A bril­liant nov­el that cap­tures the dusty, dark, and beau­ti­ful world of small-time horse rac­ing, where train­ers, jock­eys, grooms and grifters vie for what lit­tle luck is offered at a run-down West Vir­ginia track.

Tom­my Hansel has a plan: run four hors­es, all bet­ter than they look on paper, at long odds at Indi­an Mound Downs, then grab the purse — or cash a bet — and run before anyone’s the wis­er. At his side is Mag­gie Koder­er, who finds her­self pow­er­ful­ly drawn to the gor­geous, used up ani­mals of the cheap track. She also lands in the cross-hairs of lead­ing train­er Joe Dale Bigg. But as news of Tommy’s plan spreads, from vet­er­an groom Med­i­cine Ed, to loan shark Two-Tie, to Kid­stuff the black­smith, it’s Mag­gie, not Tom­my or the han­dlers of leg­endary stakes horse Lord of Mis­rule, who will find what’s valu­able in a world where every­thing has a price.