With his 30th novel, Dick Francis proves without a doubt that he is one of the superstars among mystery-thriller writers.--Los Angeles Times Book Review. A globe-hopping diplomat comes face to face with a case of fatal corruption in Francis's new thoroughbred thriller.
Gene Hawkings must travel to Kentucky, on the orders of his boss, to spend three weeks looking for kidnapped stallions. But before he leaves, Gene's survival skills are called on closer to home, catapulting him into a maelstrom of blackmail and murder.
James Tyrone, a racing reporter for a London scandal sheet, knew that fellow writer Bert Chekov was a drunk, but he always thought he was an honest one. But when Bert suddenly died in an "accidental" fall from a window, Tyrone suspected the clues to his death might be found in some suspicious columns he'd written touting can't-lose horses--who mysteriously failed to show up on a race day. In between trips to cover the next big race and secret rendezvous with his sensual new mistress, Tyrone knew he'd prove that Chekov had been murdered. But he didn't know the terrifying risk involved in proving it.