Product Description

A hard fall took hotshot jockey Sid Halley out of the horse racing game, leaving him with a crippled hand, a broken heart, and the desperate need for a new job. Now he's landed a position with a detective agency, only to catch a bullet from some penny-ante thug. And things are about to get even more hecticthe agency is giving him a case to handle on his own. The case brings him to the door of Zanna Martin, a woman who might be just what Sid needs to get him back up and running. But he's up against a field of thoroughbred criminals, and the odds against him are making it a long shot that he'll even survive . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #216356 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-01
• Formats: Abridged, Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 3
• Binding: Audio CD

Customer Reviews

Fantastic!
Odds against is Dick Francis at his best. The book features Sid Halley, a man who retired from race riding due to an accident. He takes a career change and becomes a private enquiry agent. The book follow Sid thorough his first main case, finding out why the racecourse at Seabury had declined over the past months. I love this book because the way that the book is written makes you feel as if you are there ... you can feel the excitement, worry and pain along with Sid. A fantastic combination of horse racing and crime.

marvellous mystery with a super reader!!
Tony Britton I did not care for.

However I give ***** to the verson read by Ian McShane. I enjoyed McShane's read voice. Some actor/readers, try to act took much when they read - I mean males doing higher voices for females are such a pain. McShane give the right tone, a narrator and is it an enjoyed voice that carries you vividly into the world of ex-jockey Sid Halley. Injured in a riding accident, he now is a Enquiry agent/security expert that is looking into the strange accidents happening and Seabury Race Course.

Dick Francis' writing, quite naturally, is excellent, though it is McShane excellent narration that has me listening to this tape again and again. I have given it several times and gifts and recommended it to friends. All have thanked me for the enjoy listen.

Thrilling horserace crime
Having inherited this book, I picked it out of the bookshelf for a fast and easy read. I was pleasently surpised to discover that this was en excellent crimenovel. Sid, an ex-jockey, has been sitting around the office of a investigative firm for 2 years with nothing to do. Unaware of his father-in-law's plot, he is dragged in to a crime involving a reacecourse, valuable property and a villain with obscure pleasures. Sid's job is in short to save the racecourse from the hostile takeover.
I found myself dragged into the story, and towards the end, it was impossible to put the book down.
I highly recommend this, and am heading for another Frances novel.