Adventure Racing Books

Knockdown I found to inspire me to no longer read Dick Francis. He writes thrillers, not mysteries--lots of action with a predictable and hackneyed plot but no interesting sleuthing to at least spice it up as in an Agatha Christie. This book has some interesting sections on the "behind-the-scenes" world of purchasing horses and kickbacks. However, these bits of interest are outweighed by the silliness of the "tragic hero" with regards to both the love affair and Crispin.

If you like thrillers I guess it'll do but if you're looking for a mystery it's a poor choice.

Kentucky horse country, Keenland Sales where million dollar bids are common pulled this reader into the so-so Dick Francis' thriller, KNOCKDOWN. The behind-the-scenes glimpse of the British sales ring is good as we enjoyed a well paced mystery.
Jonah Dereham purchases horses for wealthy buyers, but all goes wrong in a gentleman's agreement world when greed for commissions enters to picture to destroy lives. Jonah finds himself under attack from sources unknown and close to home, but he fights back.
Dick Francis is a good read, but this one ends the race as an also ran.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

if you like francis you'll love this one. kept me trying to guess who it was till the end!

Anyone who loves horses and can read should take on at least one Dick Francis mystery novel. Francis is perhaps the world's most prolific (and best?) writer on fictional horse-related topics. Each of his mysteries revolves around some aspect of horses: breeding, racing, veterinary, trading, etc. He uses his fictional plots to impart his vast equine knowledge to readers in an enjoyable way. And Knockdown is as good an example as any.

In Knockdown, street-wise Jonah Dereham is an independent and honorable bloodstock agent (British terminology for horse trader), a profession not known for ethical practices. Dereham learned his horse knowledge in his prior career as a jockey, and is now hired by rich American woman, Kerry Sanders to buy a horse at auction. In the parking lot after their successful bid, two thugs oddly demand that the horse now be sold to them at a higher price--and then enforce their demand by clubbing Jonah on the head, the first in a series of knockdowns to come.

The mystery is on. What is so special about this horse? Why not buy the horse in the auction instead of extorting it from the new owners just minutes later? Who is this Kerry Sanders and who was the horse really for?

Before he unravels the mess, Dereham suffers thru harassment, arson, threats to his alcoholic brother, Crispin, and more violent knockdowns. He meets the love interest, air traffic controller Sophie Randolph, when his mysteriously loose horse dashes across the highway, causing her to crash her car. Jonah tries to make things right for Sophie, but she ends up doing as much for him: once even setting his chronically dislocating shoulder after yet another encounter with the bad guys. Knockdown is rigid formula fiction that works. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

This is one of his better books.I have always enjoyed his restrained way of writing.the different thing about his writing,that not only is his storyline strong, but that his characters are so well fleshed out. nowadays when reading a book so often is an adventure into strange exploits of the main characters,that its good to know someone can get his point across without resorting to cheap thrills.