What happens when a marriage hanging by a thread gets thrown into the ultimate pressure cooker? In my latest novel, The Big Race, I wanted to explore whether Jeffrey and Ray Morgan-Carter could save their 25-year relationship by risking everything on a reality TV competition.

When I started writing this story, I was fascinated by the idea of taking a couple who had become comfortable strangers and forcing them into extreme circumstances. Jeffrey and Ray are sharing a house but not really sharing a life—going through the motions while slowly drifting apart. When Jeffrey discovers Ray’s affair, their relationship reaches a breaking point. The race becomes their last-ditch attempt to either rediscover their partnership or confirm it’s truly over.

The Broken Trust Trope with a Twist

Ray’s infidelity provides the central wound driving the story, but I wanted to avoid the typical “cheating spouse grovels while betrayed partner suffers” dynamic. Instead, I made both men confront how they contributed to their marriage’s slow decline. Jeffrey’s emotional withdrawal and Ray’s need for external validation created the perfect storm for betrayal. The race forces them to examine not just the affair itself, but the years of neglect that made it possible.

What I found particularly compelling to write was how the extreme circumstances strip away their ability to retreat into old patterns. At home, Ray could disappear into training schedules while Jeffrey buried himself in work. On the race, they’re stuck together 24/7 with cameras rolling—nowhere to hide, no familiar routines to fall back on.

Forced Proximity as Relationship Boot Camp

I love the “trapped together” trope, and a global adventure race gave me fresh ways to explore it. Every challenge requires Jeffrey and Ray to function as a team while their personal relationship crumbles and rebuilds in real time. When I wrote the scenes of them navigating Bangkok’s chaotic waterways, it became a perfect metaphor for learning to trust each other’s strengths again. Jeffrey conquering his fear of heights to parasail over the Mediterranean isn’t just personal growth—it’s him learning to take emotional risks again, to be vulnerable with Ray despite their fractured trust.

The pressure cooker environment means every small gesture carries weight. When Ray helps Jeffrey through a panic attack during cave navigation, it’s not just good teamwork—it’s proof that he still prioritizes Jeffrey’s wellbeing over winning. Jeffrey carefully preparing traditional offerings for Buddhist monks while Ray waits impatiently shows how their different approaches can complement rather than compete when they’re truly working together.
Rediscovering Each Other Through Shared Challenges

Perhaps the most satisfying element for me to write was watching Jeffrey and Ray remember why they fell in love while simultaneously becoming better versions of themselves. Jeffrey, who starts the race as an over-cautious planner, learns to embrace spontaneity and physical challenges. Ray, whose impulsiveness often left Jeffrey behind, develops patience and learns to value careful preparation.

Their most powerful moments come when they’re not competing against other teams but collaborating with each other—grinding spices in perfect rhythm in Thailand, snowshoeing through the French Alps in sync, paddling through Venezuelan mangroves as true partners. These scenes were where I felt the rekindling of their genuine intimacy most strongly.

Adventure as Emotional Mirror

I deliberately used physical challenges to mirror emotional ones. Jeffrey’s terror of the bungee jump in Venezuela reflects his fear of taking emotional risks with Ray again. Ray’s need to charge ahead without planning parallels how he rushed into his affair without considering consequences. The race becomes a classroom where they learn new ways to support each other under pressure.

The beauty for me lies in how their differences become strengths when properly channeled. Jeffrey’s analytical nature saves them from wrong turns and poor decisions, while Ray’s athleticism gets them through physical challenges. More importantly, they learn that neither approach is inherently superior—they need both to succeed.

Writing The Big Race taught me that second chances aren’t about erasing the past but building something stronger from the wreckage. Jeffrey and Ray’s journey from broken trust to renewed partnership feels earned precisely because I didn’t want to take shortcuts. Their relationship doesn’t magically heal through grand gestures but through hundreds of small moments of choosing each other again, challenge by challenge, step by careful step.

For readers who love seeing couples fight for their happy ending, I hope this book delivers both the heart-pounding adventure and the emotional payoff that makes the journey worthwhile.

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3V8sxFv

Meet the Author

Thanks for reading! I’d love to stay in touch with you. Visit my home page at www.mahubooks.com, where you can subscribe to one or more of my newsletters. I hope you’ll also consider following me at Goodreads to see what I’m reading, and subscribe to my author page at Facebook where I post news and giveaways.

I’ve wanted to be an author since I was about sixteen, when a high school assignment on A Separate Peace showed me how powerful writing can be. At the University of Pennsylvania I studied creative writing with Philip Roth and Carlos Fuentes; I went on to receive my MFA from Florida International University.

My first published novel was Mahu, about a Honolulu homicide detective dragged out of the closet during a tough case. I put a lot of myself into Kimo Kanapa’aka, the hero, and yet he’s very much his own character, and much better than I am! He has had a powerful hold on my imagination for many years. I love writing about him and hope to keep doing so for a long time. He’s also the source of my favorite reader question. A few years ago, someone emailed to ask if he was circumcised.

My first reaction was “Man, I’ll bet Stephen King doesn’t get questions like that.” But then, his are probably even weirder. I went online and did some research and discovered that at the time Kimo was born, hospital circumcisions were common. So there you go.

My path to publication was a long and checkered one, as is the case with many authors. My first published stories were magazine erotica, and I still like to keep my hand in (no pun intended) with that kind of writing. But for the most part now I write mystery and romance—all my books seem to have both those elements, though in different proportions.

I began writing the golden retriever mysteries because I spent so much time walking my golden, Samwise (yes, I’m a Tolkien geek). He had so many funny habits and such a strong personality that I just knew I had to write a book that featured a dog like him. (Fortunately, Sam had no habit of finding dead bodies.)

I live in Hollywood, Florida now, with my partner and our golden retrievers, Brody and Griffin.

https://www.facebook.com/neil.plakcy   
https://twitter.com/NeilPlakcy  
https://www.instagram.com/neilplakcy/
https://www.threads.net/@neilplakcy  
https://www.pinterest.com/neilplakcy/_saved/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilplakcy/  
https://plakcy.substack.com