Bobo's Raid

by Mike Downs

Bobo’s Raid 1928 England Count Reginald Bobrowski, dazed and bloody, sits down heavily. The speed record beast he was driving steams and groans, broken on the beach after the drive chain snapped nearly decapitating him. Bobrowski, son of a wealthy Polish Count and an American heiress, lives in England with his wife Alexandra. Her pet name for the Count is Bobo, much to his dismay. Bobo dabbles in racing cars and managing his mother’s business interests. On a lark he and his friend Clive Parry-Jones take their wives on a journey to the sands of the Sahara. After returning from the nearly disastrous trip Reggie meets a sinister Mr. S, head of a secret government department in London. S orders Reggie to go back to the Sahara to spy on a German expedition London thinks is seeking oil for their future war effort. Reggie and Clive modify a Citroën Kégresse half-track ambulance into a lightly armored desert traveler to cross the treacherous Sahara sands. They load the Citroën aboard a cargo ship and endure a harrowing sea voyage to Algeria. At their base in Ouargla, they find more intrigue. S has sent a cunning, brutally deceptive female agent to control Reggie’s every move. Reggie and Clive try to puzzle who is after what. The Germans roam the desert leaving death and angry Berbers in their wake. S's agent has an agenda of her own, and Bobrowski is caught in the crosshairs of both factions. Is Reggie just a rich lay-a-about fop or can he and his friend Clive get the job done? Join them on a gritty tale of murder and deceit across the desert as the Count dodges death to seek the truth.

285 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 16, 2013

About the author

Writing is a new passion, and for me, life without passion is dull indeed. Fast sports cars, and racing, have been my life. Writing is a new dimension. Creating characters and stories to showcase them is hard work but very satisfying, passionate work.

I began my working career and love of sports cars at age 10 by sweeping floors at a foreign car parts store in Northern Virginia. At 16, I became a partner in a good little foreign car repair shop in Falls Church Virginia.It was there a few years later I met Bob Tullius from Group44. I did some work on the Group's cars and later joined his famous team as a racing driver. During my tenure with Group 44, the immaculately prepared cars allowed me to win many races and a National Championship.

Moving to California the Mecca of American racing, I was hired to race the new Titan Formula Ford for their West Coast distributor. From there I raced for BRE in the Datsun Trans Am car. Other ventures included Porsche of America Racing Team in the big three American endurance events, Daytona, Sebring, and Watkins Glen.
In the mid seventies I headed up Silverstone Enterprises in Maryland to prepare and drive the Porsche Carreras for IMSA racing, culminating in a class win at the Daytona 24 hour race.

In the late seventies I moved back to California to open Downs Engineering. During the next twenty odd years I raced Formula Atlantic, Trans Am and IMSA GTO. In the new century I won a championship driving my own designed and built Sports Racing Car.

I have worked with the film industry and developed a remote camera mount for car chases and commercials. I've met some interesting blokes there, and there could be the makings of some future novels.

I have written five novels so far dealing with early American racing in the 1920s and 30s. Tales of fabulous cars, Nazi intrigue, and lovely ladies keeps me poking at the keyboard, and hopefully entertaining my readers. I have tons of ideas for future novels and am bursting to get them in ink. Writing is a passion as is racing, a burning desire to do things well.