In a nameless Hungarian town, teenagers on a competitive swim team
occupy their after-training hours with hard drinking and fast cars, hash
cigarettes and marathons of Grand Theft Auto, the meaningless sex and
late-night exploits of a world defined by self-gratification and all its
attendant recklessness. Invisible to their parents and subject to the
whims of an abusive coach, the crucible of competition pushes them again
and again into dangerous choices. When a deadly accident leaves them
second-guessing one another, they're driven even deeper into violence.
Brilliantly translated into breakneck English by Ildikó Noémi Nagy,
Dead Heat is a blistering debut and an unforgettable story about young
men coming of age in an abandoned generation.