because they lost their driver status to a rookie. Perhaps family pressure has caused them to act with tragic consequences. If they want pole position badly enough, how far are they willing to go?
Circuit soundtrack
The deafening roar of cars racing round the track, the ecstatic applause of the crowd, and booming live music from international headline acts. If you were chased by an anonymous helmet-wearing killer like Laila is, nobody would hear your screams for help…
Thank you, Alexi!
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