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Overview
Russell Harmon is the self-proclaimed king of his small-town Idaho dart league, but all is not well in his kingdom. Taking place in a single day, The Dart League King follows five characters at pivotal moments in their lives. In the midst of the league championship match, the intertwining stories of those gathered at the 321 Club reveal Russell's dangerous debt to a local drug dealer, his teammate's involvement in the disappearance of a college student, and a love triangle with a former classmate. The characters in Keith Lee Morris's second novel struggle to find the balance between accepting and controlling their destinies, but their fates are inextricably linked.Synopsis
An intriguing tale of darts, drugs, and death.
Russell Harmon is the self-proclaimed king of his small-town Idaho dart league, but all is not well in his kingdom. In the midst of the league championship match, the intertwining stories of those gathered at the 411 club reveal Russell's dangerous debt to a local drug dealer, his teammate Tristan Mackey's involvement in the disappearance of a college student, and a love triangle with a former classmate.
The characters in Keith Lee Morris's second novel struggle to find the balance between accepting and controlling their destinies, but their fates are threaded together more closely together than they realize.
Publishers Weekly
In this absorbing and intelligent novel, Morris (The Greyhound God) follows five characters through a handful of hours culminating in a dart contest on a Thursday night in Garnet Lake, Idaho: Russell Harmon, who lives for the dart league and his cocaine habit; teammate Tristan Mackey, who is haunted by having not prevented the drowning of a classmate; Kelly Ashton, who wants desperately for someone to rescue her and her young daughter from this small town; Russell's darts rival Brice Habersham, a DEA agent posing as the owner of a gas station; and drug dealer Vince Thompson, who, tonight, is carrying a 9mm Beretta to his meeting with Russell. As each chapter shifts from one voice to the next, Morris cranks up the tension so that by the time the dart match arrives, the book is impossible to put down. Morris explores how even the most banal choices we make-to get in the car or not?-can have a life-altering impact. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New WritersRussell Harmon is the self-appointed dart league king in his small Idaho town, and Thursday night is his favorite time of the week. No matter that Friday morning is his least favorite -- when he must step back into the shoes of unenthusiastic employee and rent-paying tenant of his mother's basement. For a few brief hours in a dark and dusty bar, he reigns supreme. Dart night in Garnet Lake is what he lives for. Work, family, relationships: their measure is too small to compare to that exquisitely perfect circle of the dart board, an object so beautiful it can make Russell tear up when he's not aiming for it.
But there's trouble brewing in Russell's Camelot. His debt to a dangerous drug dealer, the suspicious disappearance of a local college girl, and a love triangle gone seriously wrong all threaten the precarious balance he's worked so hard to achieve. Russell's life is about to career wildly off course. Following five characters through a 24-hour period, Morris skillfully intertwines their narratives, revealing how shared destinies -- coupled with a shot glass full of bad luck -- can ruin anyone's day.
The Dart League King is a rockin' good read about characters we come to know and care for. The rules in Russell Harmon's world may revolve around distance, velocity, weight, and gravity, but his luck is about to change -- and so are the elements of his life. (Holiday 2008 Selection)
Publishers Weekly
In this absorbing and intelligent novel, Morris (The Greyhound God) follows five characters through a handful of hours culminating in a dart contest on a Thursday night in Garnet Lake, Idaho: Russell Harmon, who lives for the dart league and his cocaine habit; teammate Tristan Mackey, who is haunted by having not prevented the drowning of a classmate; Kelly Ashton, who wants desperately for someone to rescue her and her young daughter from this small town; Russell's darts rival Brice Habersham, a DEA agent posing as the owner of a gas station; and drug dealer Vince Thompson, who, tonight, is carrying a 9mm Beretta to his meeting with Russell. As each chapter shifts from one voice to the next, Morris cranks up the tension so that by the time the dart match arrives, the book is impossible to put down. Morris explores how even the most banal choices we make-to get in the car or not?-can have a life-altering impact. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.