Customer Reviews

Tropical Downs: A Novel of Peril and Misadventures in Search of the Elusive Automatic Bet

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I'm torn on this book. Marc Cramer has contributed a lot to handicapping literature, and I think it's great that DRF Publications is still taking a chance on his books in 2008. However, as far as the actual book, it's not up to the standard of his earlier work. First, if you like horse racing, much more of this book than "Scared Money" is filled with a convoluted, drawn-out story about alleged Bolivian "intrigue" than horse racing content. "Scared Money" was able to focus on gambling and the gambler's mindset, while here 80 percent of the pages are filled with this other story, which unfortunately isn't very fulfilling in itself. Also, the novel is set in the late 1990s, which leads to lots of mentions of fax machines and "Hey, if only we knew Internet gambling would come along almost immediately after..." that are used to justify the logic of the story. The author works hard to avoid being dated, but still is. Third, the book needed an editor. It repeats itself and that only slows the ponderous story. Finally, we never find out much about the lead character---we're never made to really care what happens to him, and he's basically a self-centered jerk who somehow also has no personality. So, while there are interesting stretches of the book, overall I was disappointed. However, I can't say you shouldn't buy the book, because Cramer has earned some goodwill and it would encourage more (and hopefully better) horse racing books to be published.

In his typical eclectic style, Mark Cramer weaves together elements of mystery, thrills, sex, handicapping and jazz in this story about a jazz muscician/semi-professional thoroughbred handicapper who moves to Bolivia with his wife and gets caught up in a plot involving nuns, radicals, a prostitute, peasants and characters in organized crime. The story is peppered with fascinating bits of thoroughbred handicapping information. This book can be enjoyed by all, but is well worth the price for those who want to benefit from nuggets of useful "contrarian" information that are likely to be underappreciated by most thoroughbred handicappers.

Lots of smiles in here for me and I could imagine the author with a sly little grin as he wrote certain passages. This book was just plain fun to read, and made me delay other activities so I could turn more pages.

"Tropical Downs" takes you on an adventure, but gives you food for thought along the way. Cramer has lived and worked in Latin America, and it shows. Those familiar with Latin American affairs will find him an insightful observer of that history and the relationship with us Yanquis. Most of us who love the mental puzzle of horse-race handicapping already know & love Cramer, but this fun little novel should appeal to just about anyone... well, at least anyone willing to believe in a prostitute with a heart of gold and a horseplayer ready to take on the mob.

In 'Tropical Downs' we find that Mark Cramer, a renown handicapping expert with a novel approach can write a very good novel as well. The characters are modern Damon Runyon-esque, the plots thicken like good Onion Soup from France-where Mark actually lives. The South American setting is as exotic as a Superfecta score at Saratoga and the drama peels off layer by layer like a bulging bankroll of $100 bills.

Cramer knows the game, knows the people, the diabolical places he puts us in and he carries us from the starting gate to the finish line with the skill of a great storyteller. With any curiosity or knowledge about horse racing or gambling, or jazz, or world travel, you will enjoy this book and probably learn things about risk and reward you never thought about. And, if Hollywood is paying attention, you should see Cramer's Tropical Downs a few years down the road in your favorite movie theater. There is no other book out there right now that would work as well on the big screen. . .Steve Davidowitz, author of The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing and Betting Thoroughbreds for the 21ST Century.

Put on your seat belt and grab a notebook because this book is a jolting, fast paced mystery thriller with a bag full of delightful and skillful information. Behind a cynical facade, the main character, Matt Bosch, is a man of principles that has been lured into a scheme to open a thoroughbred race track in Bolivia. With a back drop of social, economic and political issues present in South America, the plot turns dangerous. Bosch, who is a musician and horseplayer has to improvise, adapt and make intuitive decisions to save himself and those loved ones around him. In horse playing lingo, "he is the master of changing leads." All of this intrigue, is woven into a fabric of searching for, revising and relying on the positive expectations of the "automatic bet."
Fascinating detail about food, climate, habits of the indigenous indians, history and the geopgraphy of Bolivia abound. Example: an airplane that takes off from La Paz airport drops in altitude after leaving the runway. Little factual crumbs like this entice the reader toward the next abyss.
Through a gauntlet of shady and dangerous characters that collect debts with baseball bats, Bosch keeps falling back to the comfort of inventing abstract, systematic formulas to win at the races. Even freezing at night on a glacier in the Andes, handicapping is Matt Bosch's refuge. It's as if each challenging situation triggers a metaphor for him to apply to horse racing.
Off the grid of predictablity and convention, Bosch keeps finding his way by relying on an inner compass of trust and intuition. His art is to observe others and to let others be themselves.
For the horse player and handicapper, this book is an entertaining and advanced lesson on the critical importance of not getting stuck in fixed routines.






















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