Publisher's Weekly Review
After collaborating on Dead Heat (2007), bestseller Francis and his son, Felix, deliver another gripping thriller with a thoroughbred racing backdrop. Soon after London barrister Geoffrey Mason, an amateur jockey by avocation, starts receiving a series of threatening messages from a former client, Julian Trent, whose conviction for assault was overturned on appeal, Mason reluctantly accepts the defense of a jockey, Steve Mitchell, accused of the pitch-fork murder of fellow rider Scot Barlow at a steeplechase event. Mitchell and Barlow had fallen out over Barlow's sister, a vet and Mitchell's former girlfriend, who took her own life just a short while before. When unknown parties order Mason to lose the case, he must balance his professional ethics and his sense of self-preservation. The solid writing and engaging lead will carry readers along at a brisk pace, though some may find the dramatic courtroom revelation of the murderer overly theatrical. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
Three-time Edgar Award-winning author Dick Francis's first collaboration with his son, Felix, was the 2007 mystery Dead Heat, which debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times best sellers list. This is his second such partnership, also set in Francis's tried-and-true world of British horse-racing. Actor/narrator Martin Jarvis voices all the characters distinctly and believably; with the undercurrent of wry humor and masterful pacing, his narration nicely complements the character-driven writing. A wonderfully successful package for all popular fiction collections. [Also available from Books on Tape on CD (ISBN 978-1-4159-5962-6. $100) and as a digital download (ISBN 978-1-4159-5963-3. $NA); audio clips available through us.penguingroup.com and library.booksontape.com; the Putnam hc was recommended "for all public libraries," LJ 9/1/08.--Ed.]--Don Wismer, Cary Memorial Lib., Wayne, ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
