Eric Luper

About me:

BUG BOY by Eric Luper: He can win, place, or show but what is the true cost of success? It is the summer of 1934 and, even at the height of the Great Depression, money is no object for the elite at Saratoga Race Course, the premier track for the most popular sport in America. The trouble is that it’s not that way for most, especially the penniless track workers. However, fifteen year-old Jack Walsh’s stint as an exercise boy is over. From the first time he breaks from the gate as an apprentice jockey, or bug boy, he is a sensation. His newfound success brings him all sorts of attention, including that of a brainy, blond beauty who is more involved with the gritty underbelly of the track than she lets on. But Jack is also pursued by someone whose attention he doesn’t want, someone who viciously presses him to break his code as a jockey for a payoff that is hard to resist. Set amid the rough backstretch of Thoroughbred racing, this edge-of-your-saddle read follows the course of a young athlete whose rise to glory is accompanied by ever-increasing pressure to do something that could leave him in the dirt. ERIC LUPER lives in Albany, New York, and is an avid horse-racing fan, although he readily admits to leaving the track most days with less money than he came with. Of his first novel, Big Slick, Kirkus Reviews said, “Luper's authentic first-person narrative captures teen frustrations, feelings of confinement, and the mottled world of poker . . . Powerful.” Visit him at ericluper.com.