Third Race at the LT Racetrack: Book 2, Odds Against

Dick Francis Shared Read 2021 – March - April

Odds Against, Published in 1965



Synopsis: Former hotshot jockey Sid Halley landed a position with a detective agency, only to catch a bullet from some penny-ante thug. Now, he has to go up against a field of thoroughbred criminals--and the odds are against him that he'll even survive. (Amazon)

He is the only central character to appear in more than two Francis novels, and one of only two to appear more than once.1 (The other is Kit Fielding of Break In and Bolt.) Wikipedia

First in the Sid Halley series, comprising 5 novels:

Odds Against (1965)
Whip Hand 1979)
Come to Grief (1995)
Under Orders (2006)
Refusal (2013) (written by Felix Francis)

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Any and all comments, questions, or quotes that come to mind as you read are welcome. Please use spoiler tags for anything that might be a spoiler.



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After I re-read this first in the series, I'd like to read the other 4 sometime this year.

Got this thread on the Group wiki now.

Thank you, Jim!

Good choice, Karen. It has been a while since I read this one. I've read the first three in this series and was never motivated enough to pick up the last two. I might look for a used copy of Under Orders but I really have no interest in any series being continued by another author, even if it is his son, so I'll give the last one a pass.

Thanks, Julia!

I hadn't read any books by Dick Francis since joining LT in 2007, and am so glad that you got me interested again with the 2019 SHARED Reads. I read all 6 for 2019 and all 9 for 2020...

>5 karenmarie: It was good fun for me to read along with others. I was sad at the end of last year thinking it was the end, so I'm delighted that you picked up the torch to carry it on.

I'm going to read it now. Looking forward to another Dick Francis' book. 😃

There were lots of things that made this book hard to read but I ended up loving it in the end. Glad to know there are some more to read! Looking them up now.

I just found a secondhand copy online, I hope to get it this week.

I finished my re-read of this one and enjoyed it again. Given that all of Francis' protagonists are stoic sufferers of pain, I think Sid must be the absolute epitome of that. Such brutal treatment from such sick people.

Not at all sure I quite buy how quickly Miss Martin's attitude toward her own disfigurement turned around just because Sid was sympathetic but at least they didn't have Sid "cure" her through a romantic relationship.

I've finished it, too. It turned out that it was a reread for me, but I must have read it pr, so e-LT - 14! years ago. Mostly I didn't remember it, until the they saw the boilerman casually walking into the boiler room.

I have the second one in this series on MT TBR, so I'll join you for that one and maybe all of them. I'm interested to read the one by Felix Francis since I haven't read any of his continuations of his father's work.

>11 rosalita: Agree, agree agree with your comments.

Here is the cover from the edition I read. Horse (check). Bad hand (check). Don't think the cover designer read the book, though.

>7 Berly: Hi Kim! Glad you’re saddling up.

>8 Ameise1: Good to hear, Barbara.

>9 witchyrichy: Hi Karen. I’m glad that you loved it and are inspired to read more in the series. It turns out that I've read the first four in the series but don't remember a single thing about them, and I just ordered Felix Francis's Refusal, 5th in the series. Don't read the plot summary of this book online if you don't want spoilers.

>10 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Looking forward to hearing what you think about it.

>11 rosalita: Hi Julia. Yes, his heroes, especially the jockeys/ex-jockeys, are all experienced in riding/working through pain. I agree about Sid being the epitome. I wonder, 56 years after this book was first published, how many people were shocked at the S&M and bondage references? I agree with you 100% about your spoiler. I realized Miss Martin must have a facial disfigurement as soon as the office arrangement was described. I thought the part where she started pitying Sid and he called her out on it particularly powerful. The turnaround for her acceptance was short in the real world, but as a subplot it was nice to see Miss Martin’s acceptance by the end of the novel.

>12 streamsong: I agree, that cover is clearly off, Janet. I read most of Dick Francis pre-LT, and these last two years plus looking forward to this one are a nice reintroduction for me.

I have 3 Dick and Felix Francis collaborations on my shelves and it turns out that Felix Francis has written 10 on his own.

Some of you may be aware that I have finally settled into a book review method that reduces stress yet let’s me comment on every book I’ve read. I review books that I feel a particular need to, with date range read, image of my copy of the book, rating, plot summary, why I wanted to read it, comments as they take me, and a six-word summary. Books I don’t want to full-out review I put into my Lightning Round, an idea taken from msf59, Mark. I didn’t feel the need to review Odds Against, but here’s what I wrote and just published for my March Lightning Round:

Odds Against by Dick Francis 3/30/21 3/31/21 309 pages mass market paperback

Second book for this year’s Dick Francis SHARED Read, first book in the Sid Halley series. I’d forgotten how excellent this book was. Former jockey Sid Halley is a sad mope after a career-ending hand injury and is putting in time in a detective/enquiry agency. His wife has left him, too, and he passes the time basically doing nothing at the agency. He stumbles upon a possible case, takes it over with the blessing of the owner, and slowly starts figuring out the scope of the crime and just how evil the bad guys are. A very satisfying ending except for the torture he undergoes. Sid is intelligent, stoic, loyal, and trustworthy.

>13 karenmarie: Oh yes, the moment you mention in your spoiler was a great passage. It really captured the whole issue in a nutshell, didn't it?

>13 karenmarie: I gave Odds Against also 4 stars, I really liked the story except for what is in your spoiler, that was almost over the edge of tolerable to read.