Book dossier

Sudden Death

by Rita Mae Brown

A behind-the-scenes tale of women's professional tennis that intertwines the excitement of competition and the heartache of intimate human bonds. Carmen Semanan loves three things passionately: tennis, money and professor Harriet Rawls. Just twenty-four, Carmen is at her peak as one of the world's top-seeded tennis champions, determined to win the coveted Grand Slam. She is protected from everything but the grueling demands of her sport by an avaricious agent and her devoted gutsy Harriet. All the odds are in her favor. But there are weeds growing in her paradise patch. Carmen's very Latin brother, Miguel, parlays her success into a financial house of cards with deals that include smuggling, forgery, and fraud. Susan Reilly, Carmen's archrival and former lover, leaks word of Carmen's relationship with Harriet to the press-- and tennis's best-kept secret is blown into a front-page scandal. Now, with everything she cherishes on the line, Carmen must test the true depths of her feelings, both on and off the court.