Dark Horse

By: Tami Hoag

Narrated by: Beth McDonald

Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

In a trailer in a Florida swamp, time is running out for Erin Seabright. A pawn in a kidnapper's terrifying game for a ransom no one can pay, her last hope is a washed-up ex-cop who has already lost it all - not once, but twice.

The wealthy world of the Palm Beach horsey set seems a long way from a cop's world in the narcotics division. A lifetime ago, undercover sheriff's detective Elena Estes worked the mean streets and back alleys, living by her wits and playing the long odds until she took one risk too many. Now Estes lives on the ragged edge of lost hope and self-hatred, hiding from the past and believing she doesn't deserve to have a future. But the past is about to come back with a vengeance, and the future is about to become a race between life and death.

A young woman is missing and her 12-year-old stepsister comes to Estes for help. No one but serious, studious Molly Seabright seems concerned about what's happened to her troubled older sister. Estes has no P.I. license, and no desire to break her self-imposed exile. But the more she learns about the people Erin Seabright was involved with, the more her long-dormant cop instincts come back to life.

One trip to the showgrounds where Erin worked as a groom, and Estes is quickly pulled to the dark side of a glamorous sport. Behind the ultra-rich facade is an ultra-ruthless world of drugs, payoffs, and dirty deals. And in that world stalks a killer who will lead Estes down a twisted trail of mayhem and murder to a final showdown that could cost her everything. A race against time and evil. A race in which Estes is the dark horse...and no one is betting on her to win.

©2002 Tami Hoag (P)2002 Random House Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

"A definite winner." (Booklist)

Dressage anyone?

I wondered as I listened just how many people could relate to the horsey part. Maybe I underestimate the number and those who would pick up this particular book. I grew up riding so I followed that part easily. Had I not had that experience I would have moved on.

But in the rest of the book the characters fell like flies. Most of us can claim a dysfunctional family but this family re-defines dysfunctional. Some of it was downright funny, most of it was getting to know the characters so we would understand when they were murdered.

I'm really not sure I would recommend this but then again I've read much worse.

Not my favirite

I did not care for this book as much as the other Hoag books I've read.
For some reason it just was not as interesting and became difficult to follow!

Fast Paced

My sister recommended this writer to me and she was right. It is a fast paced book. I did not want to turn it off. The Alibi Man is another book that includes the same characters. Tami Hoag uses strong language in her books, so if you fine it offensive, you might want to try a different writer. She did write White Knight that is more of a love story than a detective type novel.

Loved it

Loved the book, loved the narration. Didn't guess the ending. A sure winner.

Great Listen!

Tami Hoag has always been one of my favorite authors and she didn't disappont me on "Dark Horse" The narrator was awesome and brought the charactors to life. It had just the right amount of suspence and drama and the ending was a surprise! It's certainly worth the money!

Decent

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It depends. This was a nice little diversion but it's not high art or anything. The pace was a little slow, the characters were one-dimensional, and the plot was predictable. But sometimes you just want a bit of light reading, something easy that doesn't make a lot of demands on you as a reader/listener. This is that kind of book.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Actually, the ending was telegraphed pretty clearly from the beginning so I kind of spaced out by the end. There was a bit of violent action in the last few chapters, though.

Have you listened to any of Beth McDonald’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

She was solid - she struck a nice balance - interpreting the characters, without becoming too distracting. I don't think I've listened to anything else by her but I'd try another with her narration.

Do you think Dark Horse needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Absolutely not. I was pretty tired of the main character by the end.

Any additional comments?

Tami Hoag has a formula and it works. I generally find her stuff either okay or totally unreadable. I usually get a little offended by her misrepresentation of feminism and her main characters are pretty much all the same - but I also like mystery/suspense/procedurals and I like bad fiction! So if you've read Tami Hoag, you know what you're in for here. If you haven't, this was a pretty decent one.

wonderful book

As an equine enthusiast, involved heavily in training and showing horses, this book has grown into one of my favorites. It is very accurate, the author understands horses, showing and the "scene". She does a wonderful job portraying both animals and the people attached to them. I absolutely adore this book and wish Mrs. Hoag would do more books of the Wellington show scene, and these characters!
I also really enjoy the narrator, I think her voice fits the main character and flow of the book very well!

Exciting and intriguing

I struggled at the beginning of the book and had to force myself to continue. But I am so happy that I did because I found that I couldn't stop listening!!!

Really great after the first 5 hours

A lot of editing was needed on the first chapters. It seemed like Tami Hoag was determined to tell us everything she had learned about the horse industry. This gave the poor narrator very little to work with and bogged the story down. But once it got started, the narrator got into full swing, the pace quickened and the story and characters became very engaging. I've missed Kovak and Lisa and hope that Elena and Lowery (? forgot his name) might make a similar pairing.

Horses and Murder

I loved this book! I'm an animal-lover and was fascinated by the information about dressage (the fancy footsteps that horses and their riders can do.) I've seen this done and it is so beautiful to see how the horse and rider can "dance" so gracefully. Also, I can really identify with female detectives and murder mystery stories since my own background is in law enforcement. This particular female detective/ex-cop (Elena Estes) was ridden with guilt for an on-duty mistake she made which cost her partner his life, left her with horrible scars and rendered her an outcast with her former fellow officers. She lost her friends, her job, her looks, and her self-confidence and fought suicidal thoughts as she spiraled downward. I could feel her thoughts as she faced her physical and emotional battles. Somehow a lonely, unloved and desperate little girl named Molly managed to pierce through Elena's shell and asked for help in solving the disappearance of Molly's older sister. This book is a good choice!