False Riches

De: John Paul Miller

Narrado por: Kate Wisniewski, Perry Meehan

Amos Moon, a framed exercise rider/assistant trainer, and Rixie Ricksland, a NESPA agent/private investigator, take on the unscrupulous world of horse racing to avenge an injured rider. Over time they fall in love… but not with each other.

Exercise rider and assistant trainer at HorseShoeDowns Amos Moons, dreams of owning BigOilRig, a thoroughbred racehorse. The son of a degenerate gambler, Amos doesn’t put much stock in dreams until he bets $360 and hits a Superfecta that pays out $110,000.

Rixie arrives at HorseShoeDowns to take on the unscrupulous world of horse racing—and to avenge an injured rider and the death of a jockey.

Even though Rixie thinks Amos is innocent, she informs Amos that he’s under investigation for race fixing and if convicted, could spend time in prison. She devises a plan to suspend Amos from the track and ship him and his rescued dog off to an equine assisted therapy center. With Amos helping rehabilitate women prisoners and fighting for their rights, Rixie explores the track’s underworld, establishing relationships with a colorful cast of characters as she unravels the mystery that brought her here.

Fraught with symbolism and compassion for horses, False Riches tells two stories in tandem: one about a man and the horse who symbolized the lost life he never had with his father, and the other about a career woman who hasn’t searched for love.

False Riches will appeal to listeners who respect characters who strive for justice, fair and humane treatment of animals and admire characters who adapt to life’s conditions, choices and consequences.

©2023 John Paul Miller (P)2024 John Paul Miller

One of the worst books I’ve ever read

So poorly written and shoddily researched. I only stuck with it because it was a book club book, and I felt obligated. My main sticking points:
1. Amos had a truck that he drove to meet the two track security people (Rixie and Max), and then he’s bumming a ride everywhere.
2. No race tracker agrees to meet someone at 8:30 p.m. without protest—they’re in bed by then.
3. The prisoners working for free. At prisons that have former racehorses (TRF programs), all of the prisoners receive a small stipend for all the work they do (kitchen, janitorial, barn chores, working with horses), and/or they get a reduction in their sentence for the 6 months they work.
3. $250/day = $15,000 for 2 months (Amos’s paid leave) Really??!!!
4. There are exactly zero racetrack barns with multi-room apartments/living quarters in/above the barn.
5. In this book NESPA is obviously supposed to be HISA and they do not have a private plane for Lisa Lazarus, et al.
6. The writer clearly does not understand what an “Optional Claiming” race is.
7. “Rescue” a horse from the track??!!! Please!
Thoroughbeds are treated like kings and queens at the track.
8. The type of plane the writer describes does not land at Bowman Field in Louisville. Those types of private planes use a private airport adjacent to SDF.
9. No one has ever died from non-displaced rib fractures six weeks after the initial fracture.
10. You cannot just tell the jockey not to carry a riding crop. You can ask them not to use it, but not carrying a crop has to be approved by the stewards.
Add to that, that the two actors who narrated this book are terrible. Actually, the woman wasn’t too bad. The man… I’ve never heard of worst actor/narrator.