Customer Reviews

Even Money

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Okay, I really need to stop regarding any further offerings from these co-authors as primarily Dick Francis novels. I haven't felt that vintage Francis touch since 1996's TO THE HILT, although UNDER ORDERS, his 2006 thriller and the first written since the passing of his dear wife Mary, did hearken to much of what made him such an engrossing read. But I'm guessing that it's actually his son and co-author Felix who's now doing the heavy lifting. And it's just not the same.

Bookies, apparently, rank so low in the vocational totem pole and are so universally despised that probably even lawyers poke fun at them. 37-year-old Ned Talbot is an independent bookmaker eking out a living in the sport of kings. In the vein of Francis's prototypical protagonists, Ned is unassuming, is self-restrained, is a bit remote. He's a decent bloke even if he's a bookie. And, as per norm to Francis's leading men, it takes sinister external forces to draw him out of his reserved shell.

The plot rapidly thickens. In the opening pages Ned Talbot's father, long believed to be deceased, shows up at the Royal Ascot races to confound Ned. Three hours later, a mugging and a stabbing later, Ned Talbot's father dies again, this time in real. For Ned, this is only the start of shady shenanigans. With his dying breath, his father had warned him: "Be very careful... of everyone." As he delves into the mystery of his father, Ned finds himself steeped in trouble, bewildered by enigmatic electronic devices he unearths and by an inexplicable rash of Internet and cell phone breakdowns at the races. Throw in, too, a rucksack full of money, and frightening characters who begin to shadow Ned.

It can't help but seep into his family life, and Ned's family life is more devastating than others'. As Ned keeps on digging, he learns that much of his early childhood had been based on lies, his father not what was initially assumed of him. And Ned's present personal straits are discouraging. Ned's wife Sophie has long suffered from dementia, and for the past decade she'd been in and out of mental institutions. Visiting times, for Ned, have always been a bittersweet thing. One of the things the authors did really right was to have Ned and Sophie's relationship provide the story's emotional anchor. Ned's dealings with the rest of the cast leave me more or less indifferent, although I felt that several characters were promising but underused: the callous Detective Chief Inspector and the warmer Detective Sergeant Murray. There's also Duggie, a savvy juvenile delinquent and also Ned's prospective new assistant (introduced way late in the book).

I'd assumed that Dick Francis, himself an ex-jockey, had covered just about every angle in British horse racing. But, yeah, the bookies. I don't go to the races at all, and I'm not much of a gambler, so, from that perspective, the authors enlighten on the particulars of sports bookmaking. Before picking up this book, I had no idea what punters were or about the competition that went on between the big gambling conglomerates versus the small-time bookies. But if you're not interested in numbers or gambling, there are passages in EVEN MONEY which may bore or befuddle.

Let me say this: If only EVEN MONEY weren't under the Dick Francis banner, I'd have been more charitable, less critical. But I expect so much of this writer who, with Terry Pratchett and Louis L'Amour, happens to be one of my all-time cherished writers. Francis's books had always been marked with charm and a sly humor, and I've always, always relished his practical thinking man sort of protagonists. I'm not as warmed by Ned Talbot, and I can't help but believe that it's because Felix Francis has taken up the reins and he just doesn't have the knack, the charm, the sly humor, the quiet swagger. Much like the collaboration between Anne McCaffrey and her son Todd tends to leave most readers lukewarm, Dick and Felix Francis do not create an improved brand.

EVEN MONEY is decent enough stuff but in no way does it rival the Francis classics. The narrative pace is sluggish. There's suspense, but not a sense of peril. Ned Talbot is aware that villains may drop in to pay him a visit at home, but he doesn't make one move to seek other lodgings or even arrange for protection. And then the guy moves in family members into his house! The few action sequences left me with that blah feeling. The characters hardly resonate. The ending is too pat. Something's missing.

The odds are that mystery and suspense fans will love the latest installment from the word processor of Dick Francis and son. The mellowing influence of Felix Francis is to create sympathetic heroes who are less "take it on the chin and keep going" stoic types than ordinary good and decent men caught up in situations of violence. Ned Talbot is a racetrack bookie only because he grew up assisting his grandfather, the Talbot of "Trust Teddy Talbot".

Ned's an extremely likable guy, who sticks to his wife despite her chronic mental illness and worries that his capable, computer-savvy assistant will leave for a larger firm. The big off-track betting chains are putting pressure on his profits and he sometimes wonders if his unpopular profession is worth it.

Ned grew up believing that his parents were killed in a car crash, so when a man approaches him at the Ascot races, claiming to be his father, Ned does not believe it at first. But the stranger helps him haul all his equipment off the track and as the two of them are walking across the parking lot, an assailant leaps out of nowhere and knocks Ned down.

Ned was starting to believe the man really is his father Peter Talbot, so he is horrified when the assailant stabs his father and disappears. Is this a robbery gone wrong or something to do with his father's mysterious past?

Old-time fans of Francis will recognize the electrifying sound of the starting bell, as another Francis racetrack tale of skulduggery and mayhem is off and running. Ordinary guy Ned Talbot will be an odds-on favorite but the reader will be the real winner.

Dick Francis has been joined by his son writing mysteries set at horse tracks in Britain. In "Even Money" one suspects that Felix wrote the book and Dad put his name on the cover.

Dick Francis used to write tight, clean mysteries. Every event had a purpose; either to get to know the main character or to move the plot and mystery along. Not so in this collaboration.

The book is filled with redundant ruminations by Ned Talbot, the bookmaker narrator/hero. Frankly, they began to get tiresome about halfway through. We got the point before page ten that everyone hates bookmakers.

There is also a good portion of the book dedicated to the mental illness of Sophie, Ned's wife, who is hospitalized for manic depression and then comes home. There is no reason at all to have all those pages in the book. Are they there to make nedm more human? to advance the cause of bipolar disorder? They certainly were not included to add anything to the plot.

There is a plot, though; and it is a good one. Ned is met at the races by his father who he was raised to believe had died with his mother, in an automobile accident. His father is not a model a citizen, and when the two are attacked in what looks like a simple bookmaker robbery, the plot is on its way. There are high tech horse shenanigans, betting tricks and beatings and murders along the way. Watching Ned slowly being compelled into the hunt, despite his best efforts to stay uninvolved, is classic Francis. Like the old Francis, one is taught a bit of horse racing esoterica that adds interest to the storyline.

Unfortunately, what could have been a good clean mystery, was bogged down by the rueful redundant cogitations of the narrator and the meaningless side story (not even plot) of his mentally ill wife.

I loved the old Dick Francis and gladly pick one up when I find one I have not yet read. I do not believe I will pick up the next Felix Francis if there is one. This was ok, but just okay.

The writing team of Dick and Felix Francis feels like the work of a new author to me. I think Felix wrote most of this one. I appreciate the use of a similar style to father Dick, one of my favorite authors of all time. Felix is new to the business of writing novels -- give him time, and I'm sure he'll tighten up the prose. As many other reviewers have observed, Felix tends to repeat himself in this book. I liked the discussions of the wife's illness, even if it didn't add a lot to the story. I kept waiting for something REALLY bad to happen to Ned (it would have in one of Dick's books.) But for the most part an enjoyable read, not up to the standard of Dick Francis but very good.

No, the Dick Francis thrillers of the past few years are not up to the best of a very, very good writing career, but even the weakest are better than several mysteries to be found on the bestseller lists. I've been going back to reread the earlier works, such as Nerve, Enquiry, and High Stakes, and the single distinctive factor that has weakened the novels co-written by Felix is an excess of explanatory material. The genius of the earlier books was the economy of description about whatever the primary occupation of the protagonist (by the way, by whatever name, the protagonist is always the same voice). In EVEN MONEY, descriptions of track betting, electronic chips implanted in horses, the history and terrain of Australia, our hero's biography are all allocated far too much weight. On the other hand, even all the musings that redundantly occupy so much of the text are tolerable when listening to the audio book. Martin Jarvis is a wonder with accents and tones of voice; he differentiates between men and women without resorting to unnatural timbre or falsetto. Descriptions are infinitely more tolerable at length with Jarvis' gentle modulations. I had the hardcover, as well, and compared reading the various explanations of the art of fixing the odds with the spoken, and I'm not sure I understand either, so it's probably just me.

Teddy "Ned" Talbot has had both his feet in the horse and bookie world, since he was a little boy. He worked as a runner for his grandfather. He knows all there is about the business of being a really good bookie.

Ned is approached by a man claiming to be his father. Ned doesn't believe him as his father and mother died in a car crash years ago. Ned has no choice but to believe the man when he knows details and facts about things that only Ned's father would know. Before they can get close, a man approaches them and demands to know where the money is from Ned's father. Ned calls for help and the man flees. By this time it is already too late. His father has been stabbed to death. Ned goes to his father's hotel room and there he finds lots of cash and a strange device that is every bookie's dream.

I have been eyeing Dick Francis's books for some time but just never read one till now. A reason I was drawn to this author is because of the horse on the cover. I am a sucker for horse elated books or books that have horses on the covers. I though this was a so, so read. The plot had some interesting parts but it couldn't hold up all the way through for me. Ned never really connected with me on a level that made me want to get drawn into the story fully. The authorities were clueless and if it wasn't for Ned the case would have gone unsolved. Unfortunately Even Money wasn't a Triple Crown winner this time.

What to say when dear friends goof up?

One way is begin by saying how much you enjoyed and relished their past work and encourage them to keep writing. So to Dick and Felix Francis I say, `put Even Money' behind you and go after your next adventure with abandonment. There was so much wrong with Even Money, that it didn't seem like the same authors who have thrilled us so much with their previous efforts, all of which I've read and proudly have on my bookshelf.

The protagonist was off, he was not at all symphonic, knowledgeable, companionable, enviable, clever, lovable, heck not even really likable. Those have always been strengths of Francis' heroes, here it was missing. The bookmaking angle was not fully developed, and what was said about it wasn't very interesting, nor was the relationship with the major character, Ted, and his wife, Sophie: heck, one wonders whatever prompted two such opposites to get married in the first place.

Felix seems to have a most intriguing background, maybe Francis fans can look forward to mysteries surrounding explorers, shooting, teachers, a physics entanglement in the future? Now that I would be willing to bet on!

Awful awful awful book. Paper thin plot, boring characters and a silly villain. Don't waste your money on this one, instead buy books like Banker and Straight and see why Mr. Francis is revered. RIP sir.

The Cliff Notes version - "Even Money" isn't close to as tight as previous Francis efforts, but for Francis fans it's still worth the few hours it takes to read.

I've read all of Team Francis' books, and own most of them. They've been a delight to me for a lot of years. Of the lot, this is the one that I like the least.

It's not that the protagonist isn't a likable, Francis-esque guy, because he is. It's not that the story line isn't interesting, because it is.

The whole thing is just not as tightly written as Francis Sr.'s earlier, solo books. Nor, for that matter, is it as well-written as earlier Francis Sr./Jr. efforts. It just never takes off... the story just kind of sits there. They almost seemed to be bored writing it.

Dick Francis isn't going to be around forever, and for that reason (if no other) it's worth reading this book. However, if I were going to hand somebody a Dick Francis book with the idea of introducing him to one of my favorite authors, this one would be about the last one on my list. This book is for Francis devotees only.

This is the worst Dick Francis/Felix Francis book I have read. I have read every Dick Francis book written and have read all of the Dick/Felix ones as well.(None are as good as the old books although I liked Silks.) This book was disjointed, and really was bad. Usually I admire the heros in Francis books. I like them. This guy was not a hero in any sense. The main character lied - a lot. What did the girl in the black and white outfit have to do with anything? Someone wrote this one fast - too fast - and the plot was incoherent. I threw it across the room when I was done. A total waste of my time! The last time I will try to read Francis. But I did love the old books very much.