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->''"There's more than one way to a dusty death, Mary."''

''The Way to Dusty Death'' is a 1973 novel by Creator/AlistairMacLean.

[[TheAce Johnny Harlow]] is a popular Grand Prix Racer who has just crashed during a race. His best friend has been killed, and his sponsor's daughter has been crippled. In despair, [[BrokenAce Harlow]] descends into [[DrowningMySorrows drinking his sorrows away]] as the whole world sees him as nothing more than a drunk murderer.

For a drunk BrokenAce, Harlow seems to be in complete control as he breaks into garages, steals documents and investigates the Grand Prix, all the while using his charm to get past his still remaining fans. Whoever rigged his car made him kill his best friend, and cripple his girlfriend. Johnny is out for revenge. But the gangsters aren't going to let him get it that easily.

Was made into a 1995 film.

!!Tropes used in this work:
%%* TheAce: Harlow.
%%* AmateurSleuth Mary's brother, as well as Harlow himself.
%%* AntiHero: Johnny isn't above using some underhanded means.
* BrokenAce: The public view Johnny as this. [[spoiler:However, it turns out to be an act.]]
* CarFu: At one point Johnny aggressively drives his car to [[spoiler: knock the villains' car off a cliff.]]
* ChekhovsSkill: Johnny can [[spoiler: see who is driving a car by the technique used, thanks to his experience as a Grand Prix racer, and can manoeuvre a car expertly, to the point where he pushes another car off a cliff.]]
%%* CoolCar: Several. The Author had ShownTheirWork.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Justified, as Harlow is a race car driver so is used to speeding and driving erratically. Doesn't stop his two passengers praying all the while and calling him insane.
%%* DrowningMySorrows
%%* DrugsAreBad
* FemmeFatale: 'Florence Nightingale' [[spoiler: an unnamed woman who works for the mafia and manages to sneak past police, with her good looks, and poison a prisoner.]]
* GoodIsNotNice: Harlow terrifies 3 Mafia gangsters with his ruthless calm demeanour, and is merciless against the bad guys he encounters, even going so far as to call them 'vermin' and below human standards.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Harlow, although it's self-induced by his criminal actions.
* ItsPersonal: They made him kill his best friend, and made him cripple his girlfriend. He is pissed, although you wouldn't know it.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: After making most of their money and business by killing drivers in car accidents, including the one at the beginning, the two main villains Jacobson and Tracchia get pushed off a cliff while in their car and die in a fireball.]]
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: From ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', Act 5 Scene 5
--> And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death
%%* LoveInterest: Mary Macalpine.
* TheMafia: [[spoiler: Behind the race rigging, drug trafficking and murder.]]
%%* PoliceAreUseless: Played straight, then Subverted.
%%* TheQuietOne
%%* TheRival: Nicholo Tracchia.
* TheStoic: Even when driving his car around a cliff, where the slightest mistake could send him plummeting off, Harlow looks calm and focused.
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: Harlow can't be bribed or made corrupt, so TheMafia try to have him killed.]]
* [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Screw The Rules I'm Doing What's Right]]: Most of what Harlow does is breaking the law.
* WouldHitAGirl: When Harlow meets the FemmeFatale of the book, he pistol whips her, adding 'Never confuse that murdering bitch with a lady' to an astonished Rory [=MacAlpine=].
%%* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness
* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler: The Mafia killed Harlow's brother in another race, although Harlow fights for more reasons than that.]]
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