Even Money Francis, Dick/ Francis, Felix

New York Times Bestseller On the first day of Royal Ascot, the world''s most famous horse race, the crowd rejoices in a string of winning favorites. Ned Talbot has worked all his life as a bookmaker so he knows not to expect any sympathy from the punters as they count their winnings. When a gray-haired man steps forward 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.

Annotation:
The father-and-son writing team of Dick and Felix Francis bring fans a gripping story about a son's quest to parse the mystery surrounding his father. Ned Talbot is an independent bookmaker, who inherited the family operation from his grandparents and struggles to make ends meet. So the opening of the Ascot Races is an important day for business. But just as things are getting going a man appears claiming, of all things, to be his father. Ned had always been told his father died in a car accident, but before he can get any answers, this man gets stabbed by thugs. Just like that, Ned is thrown into a race where the stakes are higher than a few chips or a few thousand quid--the truth about his family, as well as his own life, are on the line.

Author Bio

Dick Francis

After serving six years in the Royal Air Force, including three years as a fighter pilot in World War II, Dick Francis followed in his father's footsteps to become a champion jockey, winning over 350 races. He won numerous awards and titles during his career, including Champion Jockey in 1953 and 1954. In the 1956 Grand National Steeplechase, Francis was only a few lengths from winning the race he had entered for the eighth time, but with no one in his path, his horse collapsed just before the finish line, prompting him to call the event "both the high point and low point of my career as a jockey." Soon afterwards he began working on his autobiography, THE SPORT OF QUEENS, published in 1957, the same year he retired from racing.||Francis soon found a new calling as a writer--first as a racing correspondent for the London Sunday Express and then as a novelist. He published his first novel, DEAD CERT, in 1962, and continued writing mystery novels and short stories based in the world of horse racing. Appreciated by critics and fans alike, his bestselling books won numerous prizes. His protagonists, who range from local jockeys to international spies, often suffer brutal, torturous situations and must battle to free themselves and see justice served. Many of his stories--including those written later in his life with his son Felix after his wife of more than 50 years, Mary, died--reveal the shadier, seedier side of this royal sport. Dick Francis died on Valentines Day in 2010 at the age of 89.

Praise

"Francis again delivers stunning plotting, a vivid setting, and crisp characterization." (starred review) - Connie Fletcher 07/01/2009

"Ever since he started writing with his son Felix, Dick Francis seems to have found fresh inspiration at the racetrack...." - Marilyn Stasio 10/04/2009

"[T]he overall tone and sensibility are identifiably Franciscan, and longtime fans will enjoy taking a leisurely canter round a familiar track." - Michael Dirda 08/27/2009

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Even Money (Paperback)

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