by Dick Francis
First published 2009
Ned Talbot runs a modest betting operation and considers walking away from the business entirely. His routine existence shatters when a stranger appears claiming to be his father, a man Ned believed had died years ago. Before Ned can process this revelation or verify the man's identity, someone kills the mysterious visitor. The murder transforms Ned from a passive bookmaker into an active investigator. He cannot let his possible father's death go unexplained. As Ned digs deeper into the circumstances surrounding both the man's appearance and his violent end, he uncovers layers of deception that reach far beyond what he initially imagined. Each answer he finds generates new questions and greater dangers. The investigation pulls him away from the familiar world of odds and wagers into something far more perilous. Ned realizes that his own life now hangs in the balance, but he cannot stop searching for the truth about the man who claimed to be his father.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
350 pages · Hardcover · Putnam Adult