Kitamura's stark simple prose is the perfect medium for this story about professional fighting. (interestingly enough the type of fighting is never named, but apparently it's a mix of boxing, karate (or kick-boxing) and wrestling. Is this a real sport?) Trainer Riley and his fighter Cal are in Tijuana for a rematch between Cal and his nemesis, Rivera. Describing hour by hour the two days before the match, the author takes us inside Riley and Cal's heads--we learn what they are both thinking, feeling, and fearing. The suspense is palpable--we are right there with them as Riley walks Cal into the ring. The reader keeps going, eager to learn the results of the fight. ( )

In Katie Kitamura's novel The Longshot, the fighter Cal and his friend and trainer Riley travel to Tijuana for a fight that's the chance of a lifetime for Cal. Four years earlier, Cal became the only fighter ever to go the distance with the champion Rivera. But Rivera still won the fight, and now four years later has agreed to a rematch. Riley and Cal both know that Cal's hopes for a new start in the sport, and both their futures, rest on this one make-or-break match. It's a masterful debut novel, and almost enough to make me a fan of mixed martial arts fighting. Almost. But it's certainly made me a fan of Kitamura's.

The book is written in a stripped down and deceptively simple style. Short sentences. No frills or pointless verbiage. The story is tightly focused. Cal and Riley travel to Tijuana for the fight. They stay in a cheap motel. They eat in a nearby café. They train for the fight. Riley takes a brief trip back to California for a press conference at Rivera's gym. Cal climbs into the ring for the big event. You learn very little about their past lives or families or time away from the job – and yet by book's end, you can't help feeling you know all about these men. Cal and Riley are each on a journey of self-discovery that we take right along with them. Kitamura is adept at using description for explanation, and allowing her readers to feel the emotion of her characters, rather than telling us about it. It's such a bravura performance that the comparison to Hemingway is, I suspect, inevitable.

You don't actually have to be a boxing or MMA fan or know anything about either sport to like this book – although a rudimentary interest would make it more enjoyable. The relationship between the two men, their exchanges, and the time we spend inside their heads is really what this work is all about. The action is exciting, immediate, and raw, but not as interesting as the story of Cal and Riley. Their journey back into the ring for the biggest fight of Cal's career is moving, psychologically jarring, and a really exciting ride. ( )