Synopses & Reviews
On his deathbed, Alex Roy's father dropped tantalizing hints about the notorious Cannonball Run of the 1970s, the utterly illegal high-speed nonstop race from New York to L.A. that was nothing at all like the one portrayed in the Burt Reynolds movie.
Inspired by his father's dying words, and against the advice of his loyal, lifelong friends, Roy enters the mysterious world of road rallies and underground races--trying both to find himself and to locate The Driver, the anonymous organizer of the world's ultimate secret race--neither of which may exist. But in order to get noticed by The Driver, Roy must first become a force to be reckoned with.
In this riveting memoir, Roy straps you into his highly modified BMW M5 and takes you on a terrifying 120 mph lap of Manhattan (his version of the French cult film Rendezvous), then tackles the Gumball 3000 and the Bullrun--the two most infamous road rallies in the world. He creates a character for himself and his car, Polizei Autobahn Interceptor, and they stick out among the Lamborghinis and Ferraris driven by millionaire playboys, software moguls, Arab princes, movie stars, leggy Czech supermodels, gear-heads, and tech whizzes. Out of the hundred-plus rally drivers, a select few--Alex Roy among them--compete as if these are full-on honestto-god road races, traveling from London to Morocco, from Budapest to Rome, from San Francisco to Miami at speeds approaching 200 mph.
With his M5 armed with amyriad of radar detectors, laser jammers, and police scanners, and his trunk crammed with a variety of fake uniforms, the obsessively prepared Roy evades arrest at almost every turn, wreaking havoc on his fiercest rivals, and gaining theadmiration of police forces around the globe.
But his rise to the top of the rally-driving world ultimately proves hollow, until he meets a young film producer documenting the obscure post-Cannonball Run races and the holy grail of cross-country racing--the N.Y.-to-L.A. speed record of thirty-two hours and seven minutes set back in 1983. Can that time even be approached today, much less beaten? As Roy reveals in The Driver, there are reasons why no one has tried in twenty-four years. But should he try? Can he do it?
Full of hilarious, sexy, and shocking stories from a life lived at the right-hand edge of the speedometer, The Driver offers a never-before-told insider's account of the fast, dangerous, and unbelievable society that has long been offlimits to most of us. Filled with insane driving and Roy's quixotic quest to win both for his late father and for himself, The Driver is the tale of one man's insatiable drive beyond life in the fast lane.
Review
“...this is more than a testosterone cocktail of a memoir. Its a joy ride...” Los Angeles Times
Review
“…highly entertaining insiders look at the world of high-stakes, high-octane, high-risk road rallies…. Roy writes with enthusiasm and with a novelists sense of pacing and character. The book is so good, so filled with color and adrenaline, that it plays out like a movie in your mind.” Booklist (starred review)
Synopsis
The riveting memoir of a life lived at the right-hand edge of the speedometer.
Alex Roy's father, while on his deathbed, hints about the notorious, utterly illegal cross-country drive from Los Angeles to New York of the 1970s, which then inspired his young son to enter the mysterious world of underground road rallies. Tantalized by the legend of the Driver—the anonymous, possibly nonexistent organizer of the world's ultimate secret race—Roy set out to become a force to be reckoned with. At speeds approaching 200 mph, he sped from London to Morocco, from Budapest to Rome, from San Francisco to Miami, in his highly modified BMW M5, culminating in a new record for the infamous Los Angeles to New York run: 32:07.
Sexy, funny, and shocking, The Driver is a never-before-told insider's look at an unbelievably fast and dangerous society that has long been off-limits to ordinary mortals.
About the Author
Alexander Roy has been driving in international road rallies since 2003. He finished first in the 2006 Gumball 3000 and set a new speed record from New York to Los Angeles, making the nearly 3,000-mile drive in a staggering 32 hours and 7 minutes. When he is not on the road, he lives in New York City.