See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

39 used & new from $0.74
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Dead Weight: A Thriller
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

Dead Weight: A Thriller (Hardcover)

by John Francome (Author)
Key Phrases: unsaddling enclosure, parade ring, champion jockey, Wolf Patrol, Racing Beacon, Gerry Fowler (more...)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


13 new from $7.67 24 used from $0.74 2 collectible from $24.95
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (Bargain Price) 11 used & new from $13.95
Hardcover (Import) 14 used & new from $0.01
Paperback 39 used & new from $0.01
Mass Market Paperback $6.99 $6.99 39 used & new from $0.49

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Stalking Horse

Stalking Horse

by John Francome
Stone Cold

Stone Cold

by John Francome
Back Hander

Back Hander

by John Francome
False Start

False Start

by John Francome
Inside Track

Inside Track

by John Francome
5.0 out of 5 stars (1) 
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Don't be deterred by flashbacks and abrupt scene shifts in British jockey-cum-journalist Francome's tale of the perilous world of steeplechase racing (after 2004's Inside Track), because the rapid pace creates a powerful, multifaceted thriller. "Jump jockey" Phil Nicholas, mostly recovered from a serious injury, believes he's "back on the victory trail," until his brother's death and marital problems lead him to seek solace from seductive therapist Simone Brown. Phil's suspicious wife, Julia, finds comfort in her devotion to racing steeds, whom she talks to while grooming them. Looming in the background is punter Keith Jeffries, driven since childhood by "the Beast" of implacable anger, and determined to stop the "cheating and lying to the betting public" after suffering substantial losses at the track. Keith's ever more sadistic rampages, beginning with a crossbow attack on a losing jockey, up the ante. Once again, Francome provides an exciting insider's view of this fascinating sport.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
This is the twelfth racing thriller from former British hurdle and steeplechase rider Francome, and it may be his best. In it, Francome has mastered the technique of weaving several stories together in an ever-tightening web, gradually building suspense for an inevitable but nonetheless harrowing showdown between the character we care about the most and the one we fear. The former is last season's champion jockey, Phil Nicholas, who is struggling to regain his form while trying to cope with the psychological effects from his first really serious spill. The latter is Keith Jeffries, a hulking psychopath who comes to believe that devious insiders are responsible for his lost bets and sets about to punish the cheats in progressively more gruesome ways. It's only a matter of time before Nicholas draws the monster's ire, and if the jockey is to survive, he will have to find reserves of resourcefulness and courage far beyond what is required on any racecourse. Francome will have readers turning the pages at breakneck speed. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur (September 15, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312329814
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312329815
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,531,927 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
unsaddling enclosure, parade ring, champion jockey, quad bike
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Wolf Patrol, Racing Beacon, Gerry Fowler, May Queen, Phil Nicholas, Adrian Moore, Charlie Lynch, January King, Army Blue, Louise Fowler, Out Of Time, Russell Dean, West Country, Western Echo, Hollow Crown, Hugh Pimlott, John Petrie, Rebecca Thornton, Yvonne Mitton, Duncan Frame, Gold Cup, Lord of Light, Scratchwood Melmoth, Soft Centre, Amy Baylis
New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 14 books:
See all 14 books this book cites
 
4 books cite this book:

Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
Enquiry by Dick Francis
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Dead Weight: A Thriller
57% buy the item featured on this page:
Dead Weight: A Thriller 4.3 out of 5 stars (3)
False Start
13% buy
False Start
Time to Pay
12% buy
Time to Pay 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
$9.99
Stalking Horse
10% buy
Stalking Horse
Explore similar items

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
Check a corresponding box or enter your own tags in the field below.
(8)
(6)
(5)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(2)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Squeezes every drop of tension out of its plot, January 25, 2006
By Henry W. Wagner (Rockaway, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Dead Weight examines the exotic world of horse racing from two basic perspectives, those of the rider and the fan.

The rider is Phil Nicholas, returning to racing mere months after a fall almost ended his career. To the casual observer, Phil exudes confidence. Despite his brave façade, however, Phil can't get the accident out of his head. Although few can sense the doubts inhibiting his performance, Phil realizes that he must purge himself of fear to continue racing.

The fan is Keith Jeffries. Abused as a child, Keith has grown into a dangerous young man who struggles with his darker side. Unfortunately for all concerned, that dark side, which Keith calls, "The Beast", has now emerged, intent on wreaking havoc to those in the racing world it perceives as having done him wrong. As his anger increases, so does the intensity of his attacks.

The buildup to a fateful meeting between the two forms the backbone of this fine book, as Francome provides his audience with telling insights into both his characters and the life of the stables and the track. Assembling a wide and varied cast from the world of horse racing, Francome provides telling glimpses into their personalities and pysches; readers will enjoy watching the cast being pushed to the limits of their mental and physical endurance as they struggle to cope with a world suddenly thrown out of kilter. Expertly paced to squeeze every drop of tension from its plot, Dead Weight's action and pathos make it a clear favorite.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Whale of a Thriller, January 1, 2006
By Katie Osborne (Portland, Oregon and the sunny Caribbean) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Steeplechase jockey Phil Nicholas is making a whale of a comeback after a fall that nearly killed him. He's married to a beautiful woman and he's riding a winner in Snowflake, a thirty-three to one long shot. One would think his comeback is complete when he passes January King to get to the winner's circle once again, but then there is Keith Jefferies, a nuttier that a fruitcake man sitting alone in front of his television who had bet the bank on January King, what he saw as a sure thing. Now Phil and Snowflake have snatched his money away.

This is a well plotted story that he me biting my nails as I read through it. There is plenty of steeplechase racing detail to satisfy the racing buff, there is a psycho killer to supply lots of chills, there is Julia, the beautiful wife who's a little loony (she talks to horses) and there is jump jockey Phil who is just a great protagonist. This is a suspense thriller that you won't be able to put down.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars fine INSIDE TRACK thriller, September 28, 2005
Three years ago, the brother of champion steeplechase jockey Phil Nicholas died in a show-jumping accident. That shook Phil, but he continued to perform as a top competitor until a few months ago when his steed May Queen leaped early; the horse walked way, but Phil suffered severe injuries to nerves in his back and three fractures on his left arm. Worse he still relives the nightmarish spill and as he is about to ride May Queen again now that he is physically healed, he wonders if he lost his nerve as mentally he still hurts. His fear costs him the victory as he hesitates just enough and worries if he does not find his courage will he lose his beloved wife Julie who treasures the sport as much as he once did.

Phil begins seeing a psychiatrist who "Jules" thinks is his lover until he explains his post traumatic stress syndrome problem. Suddenly Phil's racing troubles seem shallow when someone terrorizes the participants claiming wide spread cheating by jockeys and trainers. This villain starts off with assaulting people, but soon turns to kidnapping and murder. When Julia becomes a victim, a frightened outraged Phil knows he must find his courage to save the woman he loves.

Phil and his Jules make the tale as he struggles with his seemingly lost courage by seeing a psychiatrist while on the other hand the culprit comes out of the villain handbook as a stereotyped psycho. Still the steeplechase descriptions are clears wins that Dick Francis would appreciate and Phil's efforts to save Jules is fun to follow as John Francome provides anther INSIDE TRACK thriller.

Harriet Klausner
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Perfect Programming

Shop for programmable thermostats

Install a programmable thermostat to help reduce heating costs by ensuring your home is heated optimally. Shop for name-brand thermostats, including Honeywell and Lux, in Home Improvement.

›Shop all programmable thermostats

  

Best Books of 2008

Best of 2008
Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of categories in our Best Books of 2008 Store.
  

Bliss: Free Shipping

best of bliss set
Get free shipping on Bliss orders of $50 or more. Check out the Bliss-acclaimed firming duo, bikini perfect, fatgirlsleep and more.

›See more

  

Switch On Some Style

Shop for switch plates and outlet covers
From zebra prints to Tinkerbell, switch plates and outlet covers provide decorative touches to enhance any décor.

›Shop for switch plates

  

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.



Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Paranoia
Paranoia by Joseph Finder
4.1 out of 5 stars (197)$0.00
 My Soul to Lose
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
4.2 out of 5 stars (4)$0.00
 Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck
3.7 out of 5 stars (276)$6.59
 Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck
3.7 out of 5 stars (276)$6.59

amazon.com Amazon.com Home  |   Directory of All Stores
International Sites:  Canada  |  United Kingdom  |  Germany  |  Japan  |  France  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Build an eCommerce Site  |  Advertise With Us  |  Developer Services  |  Self-Publish with Us
Help  |  View Cart  |  Your Account  |  1-Click Settings
Investor Relations  |  Press Releases  |  Careers at Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates