Sid Halley, former steeplechase jockey and now token racing advisor to a prominent private detective firm, has just been shot in the stomach by a low-level hoodlum. Coupled with his physically deformed left hand, the result of the racing accident that ended his brilliant career, his future looks foggy. But his instincts kick in and since the case revolves around a racecourse, he convinces the PI firm’s leadership to let him take the lead on the case.

This is the first book in the Sid Halley series, the only series written by Dick Francis who was primarily a solo novel writer. To understand how this one launched a series (4 books followed by another written by son Felix Francis), one need look no further than the character of Sid Halley himself. A truly engaging first person narration leads the reader to feel his successes and failures. And there are many of both. He grows considerably as a character throughout the novel but it is clear that he has a lot more to do. Fortunately, the ending of this first book in the series is quite satisfying and leaves Sid in a place where his future might not look so foggy after all.

I've liked every Dick Francis novel I've read and know I can count on them to be excellent reads. I relish the thought of riding along with Sid as he becomes a full-fledged detective.

Second Read: Sid Halley is a most interesting character. Having not read one since 2011, I was quite delighted to have found a copy and was able to read it. Going to keep hunting. My Mom was a huge Dick Francis fan and she introduced him to me. We were both hooked and really enjoyed it. This was like being with an old friend and it was most enjoyable. One of the few characters champion jockey-turned-racetrack mystery writer Dick Francis has ever written more than one novel about is champion jockey-turned-racetrack private eye SID HALLEY. When his left hand is crippled in a racing accident, Halley is devastated. It's a fall from grace. Unable to face a future without racing, he takes up self-pity. Fortunately, his ex-father-in-law steps in and cons Sid into investigating some shady goings-on at a racetrack he has an interest in.

It turns out to be the boot in the arse Sid needs. Discovering he has a knack for detective work, he sets himself up as a private investigator, sometimes assisted by boyhood chum and sometime-judo instructor Chico Barnes. The crippled, introspective, moody Halley and the rough-and-tumble, happy-go-lucky Barnes are a memorable team.

Francis captures perfectly the fears, insecurities and the vulnerability of a one-handed man in a two-handed world. In a society that worships the beautiful, the deformed are the true outsiders, watching from outside the circle of light, nursing their pain and resentment, hiding their hurt like so much shame, watching. It's a toss-up as to who's the better one-armed dick -- Halley or Michael Collins' Dan Fortune.

In 1978, a British television series based on the characters created in Odds Against appeared, entitled The Racing Game. Francis served as a consultant and was very impressed with the young, one-handed actor, Michael Gwilym, who played Sid Halley. So impressed that he wrote a sequel, 1979's Whip Hand, and dedicated it to Gwilym. Many, including this author, consider it to be his best book.

And in 1995, for the first time in his career, Francis wrote a third book about the same character. Come to Grief brought us a much scarred Halley, coming to grips with his own mortality and limitations -- when a very close friend becomes the main suspect in a nasty case he's working on, involving the deliberate mutilation of racehorses. It's a troubling and disturbing read, but also a powerful one, and it nabbed Francis an unprecedented third Edgar nomination -- the only time three consecutive books in a series have each been nominated for an Edgar. Although Odds Against (his first nomination) lost, both Whip Hand and Come to Grief did win, the latter the same year he won the Grand Master award.

Unfortunately, Come to Grief was to be the last novel Francis would be able to complete with the assistance of his beloved wife and partner, Mary, who passed away in 2000. The 1999 unauthorised biography, Dick Francis: A Racing Life, had suggested that Francis' books had in fact been written by Mary herself, although Francis never confirmed the rumours. Certainly, though, Mary did do much of the research and editing of Francis' novels and stories, particularly the latter efforts.

After Mary's death, it was widely believed that Come to Grief would be Francis' final novel, but in September 2006 readers were treated to the unexpected appearances of a fourth Halley novel. Under Orders found Halley back on his feet (after the events of 1995's Come to Grief) and, if anything, more determined than ever.

First Read: I always enjoy reading a good Dick Francis novel. I really enjoy the Sid Halley series too. This is the first of them, and I really was glued to the book and didn't hardly move it was so good to me. They are pretty clean, the language isn't too bad, and not a lot of sex.... Sometimes I even reread the books, because it's like being with a friend you haven't seen in several years. I really enjoy the characters he uses, and also enjoy the series he writes about too. I'm not a gambler, but I really enjoy watching them live, as well as on screen. There is a certain excitement that I don't find in many other places.

Brilliant, but of it's age in its reference to a gay man as a person who is mentally affected.

A fast paced action story. Forgot how good Dick Francis was.

I fell in love with the Dick Francis novels in my horse-crazy teens, and read and re-read them into my early thirties. Now, twenty years later, I've suddenly taken a notion to read them again. I started with Odds Against because I'd always felt the Sid Halley "trilogy" were among his best--and I was not mistaken. The story is as taut and well-paced, the characters as absorbing, and the writing as cleanly understated as ever. I feel a Francis binge coming on...

Now if they'd just format them for Kindle.

update 2024: now they're on Kindle!

Another great book by Dick Francis, loved the character of Sid Hallay.

A fast, fun read, well up to the usual Francis standards.
Sid Halley, former jockey, has been working for a P.I. firm since his final race, which cost him the use of a hand. He had only been marking time until being shot during an ambush. He's given a big case involving racecourses that leads him to truly become an investigator, but at great cost.
Halley is a fantastic hero, sardonic and pragmatic, and the support characters are all swell. The mystery is properly twisty, and there is some rather nasty action as well.
All in all, this is a fine read, perfect for Francis fans as well as any mystery readers wanting to see what this author is all about.

I have not read a Dick Francis book in over 40 years, and I thoroughly enjoyed Against Odds, the story of Sid Halley, a retired steeplechase jockey. Like many detectives, Sid Halley, encounters death many times during the story: an excited thug shoots Sid in error and a group of thugs attempts to torture Sid into revealing the whereabouts of film negatives. England and steeplechase courses provide a compelling setting as Sid battles to save the demise of racing course slated for a capitalistic venture into housing units. The story delves into the beautiful versus the ugly, and which is truly good, which reminds me of the two women in High Noon---the black lady and the white lady in her wedding attire. Why so much emphasis on appearance as the indicator of good and evil. Sid’s venture into detective work at the urging of his father-in-law gives Sid a kick in his lethargy and pushes him into action. Dick Francis presents a descriptive book of both setting and characters which stroked the flames concerning steeplechase racing.

Sid Halley, former steeplechase jockey with a crippled hand from a fall, has spent the 2 years since the accident working in a detective agency. He figures that he is only there as a favor to his father in law, and he doesn't do much at all. On a night-time trap, he is shot in the stomach. While recovering at his father in laws Charles' home, Charles gets him involved in what he thinks is a scheme to take over a steeplechase race course and turn it in to building lots. Sid gets interested and gets some of his competitive fire back. During his unravelling of the case, he finds that he is actually a decent detective. Good book, interesting character. Look forward to another. No language.

probably the best known thriller by Dick Francis, the introduction of Sid Halley - steeplechase jockey turned private investigator. It contains all the trademark aspects of mr. Francis heroes and plot development, still fresh close to the start of his writing career

3 1/2 stars

I don't think I ever came across a Dick Francis main character that didn't engage my interest, but Sid Halley is a cut above the average. That doesn't mean he's my favourite, no, that privilege would have to go to Kit Fielding of "Break in" and "Bolt", but Sid Halley always makes for interesting reading. He is deep, complex, and can be very infuriating at times, but he never bores.

This was my first reading of book 1 in the Sid Halley series, though I've read all the others several times. Once Champion Jocky, Sid has been marking time since the loss of the use of his left hand made him unable to race. For two years he has acted as advisor to Hunt Radnor Associates, a successful detective agency. As the story begins, a bungled ambush has left him with a bullet in the belly. Far from pushing Sid further into depression, this seems to act as a wake up call, and when he visits his father-in-law to convalesce and meets the highly unlikeable Mr and Mrs Cray, who have some very nasty secrets in their suitcases, Sid's investigative antennae fairly begin to quiver.

This was another great Dick Francis read. When I write reviews for these books I find myself using the same words over and over, but this is why I find these books so consistently good, and why I go back to them again and again. The story had me from the first few sentences. The research was flawless, the characters were well drawn. The descriptions of places and people were vivid. The denouement was edge of the seat. There was a twist I totally wasn't expecting. I finished the book wanting more, and I will definitely read the rest of the series now, as it's a while since I did. I just love this author so much! The one sadness I have is that I wish he'd written four books about Kit Fielding as well! ☺

”It came, the blinding flash in the eyes, as we soared into the air. White, dazzling, brain shattering light, splintering the day into a million fragments and blotting out the world in a blaze as searing as the sun.

I felt Revelation falling beneath me and rolled instinctively, my eyes open and quite unable to see. There there was the rough crash on the turf and the return of vision from light to blackness and up through grey to normal light.”

n  n

Two years ago Sid Halley crashed during a horse race and horse shoes made razor thin by use sliced up his left arm like roast beef at the deli counter. The doctors wanted to take his arm, but he insisted that they sew it up and hope for the best.

The best turned out to be an arm so deformed that people can’t bear to look at it and can’t bear to look away. Sid learns to hide his hand in his pocket. His days as a championship steeplechase jockey are over. He has a friend give him a job in his detective agency out of pity or with the hopes to put him back on his feet? Sid isn’t sure, but he is itching to get back to feeling useful.

The novel begins with Sid recovering from a bullet wound to his stomach. His first stakeout did not go very well. His wife has left him, but his father-in-law the Admiral, who didn’t want him in the first place, is sticking with him. It seems like when things start going wrong for someone they keep going wrong. Sid barely has time to recover from one disaster before another is staring him in the face.

Sid finds himself saddled with a nonexistent personal life, but hopes that throwing himself into a case will at least keep him occupied. He starts investigating a series of mishaps at a local racetrack. This quickly escalates into a scam worth millions and when things are worth millions people who get in the way start to get hurt. Sid can’t clear all the jumps that have been put in front of him. Desperate to help, and motivated by the natural tenacity that made him such a great jockey lands him at the mercy of a trio of crooks who enjoy administering pain to cripples.

And when they are beautiful it somehow lends more pain to the process.

”Doria Kraye stood there, maliciously triumphant. She was dressed theatrically in white slender trousers and a shiny short white jacket. Her dark hair fell smoothly, her face was as flawlessly beautiful as ever: and she held rock steady in one elegant long-fingered hand the little .22 automatic I had last seen in a chocolate box at the bottom of her dressing-case.”

‘The end of the line, buddy boy,’ she said.”

Sid does meet a woman who doesn’t wish to be as beautiful as Doria Kraye, but she does wish that she could be normal, just plain would be fine. Fire has turned a portion of Zanna’s face into a dreadful mess. She can’t just hide her face in her pocket like Sid can his hand.

The interesting part that Dick Francis explores so deftly in this novel is the way people react to deformity. It brings out the absolute worst in some people by inspiring mystifying hatred or a smothering bout of pity or a chilling abhorrence when all anyone wants who has suffered some crippling accident is to be treated normal. Zanna moves her desk at work so the good side of her face is what people see. Even though she can’t see her face, she can see her face in the eyes of the people who notice the burns. The blanched expressions and the looks of horror never allow her to forget.

I used to believe that people who suffering these crippling injuries will eventually adjust and they do, but unfortunately the people that they see day in and day out do not ever allow them to just move on. They have to deal with the reactions to their injuries every day. Unless a person is strong willed their injury will end up defining them.

n  n
Even when they have lost their jockey some of the horses want to finish the race.

It has been a long time since I’ve read Dick Francis, too long. I enjoy horse racing, although I mostly stick to The Triple Crown of racing and the big races leading up to those events. I did recently, almost by accident, watch a steeplechase race from England on television. It was fascinating. The jumps, the jockeys who get thrown, and the horses that continue to run the race without their jockeys. I had never seen anything like it before. I don’t know how they keep enough steeplechase jockeys ambulatory to keep having races. That bit of fortuitous channel flipping did plant the seed back in my mind to read the Sid Halley series by Francis. I’d never read them, but always heard they were excellent. Next in the series is Whip Hand which many fervent Francis fans consider to be his best book. I for one can’t wait!