Product Description

For a generous commission, ex-prize-winning jockey Jonah Dereham agrees to bid on a young steeplechaser on behalf of a wealthy American woman. But immediately following the auction two thugs demand ownership of the horse. Now Jonah must figure out the high-stakes game being played--before he becomes its next casualty.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #435102 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780425210246
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Publisher
Dick Francis, a former jockey, brings his experience of racing and life around the racetrack to his mysteries. (And so far Francis is a three-time winner of the Edgar Award for writing the best mystery of the year.) This horse racing background is appealing to my market area of Southern California. Racing is a popular sport amongst Southlanders.

--Nanci Andersen, Ballantine Sales

About the Author

Dick Francis is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels. A three-time Edgar^® Award-winner, he was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1996 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Malice Domestic mystery convention. He lives in the Caribbean.

Customer Reviews

Can't Knock It.
Anyone who loves horses and can read should take on at least one Dick Francis mystery novel. Francis is perhaps the world's most prolific (and best?) writer on fictional horse-related topics. Each of his mysteries revolves around some aspect of horses: breeding, racing, veterinary, trading, etc. He uses his fictional plots to impart his vast equine knowledge to readers in an enjoyable way. And Knockdown is as good an example as any.

In Knockdown, street-wise Jonah Dereham is an independent and honorable bloodstock agent (British terminology for horse trader), a profession not known for ethical practices. Dereham learned his horse knowledge in his prior career as a jockey, and is now hired by rich American woman, Kerry Sanders to buy a horse at auction. In the parking lot after their successful bid, two thugs oddly demand that the horse now be sold to them at a higher price--and then enforce their demand by clubbing Jonah on the head, the first in a series of knockdowns to come.

The mystery is on. What is so special about this horse? Why not buy the horse in the auction instead of extorting it from the new owners just minutes later? Who is this Kerry Sanders and who was the horse really for?

Before he unravels the mess, Dereham suffers thru harassment, arson, threats to his alcoholic brother, Crispin, and more violent knockdowns. He meets the love interest, air traffic controller Sophie Randolph, when his mysteriously loose horse dashes across the highway, causing her to crash her car. Jonah tries to make things right for Sophie, but she ends up doing as much for him: once even setting his chronically dislocating shoulder after yet another encounter with the bad guys. Knockdown is rigid formula fiction that works. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

Slow start, finishes with a flair
This book didn't instantly "grab" me like most of Dick Francis's writing does. Midway, the book picks up the pace; then, I didn't want to put it down. It was easy, fast-paced reading, and nice for summer relaxation. I had read Knockdown several years ago, so throughout the book I was thinking, "oh, yes, that was what I had forgotten." Good books are like good friends: I like to re-visit them; but maybe that was why I thought the start was slow. Anyone who enjoys horses and mysteries probably will like Francis's writing. I particularly appreciate his ability to succinctly, but casually paint word pictures of horses, people, and places. He gives scope to the imagination of the reader. I had to laugh when the hero of Knockdown recommended Halley as an investigator. Of course, Sid Halley is one of my favorite Francis characters. Knockdown was worth reading again.

Perhaps a TKO but not a knockout, 4+ stars
This is a solid Dick Francis novel with interesting characters (esp. the supporting cast), a bigger than life hero, a mystery, and lots of IMHO fascinating information on a lesser-known aspect of the racing sport--the bloodstock agent (perhaps called horse trader or agent outside of the British Commonwealth). It also has a modicum of love interest, the long-suffering of the hero, his triumph at the end, but with some pathos too. The ending was a bit too pat for me--not readily believable IMHO--regarding Crispin--though I suppose stranger things have happened. There is a fair amount of description of Crispin's alcoholism, but today (the book is over 30 years old) the hero would probably be considered co-dependent. This work may not be Francis' best, but it's quite enjoyable--certainly not his worst book. My favorite quote in it is: "when success could breed envy even in friends, in enemies it could raise spite of Himalayan proportions." Enjoy!