A very interesting take on a faith healer for sick horses. And a very different love triangle!! A great read

It seems to me that I am, slowly but surely, becoming a Dick Francis fan. After "Reflex", "Banker" came next on my list. Here are my thoughts after reading the novel.

The composition of this novel mirrors that one of "Reflex", in terms of slowly unfolding plot. However, unlike "Reflex", "Banker" spans over the time period of three years. But thanks to Mr. Francis' polished writing, the transitions between the years are smooth, and the final product is a well-paced novel. The events at the beginning of the novel might seem random at first, but as the book progresses, it becomes obvious fairly quickly that things are not as benevolent as they might seem at first glance. The deviousness and foul-play seethe under the surface, almost like in "Rosemary's baby", but on a minuscule level - here we haven't got any satanists, but there are certainly mysterious conspiracies. The latter were very well thought of; I predicted a thing or two, perhaps, but that's because I love to propose outrageous theories during the reading of a novel (at times they turn out to be correct), and not because the novel is predictable.

Then there's the protagonist. Tim Ekaterin is... well, what to say? The kind of guy you want to have around, in any kind of function. He's determined to make a name for himself and prove himself worthy of a responsible position at the bank, he contemplates every candidate for financing with much care and forethought. He's honorable and trustworthy - the type that always does the right thing, no matter what. Tim goes to extreme lengths to save his bank's money, and while that may sound as if though he's cold and calculative, it's not so. He often reacts on instinct, which in the end always proves to be a good thing to do. Although one can hardly find a fault in Tim's character, I just can't help but like him. Francis made his character believable, and that's good enough for me!

As I've gathered, the common denominator of all Dick Francis novels is the tie with the late writer's former occupation. "Banker" is indirectly connected with the world of horses and racing. It primarily deals with the goings on in a London merchant bank, but as the novel progresses, certain aspects of the racing world emerge and take the steering wheel, so to speak. However, Tim's job at Ekaterin's is described very persuasively, and the reader can get a fairly good idea about what being a director in a merchant bank is about. As Tim examines an unusual case which requires his stamp of approval for financing, both he and the reader get enlightened about running a horse farm, and the proper care and feeding of race horses, which make the novel more interesting and give it that special Francis flare.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this book, and I can recommend it to everyone looking for an entertaining mystery read. Suitable for youngsters.

P.S. I also like the ambiguous title of the novel! Such wordplay is always bound to get extra points from me.

This isn't necessarily a bad book but not a lot happens for the first two thirds of the book. Tim is a partner in an investment bank and encourages the partners to give a loan to a stable for a winning racehorse that they will put out to stud. All seems to go fine until the foals of the horse are born with birth defects. This will ruin the stud farm. To make matters worse, the daughter of the farm owner dies after being hit on the head. It turns out that she discovered that the mares were being poisoned when they were pregnant, causing the defects. The culprit was a famous horse whisperer who was really nothing more than a fraud. He and the vet were in cahoots with the vet giving drugs that made the horses sick and then the horse whisperer would charge heavy fees to "cure" the horse. A long book for very little plot.

This is my first Dick Francis Book. I am officially a fan. The book is a story first and foremost. A “horsey”crime or two is added to create suspense and then a murder which shocked me and broke my heart. A bit of bravery at the end to solve the crime and it even has a romantic story threaded through it all. What more could one ask for! A very enjoyable read.

Dick Francis was a lucky son-of-a-gun. He got to research a new topic of interest every year with his wife in order to write a new how-to guide of said topic / murder mystery, plus some horses of course.

There were deaths in this one that I found harder to swallow than some of his other books, and that on top of some problematic remarks and a very abrupt ending kept this from being rated any higher, though there's some pretty good character work throughout.

Tim Ekaterin, an investment banker helps to arrange a large loan for Oliver Knowles to purchase and breed a champion horse, Sandcastle. When foals begin to be born, many have severe birth defects. Oliver is in danger of going bankrupt, and Tim becomes involved in attempts to understand what is happening and why. Also involved in the story is Calder Jackson, a veterinarian who seems to have a magic way with healing horses. The book starts rather slowly, but once all the characters are in place, the story really takes off. I thought that I had kept up with each new Dick Francis book over the years, but I’m sure I never read this one before. It was well worth the wait.

This is not my favorite of Francis’ novels that he has written. It seemed to take forever for anything to happen besides banking stuff, like lending money to people/businesses that wants to start up, or expand. And while I do usually enjoy a good lead up to the action and some back story, this banking stuff had me quite bored.
Once things got more interesting (for me alone, it seems), the novel got a lot better. I’m glad to see that it finally also started being centered around horses and racing, as that’s what I come to Francis’s novels for.
The sudden ending was a bit startling, as Francis never usually ends his novels like that. There is at least some tying up of lose ends, unlike this. But oh well, it’s not difficult to imagine what happened next.
Simon Prebble narrated the audiobook version of this novel, and he is, as usual, very good at his job. His acting abilities are wonderful.

3.5 stars, but still recommended

I'm rereading (not for the first time) all my DF books after many years and didn't remember anything about this one. SPOILERS: I think it's the most depressing of all. I didn't care for all the deaths, including the last one which was just too convenient. A very clever plot as usual, but I wasn't happy with the book overall. I put "like" just because he's so good.

I first read this one in the 1980s and reading it again now it remains a good thriller while at the same time seeming so dated. The bloodstock industry has transformed since those days, as have knowledge and understanding in the fields of veterinary science and equine behaviour. A stallion who covers only 40 mares in a season now is viewed as something of a failure – it's been that way since the 1990s – with the concept of a stallion's book, in its original sense, long gone the most popular stallions covering 100-200 mares in a season, sometimes more. Anyhow, this story is a good one, with vivid characters and an intriguing plot.

This quote from the book - "You always take sunshine with you. Everything brightens when people like you walk in" gives the perfect character sketch of all Dick Francis Heroes.
The Hero in this book, Tim Ekaterin is a Banker. He has to work extra hard to fight the accusations of being promoted due to nepotism. You see, his grandfather was one of the founders of the Bank.
I wonder where Dick Francis gets his ideas from. The plot is unique, even when centered around horse-racing, like all his other books. And this had so much information about stud farms, horse diseases and pharmacology and insuring investments. And also, about Banking! Just read the sub-plot where he takes the risk of investing in a young cartoonist, and you will know what I mean.

For a change, the Hero doesn't ride horses and hence probably saved from repeatedly getting injured. He does get almost killed in the end, but what fun is it if the Hero doesn't break a few bones (his own) and save the day!
I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I have already started reading the next Dick Francis

This is DF's second best book, to date (Proof is arguably the best). Certainly, it is the one most different from his previous books although, like all the rest, horse racing figures prominently. The basic plot is that a man with a whole lot of ex-wives is murdered. Which ex-wife did it? Read and find out.

I really have enjoyed the Dick Francis novels that I have read. I liked this one and could easily give it 4 stars instead of 3, but there was an overload of unnecessary "bad things" that really did not advance the plot which I found irritating. There wasn't really much doubt as to the source of the various problems, and it was just overdone. Disappointing in the end.