Fast Track

By John DeDakis

Book Overview

Fast Track The most cataclysmic two weeks of Lark Chadwick's life begin when she discovers the dead body of her aunt, a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning. This was the aunt who raised Lark from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159507094X
• ISBN13: 9781595070944
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Archebooks Pub
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Fast Track - Well done, DeDakis!

My wife and I read aloud to each other every night. During the past 30-ish years, we have read lots of book to each other. Some of these books were good and some were not. Fast Track by John DeDakis fits easily in the "very good" category. It was easy for me to spot that DeDakis has talent when it comes to writing and spinning a thriller as we started reading his novel. He also knows something about how reporters work. So do I because I teach journalism courses at a regional university. This made a great read more fun because as I was being drawn in to the story, the lead character, a developing reporter, would make a classic journalistic mistake. My wife would read that part aloud and I would blurt out something about the problem our rookie reporter was making. Then I would explain to my wife "why" that was problem. Sure enough, DeDakis' editor character (Stone) in the book would pull the reporter aside in the next paragraph and point out the problem. After a while, it became a game for me to see if I could spot the potential problems the rookie reporter was committing before DeDakis had his editor character address the issues with his reporter. The bottom line is that Fast Track is a solid read with lots of plot twists, good characters and suspense. What you get as a bonus is a book that delivers the lessons of good reporting, interviewing and the importance of checking facts. While this is a work of fiction and well worth reading, anyone working in the mass media should pay attention to what character Stone says as he grooms his new reporter because he sounds very similar to the editor who groomed me when I started in journalism. After reading Fast Track, I know that in addition to be a good writer, DeDakis is a solid reporter. Well done!

Thrilling Thriller!

This is a great book. It will hold you from start to finish. Intriguing characters. I loaned it to a friend and she stayed up past midnight reading it. I highly recommend it to all.

A stunning debut novel by a master journalist!

FAST TRACK is a well-crafted thriller with an ingenious plot and memorable characters. Fast-paced and richly textured, it reads like a runaway freight train. Don't miss it!

Finally got a copy of "Fast Track"

and spent the next several hours reading it from cover to cover. There was no way I could put it down! The characters are likeable, believable and the story grabbed me from chapter one, page one. A wonderfully comfortable read - the story is riveting and John's descriptives made visualization so easy. He truly has a way with words, and this book is one I will read again and again (when I can get it back from my family members!)

Tension Lies Between Secrets Revealed and Unrevealed

John DeDakis, who edits and writes on Wolf Blitzer's "Situation Room, has crafted an exciting narrative with his debut novel Fast Track. Our story begins with a cataclysmic event when our principal protagonist Lark Chadwick's aunt, Ann, unexpectedly takes her own life. Lark had been very close to her aunt after her parents were killed in a collision with a train. As a result, Lark is now determined to find out how exactly the accident occurred and why did her aunt commit suicide. Following the shock waves of the suicide of her aunt, she accidentally meets up with Lionel Stone, a former Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times editor who has now recently become the publisher of a local newspaper. Stone hires Lark as an investigative reporter and what she discovers, after a relentless journey, was that she was in the car at the time of her parents fatal accident. Fortunately, she had been thrown to safety, thus giving her the name of "the miracle baby," by the press. However, Stone never realized that when he hired Lark that the subsequent story she would stumble upon was beyond his wildest imagination that would include a threat on the life of his newly hired reporter, a move to oust the local priest, the questionable and suspicious behavior of the law authorities at the time of the accident, and the exact nature of the train accident. Moreover, Lark believes that her entire life had been lived in the shadow of a lie, as she was never told the truth by her aunt and grandparents as to what exactly happened. The novel's strength is its roller-coaster plot, where tension lies between secrets revealed and unrevealed. In fact, you can't stop reading and you don't want to stop! Norm Goldman, Editor of Bookpleasures