Ronnie Parke, heart-throb son of the local American Ambassador in a steamy humid Asian capital, runs the Olympic marathon in growing and worsening severe pain, culminating in his collapse at the finish line. Given his well documented history as a playboy about town, hanging out in a fast crowd that includes the unsavory Lal, a crowd that drank excessively and freely took drugs, Ronnie tries to turn his life around with single mindedness of purpose for the medal he covets. As we navigate the chaos of Ronnie's past, like the dirty, noisy streets filled with Rickshaws, street vendors and a symphony of color and smell, we look down a kaleidascope to the potential causes of his collapse and the ramifications on all involved. Dead Heat is the best type of summer read one can find: A page turner that gets bettet with every page, as well as subtly delivering a message that pushes the sloth of summer aside to force the reader to think for a moment.