Cal was the one. The kid had everything a fighter needed and if he didn't become a champion then Riley would have no one to blame but himself...

Cal and his long-standing friend and trainer Riley are on their way to Mexico for a make-or-break rematch with the legendary Rivera, who has never been beaten. Four years ago, Cal became the only fighter to ever take Rivera the distance, even though it nearly ended him. Only Riley, who has been at his side for the last ten years, knows how much that fight changed everything for Cal. And only Riley really knows what's now at stake, for both of them…

*With masterful simplicity and devastating resonance, THE LONGSHOT brings to life both the raw agonies and ecstasies of the American fight scene and the unshakeable loyalty and cameraderie between a fighter and his trainer. An unmissable debut novel.*
Early Praise:
'An extraordinary novel from a major new talent. In taut, pared-down prose, Kitamura takes the reader right into the ring. Kitamura's understanding of the psychological dimension of this brutally physical sport is uncanny and never less than convincing'
--Hari Kunzru, author of The Impressionist, Transmission and My Revolutions

'This is a terrific debut: charged, intimate, raw. Here is an author who not only understands the elation and heartbreak of competition, and of life, but can also write about it all with compassion and beautiful austerity'
--Sarah Hall, author of The Electric Michaelangelo and The Carhullan Army

'With refreshingly unadorned prose, Kitamura reduces to an intensely crystalline moment the tension surrounding a fighter and his coach as they prepare for a match. Kitamura's language sticks to the page with a delightful monocular clarity that invites readers to enter into the minds of these two men. The Longshot gives readers a rare glimpse into an intriguing world'
--Yannick Murphy, author of Here They Come and Signed, Mata Hari

'Terse, elegant, thoughtful and economical... Her writing is spare and graceful, her ear for dialogue precise, and she writes with the kind of controlled, compressed passion that produces literary gems'
--Jon Fasman, author of The Geographer's Library and The Unpossessed City