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Book Summary and Reviews of Even Money by Dick Francis

Even Money by Dick Francis

Even Money

by Dick Francis

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  • Published:
  • Aug 2009, 368 pages
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Book Summary

On the first day of Royal Ascot, the worlds most famous horse racing event, the crowd rejoices in a string of winning favorites. Ned Talbot has worked all his life as a bookmaker— taking over the family business from his grandfather— so he knows not to expect any sympathy from the punters as they count their winnings, and he his losses. He’s seen the ups and downs before—but, as the big gambling conglomerates muscle in on small concerns like his, Ned wonders if it’s worth it any more.

When a gray-haired man steps forward from the crowd claiming to be his father, Ned’s life is thrown into far deeper turmoil. He’d been told since he was a baby that his parents had died in a car crash.

Barely an hour later, his newly found father is stabbed by an unknown assailant in the Ascot parking lot. Blood oozing from his abdomen, his father warns Ned to “be very careful.” But of whom? Of what? Ned finds himself in a race to solve his father’s riddle—a race where coming in second could cost him more than even money—it could cost him his life. . . .

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Though some readers may find the ending overly pat, the authors make bookmaking intelligible while easily integrating it into the plot." - Publishers Weekly

"A blissfully satisfying blend of suspense, revenge and horse-racing info in a multilayered mystery that's presumably Felix Francis's distinctive contribution to his father's legendary series." - Kirkus Reviews

This information about Even Money was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Dick Francis Author Biography

Dick Francis was born in South Wales in 1920. He was a young rider of distinction winning awards and trophies at horse shows throughout the United Kingdom. At the outbreak of World War II he joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot, flying fighter and bomber aircraft including the Spitfire and Lancaster.

He became one of the most successful postwar steeplechase jockeys, winning more than 350 races and riding for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. After his retirement from the saddle in 1957, he published an autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write more than forty acclaimed books, including the New York Times bestsellers Even Money and Silks.

A three-time Edgar Award winner, he also received the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association’s Cartier Diamond ...

... Full Biography

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