Dead Heat [Audio Cassette]

Dick Francis and Felix Francis (Author), Martin Jarvis (Narrator)

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Books On Tape (2007)
• ISBN-10: 1415945209
• ISBN-13: 978-1415945209
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,051,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Americans and Russians dealing in drugs, July 18, 2011

By 

P. A. Doornbos - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Heat (Hardcover)

"Dead Heat" is a co-production of Dick Francis and his son Felix, who has been his researcher and agent for decades. Max, a successful restaurateur in Newmarket, a centre of the UK's horse trade, suddenly and inexplicably suffers a series of severe, life-threatening setbacks with threats from outside and from within his restaurant and his wider network. Great damage is done to life and property in this book, with Max barely staying one step ahead of his foes, and he has no idea who they are.

In the 1970's and 80's Dick Francis's thrillers were hits in NL. The books of this ex-jockey who won 350 races were popular, inspite of the fact that the world of breeding, training and racing horses and betting on them being largely alien to NL. The magic stemmed from two qualities.

First, the plots are about fight-backs from hopelessly compromised single-minded heroes, wrongly accused, never sure whom to trust, always at least badly bruised, more often suffering broken bones and bullet wounds in their quest for full rehabilitation and justice. But like a jockey on a horse in last position, determined to outrun and outwit the rest, finishing first, coming out on top.

The second quality is that DF's novels are always very well researched, zooming in on all manner of forensic matters and professions. This reminds this reader of John D. McDonald, a sadly-forgotten US author of thrillers starring Travis McGee, a self-styled `salvage consultant`, each of whose novels introduced readers to how certain jobs are really done.

"Dead Heat" is a real thriller and instructive about how to run a restaurant or have a career in a top symphony orchestra. After this masterpiece, Dick Francis and son Felix wrote two other thrillers. Dick Francis passed away in late 2010 at the age of almost 90. His legacy is some 45 superbly researched and written books. Hundreds of people worldwide are proud and happy to own them all. Highly recommended.