Maximum Speed: Pushing the Limit

by Joanna Lee Doster

Someone's out to destroy the Devlin Motor Sports racing team, whose stock car racing roots span three generations. A top DMS driver, Jimmy Stanton, is brutally kidnapped. When sexy 23 year old Sean Chase Devlin tries to intervene, he's tasered senseless. Two days later, Sean, a champion driver in his own right, barely survives a suspicious accident and a bone-crushing crash on the speedway. At his hospital bed hover an angel and a possible devil. Daniella Lawson, his true-love whom he betrayed with nameless one night stands, senses Sean's attraction to the dark-haired beauty, Dakota Phillips, a competitive racer for the Devlins and the only one on the DMS racing team left to qualify for the upcoming Gator 500 race. Caught in a web of danger, the Devlin family must pull together to find Jimmy and discover who is behind the plot to keep them out of the big race. Everyone becomes suspect. Switching alliances reveal family secrets, new enemies, and the identity behind a deadly scheme. Set in southern Florida and New York City, Maximum Speed provides a behind-the scenes look at adrenaline-pumping excitement of stock car racing, and fascinating characters whose passion for winning goes beyond the racetrack.

148 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2011

About the author

Joanna Lee Doster is a freelance journalist for syndicated newspapers, magazines and blogs. She is also an author whose published works includes the interior design book Celebrity Bedroom Retreats: Professional Designers' Secrets for 40 Star Bedrooms (Rockport/Quarry Publishers) and the action-thriller novel Maximum Speed: Pushing The Limit (MPI Publishing).

She is a licensed interior designer who holds a certificate in antiques and decorative arts appraising. She is passionate about collecting antiques and has managed elite antique stores in New York City.

As an author, she enjoys writing fiction such as mysteries, thrillers, and children's books and non-fiction such as interior designing and profiles of people of interest.

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Her love of NASCAR racing inspired her to write and recently publish the 2014 edition of her stock car racing thriller Maximum Speed: Pushing The Limit (MPI Publishing).

JOANNA'S SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

OFFICIAL AUTHOR WEBSITE: Visit Joanna's Author Site
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BOOK FAN PAGE: Maximum Speed Fan Page - "Like" Joanna's Book Fan Page on Facebook

Reviews

[Ashley Fontainne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book is touted as "YA" I believe that it holds some universal truths that readers of any age will appreciate. Strong family ties, excelling in your chosen profession and fierce loyalty to friends and family are portrayed realistically in this novel.

Using the backdrop of NASCAR, Joanna Lee Doster crafts a tale that you will speed through the pages to find out what happens next, especially when the darker side of life is revealed.

Deceptions. Hidden secrets. Winning at all costs. To hell with the damages that the selfish choices made by some will inflict upon others. Will those that push themselves to the limit, and others as well, suffer repercussions for their acts?

You will have to read this great thrill ride to find out!

[Ashley Fontainne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book is touted as a thriller, I believe it holds some universal truths that readers of any age will appreciate. Strong family ties, excelling in your chosen profession and fierce loyalty to friends and family are portrayed realistically in this novel.

Using the backdrop of NASCAR, Joanna Lee Doster crafts a tale that you will speed through the pages to find out what happens next, especially when the darker side of life is revealed.

Deceptions. Hidden secrets. Winning at all costs. To hell with the damages that the selfish choices made by some will inflict upon others. Will those who push themselves to the limit suffer repercussions for their acts?

You will have to read this adrenaline-infused thriller to find out.

[J. Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Joanna has captured the one thing that I like about racing. It has a great feeling of family.
Sean Devlin is a third generation race car driver. I loved his character because he was infused with so much humanity, but also had the superhero quality that all race car drivers seem to have in their bones.
Couple that with the fact that a mysterious someone is trying to destroy the Devlin Motor Sports team and you have got a great read.
Thanks Joanna for a book worth spending my time on.

[M A. Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sex. Fast Cars. Murder. A Taser. Even an IPhone. As a man, you had me there. Top that all off with the fact that it is well written and paced. You have a great story for anyone, man or woman. Thanks Joanna Lee Doster. Looking forward to reading anything else you have. Might have to get the paperback version to put in my library.

[Howard McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel is competently written but there were a few issues that just made it a big blah of a read.

First, the author didn't create a credible world where I actually believed these folks were serious race car drivers. I'm a passive NASCAR fan. One thing I noticed at the 75% mark of this novel is that not one thing about actual racing was mentioned. For example, in the racing scenes there was no mention of the car as being tight or loose or it needing an air pressure or track bar adjustment. A character suffers an injury and has to drive similar to one an actual driver had last year. Not a mention of the g-forces that would hurt the driver is mentioned or described.

Off the track no one mentions sponsors. Sponsors are the end all and be all of racing. Plot wise this was a huge opportunity lost but it just didn't make anything believable. Maybe two rival sponsors use the racers as pawns in their competition!

Also, the major whodunit element is solved way too early. That suspense could have been held for a long time but it's just given up...and resolved almost by accident with 40% of the book still to go. I'm still not sure of the why.

Finally, a whole new story and some characters are brought in near the end.

[Jeff Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, it wasn't pushed enough. The first 1/5 of the book was tense and exciting as the reader is introduced to the driving team of the Devlin's. You are plunged into the cockpit of well tuned machine that is flying around the track at breathtaking speeds, all the while performing difficult and intricate moves to nose into first place. And the. BAM! The unimaginable. The car seizes and goes into a 360 nose-tail, nose-tail death tumble. Exciting? Absolutely! Did I want to read more. Yes. And then it happened.

The tires went flat and never could hold anymore air. Why? Instead of this being a real exciting thriller, it bogged down into a long drawn-out soap opera or "Speed Racer" meets "Mutley's Flying Circus."

The author tries too hard to weave in love interests, family plotting, betrayal, intrigue and excitement into one work. I believe if the story would have been more focused and focused two or three good subplots, this could have been an entertaining read.

The end was the biggest crash. I believe there is a sequel in the making, but I don't believe I'll be taking that one for a spin. Sorry.

Who will like this? Females who enjoy soap operas. Guys, take a pass. There'll be another race in a month or two.

[Joanna Doster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though this action-adventure thriller Maximum Speed: Pushing The Limit is set to a backdrop of the exciting world of stock car racing, it is a tremendously entertaining book for anyone to enjoy. Plenty of action, drama, romance and mystery!