A very weird story for Francis, in many ways. Though Gene does feel a bit like Halley. He's clinically depressed throughout the story, and goes ahead doing his job anyway, in his own sideways fashion. There's quite a lot about sex in here, without Francis' usual ease - also no actual sex, just talking/thinking about it. No comfortable agreements, just various strains of tension. The mystery is peculiar - a really roundabout scam - and Gene's solutions are almost as roundabout. Interesting story, but it will never be among my favorite Francises. ( )

Gent Hawkins finds out that nothing is ever as easy as it first seems. ( )

Since this book was originally published in 1967, in many ways it seemed like a step back to a simpler time for me. A time with simple technologies, no sex, no cussing, and very mild violence. The story centers around the search for 3 missing breeding stallions, and it was made interesting even for someone who knows very little about the world of horse racing and breeding. Gene is also a rather unconventional leading man -- mysterious (you never quite find out what it is he actually does for work), severely depressed (over a woman?), and often suicidal. In many ways this book is as much about him and his emotional roller coaster as it is about the search for the horses. It sucked me in, and I was glad to go along for the ride. Also, for some reason I kept picturing Gene as Daniel Craig. I don't know if it was the British accent of the narrator or the fact that the first time you meet Gene he's pulling a gun out from under his pillow, which is a very Bond thing to do. ( )

Not one of my favorite Dick Francis mysteries but still a good read. A near-suicidal government investigator is persuaded against his will -- after an attempted murder -- to travel to America and check into a stolen horse. This novel is a lot more psychological than Francis' usual. Hawkins feels his way into his answer to the theft as much from character analysis as from simple detecting. There's a feeling of detached misery overlying the story as both Hawkins and the woman he meets are a tick away from taking their own lives. Even the villains are miserable. There is a ray of hope at the end, but it's nothing like the 'happily ever after' one often sees in Francis' books. ( )

An American horse-napping ring! Not as suspenseful as his best but as cleverly plann. ( )