The Runner: A Short Story of the Rio Olympics

by Owen Banner

Visit Rio in this short story and you will hear the samba, taste papaya, and meet a little boy named Carlito who dreams of being a runner like Usain Bolt. Join him as he sets off to see his hero race, a journey that takes him through one of Rio's notorious favelas where he will learn that a dream has a cost.

12 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2016

About the author

Author of a different breed of thrillers, Owen Banner spent his childhood baptized in the red dirt of Mandeville, Jamaica and his adolescence in the neon morass of Manila in the Philippines. 

His novels are intense and character-driven, exploding with action and sizzling with description and dialogue, never losing sight of the complexity of the people and places that populate them.

His first novel, Hindsight, is a high-octane psychological thriller of terrorism and crime. Kirkus Reviews calls it "a high-stakes suspense novel with a breakneck pace and strong voice".

Owen's latest novel is a fresh twist on the vampire thriller. An emotionally riveting story in a richly textured small town that will stay with you long after it’s satisfying last page, it is now available for a discounted Pre-Order price on Amazon.

Find Owen in the wild on Instagram, where he is posting numerous other giveaways related to Those Who Hunger and on his website, where you can find a free novella related to Hindsight.