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STALKING HORSE

John Francome

Headline £10.99 Dec 2003

Reviewed by Simon Kernick

Josh Swallow is a highly experienced, soon-to-be-retiring jockey who wants to go out as champion in this, his last season as a rider. Yet events are conspiring against him. Firstly, there’s young Irish whippersnapper, Ben O’Brien, who’s already steaming ahead in the championship with no sign of flagging. Then there’s Leo Lovell, a big shot horse trainer who used to be Josh’s mate but who fell out with him after he caught Josh sleeping with his wife. And, of course, there’s the wife herself, Annabelle, who’s quite a frisky sort. As the book begins, she’s coming on to Josh again, keen it seems to rekindle their affair.

And, by golly, if this isn’t enough, Josh has got his very own stalker too, and this one is seriously doolally, and not averse to a bit of murder either if it gets her closer to the man she loves. The fact that our hero is in a new and very happy relationship with an attractive young filly (metaphorically speaking, of course) and doesn’t even know she exists, is but a minor inconvenience. He’s going to know soon enough.

So, with all this in the pot, it promises to be an eventful few weeks for Josh as he makes his bid for glory. And so it proves. Coming under suspicion for murder, and losing more friends than a Tenerife timeshare salesman thanks to the antics of his stalker, he has enough trouble finding a horse to get on, let alone winning sufficient races to become champion.

Francome weaves the threads of his story into a fast-paced and enjoyable yarn with plenty of twists and turns, and one which leads to a suitably tense and satisfying finale. The writing style is breezy and light, and doesn’t strain the reader’s neurons too much, and if there’s one criticism I’d have, it’s that everything (from the plotting to the characterisation) is just a little bit too neat. But that’s a minor fault and the fact remains that I read the book in three sittings and was never in any doubt that I’d finish it, which is what I want from a thriller.