Odds Against

”It came, the blinding flash in the eyes, as we soared into the air. White, dazzling, brain shattering light, splintering the day into a million fragments and blotting out the world in a blaze as searing as the sun. I felt Revelation falling beneath me and rolled instinctively, my eyes open and quit......more

This book introduces Sid Halley who, if memory serves, is the only protagonist that Dick Francis ever used more than once. Halley was a very successful jockey until he fell from a horse which trampled his left hand, abruptly ending his career. He accepts a job with a detective agency that has a raci......more

There is something quite comforting in reading Dick Francis novels. Good plots, characterizations and around horse racing. My experience around horses is negligible and having rode only a few times have mostly ended badly. Thrown twice and dragged behind happily on soft wet muddy ground. Sid Halley i......more

The first Sid Halley mystery Jump jockey Sid Halley loses a wife, loses a hand in a racing accident, loses a championship racing career, gains a new career as a private investigator in which he foils a particularly despicable villain and saves a race course. I left out the "minor" things. As usual in......more

This is an old-fashioned delight: a taut, well-plotted novel that's grounded in competence, suspense, and nitty-gritty professional details. While also being laid-back and pleasant. This was my first Francis, but it definitely won't be my last. Sid Halley used to be a jockey until his hand was badly......more