The Morning Line: A War, A Family, A Horse Race, a Hero

THE MORNING LINE On a raw winter night in Northern Ireland, a misplaced bullet from the rifle of a British Army sniper sets off a series of events that culminate a decade later on a sun-filled summer day at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York. In the intervening years, a brother and sister are torn apart by the violence gently referred to as "the Troubles." Feisty Annie McGuire seeks retribution and connects with the Irish Republican Army. Her brother, Aidan, puts a scheme into play that he hopes will accomplish more than an eye for an eye. Aidan trains the great race horse, Irish Eagle. A brilliant success on the European race circuit, the three-year-old colt is pointed toward the Travers Stakes at Saratoga. But this will be no ordinary stakes race. From the vestry of a hillside church in an Irish village, a stately gentlemen's club in London, and the "social clubs" of Boston's Irish and Italian gangsters, deception, blackmail and fatal decisions are plotted and put in place. Then, late on a Saturday afternoon in August, as the horses thunder down the homestretch at fabled Saratoga, it becomes clear that relying on inside information can be a hazardous game. The story returns to the British Isles for its surprising resolution.