What Odds Would Ned Give Himself in EVEN MONEY?
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+ It's the latest DICK FRANCIS novel; sensitive portrayal of mental illness
- Poor development of female characters in general
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Hardback (and audio read by Martin Jarvis) . . . [UK £18.99]
. . ISBN 978-0-718-15458-5
. . 400 ... Read review
On the first day of Royal Ascot, the crowd rejoices in a string of winning favourites. Ned ... more
Talbot has worked all his life as a bookmaker - taking over the family business from his grandfather - so he knows not to expect any sympathy from the punters as...
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Ned Talbot has worked all his life as a bookmaker so he knows not to expect any sympathy ... more
from the punters as they count their winnings and he counts his losses. He's seen the ups and downs before - but as the big gambling conglomerates muscle in on ...
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Advantages: It's the latest DICK FRANCIS novel; sensitive portrayal of mental illness Disadvantages: Poor development of female characters in general
...Would Ned Give Himself in EVEN MONEY? '''
.
+ It's the latest DICK FRANCIS novel; sensitive portrayal of mental illness
- Poor development of female characters in general
.
Hardback (and audio read by Martin Jarvis) . . . [UK £18.99]
. . ISBN 978-0-718-15458-5
. . 400 pages
. . released: 25 August 2009 (USA);
. . . . . . . . . . . 3 September 2009 (UK)
Published by ... .../>
== EVEN MONEY by Dick Francis and Felix Francis ==
=== I am really amazed how inventive the "Dick Francis" team are in cooking up a plot which is so relevant to the situations we find ourselves in day by day. ===
This time, we see the world of horseracing from the point of view of a respectable third generation bookmaker in the recession; in fact, here he is, wearing "morning dress" on ... more
What Odds Would Ned Give Himself in EVEN MONEY? .
+ It's the latest DICK FRANCIS novel; sensitive portrayal of mental illness - Poor development of female characters in general . Hardback (and audio read by Martin Jarvis) . . . [UK £18.99] . . ISBN 978-0-718-15458-5 . . 400 pages . . released: 25 August 2009 (USA); . . . . . . . . . . . 3 September 2009 (UK) Published by MICHAEL JOSEPH an imprint of PENGUIN BOOKS
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On the first day of Royal Ascot, Ned Talbot, a 37 year old struggling bookmaker, who took over the family firm from his grandfather when he died, meets a grey-haired man who claims to be his father, whom he has never before met. His new-found father is stabbed by an unknown assailant in the car park; warning Ned to beware, he dies of his wound, leaving Ned with more riddles to solve than he really wanted ...
Such would be an ultra quick summary of the salient points introduced in the first two chapters of the latest Dick Francis novel to hit our booksellers' shelves this month. .
EVEN MONEY by Dick Francis and Felix Francis
I am really amazed how inventive the "Dick Francis" team are in cooking up a plot which is so relevant to the situations we find ourselves in day by day.
This time, we see the world of horseracing from the point of view of a respectable third generation bookmaker in the recession; in fact, here he is, wearing "morning dress" on a much too hot June day at Royal Ascot, and there are quite a few short-priced winning favourites! Not a bookmaker's dream by any means. But immediately we are drawn into his world, and that of his "TRUST TEDDY TALBOT" team: Luca Mandini, an internet whizz-kid with a razor-sharp mathematical brain, and Luca's girlfriend Betsy, who is helping to take the bets and payout after each race. .
I cannot understand the odds offered, but for those of us who get confused, on a two-page spread just before Chapter I, there is a useful chart of "Bookmaker's odds as used on British racecourses" demonstrating Odds, Fractional odds, and Winnings to £1 stake with down the left hand column a line delineating Odds against (from one hundred-to-one down to eleven-to-ten), EVEN MONEY 1/1 and a second line delineating Odds on (from eleven-to-ten on, through to ten-to-one on, where you would win a paltry 10p for a £1 stake). Down the right-hand column, it indicates that 'one hundred-to-one' would be 'very long' odds; 'twenty-to-one' 'long' odds; 'fifteen-to-one' '(high price)'; 'nine-to-two' being 'medium' odds; 'eleven-to-eight' 'short' odds; 'five-to-four' '(low price)'; 'six-to-four on' would be 'very short' odds; 'three-to-one on' would be 'very, very short' odds; and of course, 'ten-to-one on' would be 'ultra short' odds. As so much of the bookmaking is computerised betting, this chart is a useful aid to start to understand the jargon as Ned and his fellow bookies communicate with each other and the punters.
So, just another day at the races; but there are surprises in store for him this day, which will change Ned's life forever.
First a man with grey hair claims to be his father (but Ned has been told all his life that his parents died in a car crash when he was a baby!) and he is further told that he has two (half) sisters in Australia, where his father has been all these years. .
Ned is running late to visit his wife Sophie after the races, who is a (clinically depressed) inmate in a Mental Institution, so he offers to take his "Father" to the station to catch a train to Waterloo Station to get back to a "seedy little hotel in Sussex Gardens near Paddington Station," where his father says he is staying. Together he and his father pull the bookmakers' trolley across the car park towards the twelve year old Volvo at the far corner. Before they get there, a young man with a hood pulled up over his short hair and a scarf around his face ran straight at him, kicks him in the face and then turns to his father, demanding money. Punching him in the stomach twice, he runs when Ned shouts for help and some late party-goers start in their direction to help. But Ned's father hadn't been punched - he'd been stabbed - and soon Ned and his dying father are in an ambulance on their way to Wexham Park hospital, where Ned's forehead is stitched up and his father dies. .
There is some confusion as to the identity of the murdered man; having identified himself to Ned as "Peter James Talbot" which was, indeed, the name on both his and his father's birth certificates, the man was carrying a credit card and driving license in his jacket pocket in the name of "Alan Charles Grady" of Melbourne, Australia. A DNA sample was taken at the hospital of both Ned and his father in an attempt to see if indeed he WAS his father as he had claimed. .
So who WAS this stranger? Was he Ned's father as he claimed? Why would he be travelling under an alias? And what was all this about money that the young assailant had demanded, ignoring Ned's takings thrown initially in his direction by a frantic Ned; where (and what) are his father's belongings in that "seedy" guest house in London? Why did his father tell him to be careful, very careful, of everyone?
WHAT IS GOING ON?
This is a masterful thriller from Richard and Felix Francis. You get caught up in the mysteries and excitement very quickly, and you are moved on through the 23 chapters and then the satisfying Epilogue six months after the end of the action. I finished reading this book within two days of it arriving on my doorstep, and was well impressed with the story.
It HAD been worth PRE-ORDERING on amazon.co.uk to arrive on the release date!
I initially pre-paid £13.29 under price guarantee meaning that if the Amazon starting price dropped by the release date I would be refunded the difference. As the lowest price up to and including the release date was £9.49, I was given a refund of £3.80. This was the starting price offered on Amazon, a savings of £9.50 on the RRP! A few days after I finished reading the book, I had an e-mail from Penguin Books as well, informing me of the release (at £18.99). The Penguin site has an extract to read, as well as a link to a slightly longer "Penguin Taster" to try a bit more of the novel before deciding on purchase. There are also links to author information about both Dick Francis and Felix Francis. . The short extract is found at: http://www.penguin.co.uk/UKExtract/0,,NjExNTk5OTowOkV2ZW4gTW9uZXk=,00.html . The Penguin Taster is a 27page PDF document you can download.
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ANALYSIS
There are times when the writing does not flow as well in this, the 42nd Dick Francis novel, as it did when Mary Francis was helping her husband write his thrillers. And the treatment of Luca's girlfriend Betsy is very sketchy. Ned's wife, Sophie, has been in and out of a mental institution for the last ten years due to a manic depressive illness which has nearly destroyed his marriage. This is handled quite well in the book, including sessions where they discuss how well she is and whether she can be allowed home once more soon. However, it also means that, as she is not at home, the character development is not as rounded throughout the book. Ned's grandmother is in a nursing home, and is pictured (almost stereotypically) as a very selfish old woman, who has always had her own best interests at heart, and is now becoming senile. In my opinion, this meant that really there was no strong, dominant female character in the book, and in this, too, I believe Mary's hand is missed. But the research is as always meticulous, with everything ringing true as you read it (at least to my untutored eye as far as the betting is concerned; as a nurse, the medical side also seemed plausible). . There are sub plots as usual which add to the enjoyment rather than detract. The possibility of horses' identity being switched and insurance claims being fraudulent is one. In what way had his father been involved in this? Yet another sub plot concerns the question "Why were both the internet down and all telecommunications malfunctioning for the last five minutes before a race was run, but on again as soon as the start of the race is announced?" The second time this happens, the big bookmakers are not amused, and they seem to be suspecting a rat . . . but in what way could "TRUST TEDDY TALBOT" be involved? . .
There are special thanks at the beginning of the book to NICK BENNETT bookmaker's assistant, MALCOLM PALMER of Coral Bookmakers, and The Hanging Rock Racing Club, Victoria, Australia.
Do I recommend this Book? A resounding "YES!"
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UPDATE (21 Sept 2009): [the price has come down twice today, now at £8.55 on Amazon]
. If you haven't bought the previous book by this duo, SILKS, now would be a good time to buy the PB version, as at £3.86, you would get Super Saver delivery if bought together! . [new update (13 October 2009) The price has gone up to £11.39, so if you didn't buy it at a lower price you've missed your chance until the next promotion. Or until it comes out in PB.)
