Night of Thunder by Stephen Hunter ****

A well-written guilty pleasure: The plot might be cliched, but who can resist when a gray-haired father, with a replacement hip and a limp bests the bad guys and protects his daughter. Bob Lee Swagger is a Vietnam vet, an expert with firearms, and the fastest, smartest, toughest senior citizen attending NASCAR. This is no small feat as other attendees include: Detective Thelma Fielding, three time USPSA (quick draw) champion, Brother Richard, a assassin specializing a staged car accidents, and a whole family of inbred criminals - Reverend Alton Grumley can never figure out whether his dozens of children are sibling or cousins.

In Night of Thunder, Stephen Hunter unfolds an exciting story with suspense and action in every chapter. My only complaint is that the book is short and lasted little over 24 hours. The book is exploding for a film version with planty of car chases and explosions, and a relatively low body count.