I'm not a big horse guy. I like all animals and horses fall into that category, so I can appreciate them from a distance, but I don't have the urge to saddle up. Nor do I have the urge to go to the track every day to watch others saddle up to race. But that's what this book is about: horse racing.

Dick Francis is a talented writer who makes you care about the characters and the situations they face. One of the more interesting aspects of this work is the main character's relationship with his wife. The nature of their relationship might change how you feel about the revelations made of the main character at the start of the book.

The book begins in an interesting way, but then gets bogged down a little by character work. It's also one of those books that appears to have a B-Plot, which is amateur, that then becomes important to the A-Plot, which is expert. The book opens its starting gate to allow the plot a full stride about three-quarters through and doesn't let up. On the left, it's NewsPaperScoop, followed by BadGuy, followed by Relationship--BadGuy slips in the mud, allowing Relationship to gain a few trots; BadGuy seems to be having some trouble in Turn One; Relationship is on the heels of NewsPaperScoop. Oh, no! BadGuy has just taken a fall! He will be glue by tomorrow, folks. And here comes Relationship, against all odds, nosing his way past NewsPaperScoop--and it's a photo-finish! Relationship wins! Relationship wins!

It is a decent read, but if you are a horse racing guy (or gal) you will probably adore it. 3.25 stars from this guy.

Everyone is tired of my endless compliments to the late Dick Francis, who was, at one time, the Queen Mother's jockey. It is true that Francis turned out consistently excellent mysteries, thrillers, suspense novels, all involving racing, for many years. Forfeit is an early example. First published in 1969, although the paperback copy I just read was printed in 1993 from the 1987 edition. Think about that: this book was still in print 24 years after its first publication. As far as I know, it still is.

There is a publishing phenomenon I learned about from an author friend. A customer goes into a bookstore and buys a book by an author who is new to them. The customer likes the book. They come back into the bookstore and buy one of each of the books by that author on display. In case such a thing happens, booksellers tend to carry one or two copies each of books by authors who inspire that sort of binge buying. The next time I'm at Barnes & Noble, I may look at the Dick Francis shelf to see how he's doing after about 60 years.

Forfeit is interesting in that our hero's wife is a major character. James Tyrone, sportswriter, has a wife and he loves her very much. He must, because she's largely paralyzed due to polio, and she lives under a respirator. Everything, including Tyrone's vulnerability to blackmail, arises out of his wife's condition, and his devotion to her.

What more can I say? We have bad guys, quite nasty ones. We have horses and owners and trainers and jockeys and racecourse officials. We have a hero whom everyone underestimates, including his own wife. And we have an interesting story very well told.

Tremendously exciting thriller. Tautly constructed, fast-paced. A hero with moral ambiguity who is nonetheless hugely admirable and heroic. Memorable and strongly-drawn characters, including the minor secondary characters. Very well worth your time. I give it 3 stars instead of 4 because it evoked no emotions but rather simply entertained and diverted.

What a pleasure to read a suspense mystery and guns don’t play a part or role!

I am trying to read all the old Dick francis books that I missed. I enjoyed this book featuring a "crusading" reporter. There does seem to be a bit more graphic violence in the older books; in the newer books, the violence just kind of happens.

What an unexpected find - a Dick Francis book I had not read before. An excellent, very enjoyable story (as always), one that you wish would not end. A book to keep rather than exchange to enjoy again in a couple of years.

As a long term Dick Francis reader I would like to say what a refreshing departure this book was. I've been used to the hardy resistance displayed by his heroes, but only in a singular, insular way. Here we have a singularly tortured individual, tied, by love, to his crippled wife, tormented by more than the nasty criminals who are trying to bludgeon their way to success. A thoroughly engaging read which firmly involves the reader with sympathy driving the hero on to success, not in any way deterred by how long ago the book was written. Highly recommend, even in 2019.

There were scenes I did get into the drama and action. It was interesting as something I know almost nothing about, but my overall takeaway was just ok, esp bc I don’t agree with the ending.

The master of unexpected finishes strikes again

It’s no secret I’m a Dick Francis fan. Probably one of the most unassuming writers in British literature. A chance pick up of one of his books renewed my interest in his (and his sons works) I’m sure Robert Craise, Lee Child’s and Michael Connelly etc., acknowledge his skills but being American they’ve probably got better publicity agents. I once again wonder why no TV channel hasn’t seized on Dick Francis as a source for what would be a fantastic series of crime, mystery and horse racing.

A goodish little thriller ruined by Richard Brown's dreadful, mechanical reading. A cut-glass British accent is all very well, but when every sentence, whether it be narration, threats, words of love or desperation has the same inflection and lack of emotion, it quickly palls. With a better reader I might have given this book four stars. I mention the bad reader as a warning to others. I see that Mr Brown has videos on Youtube demonstrating "how to read aloud." If this sample of his technique is characteristic, I'd give them a miss, along with any other recordings he may have made.

As far as the story goes, it's entertaining. Mr Tyrone is of course a Gary Stu, as most of Francis' early heroes were. He can do just about anything, from containing his emotions to standing up to beatings and alcohol overdoses worthy of 1930s noir film. I was predicting the big scene with the bad guys from their appearance, though their ending was a bit Deus Ex Machina, so to speak. However, one doesn't read Francis for factual encounters with reality. I should try reading it in print next time.

The ending made me angry.

Written from the point of view of a tabloid journalist, James Tyrone, this is a novel about cheating in various ways. The bad guys are attempting to prevent a horse from being able to compete in a race, which would net them large sums of money. When Tyrone writes about this, he is threatened and physically attacked. He also has a wife, Elizabeth, who is afflicted by polio - a tragic disease in the days before effective vaccines: she has to lie in a machine to help her breathing set up in a caravan - and the villains threaten her life as well. It's hard to remember just how scary polio was at this time. The other act of cheating is that Tyrone is sleeping with another woman - and, typical of the attitudes of the late sixties, this is portrayed as more shocking because the other woman is not white (I'm talking about the attitudes of the characters, not necessarily those of Dick Francis, whose views I know nothing about).

To me, the combination of ingredients in this story overload it somewhat - but it's effective, as usual for Dick Francis.