Synopses & Reviews
New York-A divergent cast of unforgettable characters with ambition, deception, and re-venge on their minds jockey for high stakes as organized crime confronts the thoroughbred racing society in Dean DeLuke's debut thriller, Shedrow. The novel moves from operating rooms in New York City through the lush, rolling pastures of Lexington, Kentucky, to fabulous tracks like Gulfstream and Saratoga, where high society and the racing elite spend fortunes to win at all cost. It also moves from Manhattan's tony '21' Club into the dark and dirty back alleys of Newark, New Jersey. Everyone we meet along the way-Kentucky hill folk, dedicated veterinarians, gamblers and grifters, trainers and killers-all make Shedrow a cleverly drawn twist on the popular medical thriller genre. When Dr. Anthony Gianni saw the colt as it neared the final sixteenth on the turf at Belmont and then extended its lead to five lengths to finish the mile at 134 and 2, he was thrilled he had entered the racing partnership that acquired the two-year-old, Chiefly Endeavor, a horse that had the breed-ing and spirit to go to the Kentucky Derby and, perhaps, a lot further. Not only was owning a thor-oughbred a diversion from Gianni's successful surgical practice, but it also brought some excite-ment to his own life which was suffering from an ailing marriage to an alcoholic wife. What he hadn't counted on was that the major partner's unsavory background could mean that he might lose everything he had worked for professionally, and even worse, his own life could be at stake. When a breeder's nightmare becomes real, a dedicated veterinarian, Dr. Steven Highnet, also finds him-self enmeshed in this complex mystery, and he too faces the same deadly risks.
Synopsis
From rolling pastures in Lexington, Kentucky, to darkened alleyways in Newark, New Jersey, from Manhattan's posh E21 Club to a peculiar and mysterious landfill in eastern Kentucky, and from Saratoga Springs, New York to the tiny island of St. Lucia, Shedrow portrays a collision of characters from many divergent worlds. It is a unique twist on the medical thriller. Dr. Anthony Gianni, a prominent Manhattan surgeon, becomes involved in a racing partnership as a diversion from a thriving surgical practice and an ailing marriage. The excitement builds when the partnership acquires Chiefly Endeavor, a two-year-old colt with the breeding, the spirit, and enough early racing success to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. When a new partner with an unsavory background appears and a breeder's nightmare becomes real, Dr. Gianni and a dedicated veterinarian must confront organized crime and solve a complex mystery that threatens to destroy both of their careers, and possibly a great deal more.
About the Author
Dr. Dean DeLuke is a graduate of St. MichaelAEs College, Columbia University (DMD) and Union Graduate College (MBA). He completed residency training at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and also participated in a fellowship in maxillofacial surgery at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, England. He currently divides his time between the practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery and a variety of business consulting activities. An active volunteer, he has served on the Boards of the St. ClareAEs Hospital Foundation, the Kidney Foundation of Northeast New York, and the Albany Academy for Girls. He has also performed medical missionary work with Health Volunteers Overseas.He has a long history of involvement with thoroughbred horsesAE"from farm hand on the Assunta Louis Farm in the 1970s to partner with Dogwood Stable at present.