DECTIVE NOVEL FOR BOXING FANS

The Long Count is a detective novel featuring an inside view of professional boxing. The hero is an over-the-hill fighter named Johnny Demarco: an Italian American from Brooklyn whose motto is "never forget where you come from."

The Long Count by Frank Megna is the first in a series of Johnny DeMarco mysteries.

Johnny DeMarco is an over-the-hill Cruiserweight on the comeback trail. Pushing forty and after years of retirement, his odds are as long as they come. But what choice did he have? After the sudden death of his wife, he still had something to prove. When an old high school buddy turns up out of the blue, Johnny has to do the right thing and search for his friends missing daughter. On the eve of the New Millennium, he goes on an odyssey into a hidden world more sinister than the Mafia—and more deadly!

Real-life boxing figures in the book include Teddy Atlas, Bobby Czyz and Dan Goossen.

Frank Renzulli, former co-executive producer and Emmy nominated writer of The Sopranos, says: Megna does for boxing what Dick Francis did for horseracing…Johnny DeMarco is a hero Italian-Americans can be proud of."

Frank Megna, a third generation Italian-American, grew up in a working class Brooklyn neighborhood where he learned to box by the age of 11. At 19 he turned professional and quickly found a new calling--and became an actor! He has written a number of plays, screenplays and TV scripts (for shows like Crime Story, Wiseguy and Veronica Clair). Currently, Frank is working on a book about the reputed mobster John Gotti and is also into the planning stages of his next Johnny DeMarco mystery. In his spare time he runs his own theater, Working Stage Theater, in Hollywood.

For further information contact: 818-998-5475 or megna@sbcglobal.net.

•   The Long Count, December, 2003 Release: Publisher: Publishamerica;

ISBN: 1-59286-307-8, 337 pages, 6 x 9
Retail Price: $24.95