Banker

By: Dick Francis

Narrated by: Tony Britton

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Tim Ekaterin's merchant bank, like all banks, only invests in sure things. Now he's about to involve it in ₤5 million of prime horseflesh, a stallion called Sandcastle. Top breeders reckon it's the safest bet in racing. But racing doesn't just attract the money men of the city. It's riddled with all kinds of dubious dealmakers. People who don't think twice about breaking bones. People to whom no bet is safe until it's paid in blood, Ekaterin's blood.

©1982 Dick Francis (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Sue me -- I love D. Francis

Yes, he uses a formula -- but what a formula. As usual, this is fast-paced, complex enough to be interesting, and full of research details that bring the story alive.

I think he's an excellent writer. There's no other thriller/mystery author who is so consistently excellent.

Get it!

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

on par

if you are familiar with his writing you won't be disappointed . If this is your first experience with dick francis you won't be disappointed either.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Poor rendition, not the one I bought

I like most of Tony Britton's readings, but this one suffers in comparison to that of Simon Prebble. It really aggravates me to have paid for Prebble's rendition and to have gotten this one instead. When we choose and pay for a specific audio book, that's the one we ought to receive, not something different.

banker

What did you love best about Banker?

its another good storyline from dick francis a little differant from normal as tim isn,t a jockey or ex good read

Who was your favorite character and why?

tim a little differant but in a good way

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

yes several love the style and storys

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Stick with it

the story unfolds slowly-very slowly, but interesting tho not 'suspensfull' the only thing I didn't like was that the hero is 32 or 33 and the narrator sounds 65. bad choice.

Another Dick Francis Classic

Another Dick Francis Classic. Great with a fast moving engaging plot, a page turner,a great companion for anyone.

Love Dick Francis books

This reader was perfect for the story. Good story. Will really miss this author.

Hard to put down

A mystery story that made me laugh and cry. I thought I should give this 4 stars because the audio quality was very inconsistent, but I couldn't do it. The story is just too good. His characters are so real, the details are perfectly given. The narrator is wonderful. This is only my third Francis book, I'm truly looking forward to the rest. I've just got to catch up on my sleep first, as this one kept me up very late last night. I couldn't put it down. The story is about making friends, trusting your instincts, love, hate, jealousy, heartbreak, remorse, and, of course, horses. Very well done!

A delightful listening experience

I really enjoyed this book! The reader is fantastic, and his voice modulation for the various characters is perfect. The story line of horse breeding is very interesting and I found myself going back to re-listen to a part, if my mind drifted a bit. Some of the reviewers said that this is not Francis' best, so I will definitely download his others.

Worth it

Interesting storyline, well told without frills and misdirections. Excellently narrated. Worth the investment of time and money.

Excellent

Typical Dick Francis well written and interesting the story keeps moving and maintains interest. Anyone who likes previous books will thoroughly enjoy this.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Deeply moving, intelligent book

I love Dick Francis' books. This is one of my most favourite. Painfully moving in parts, and haunting once read. The uncompromising nature of greed.

Poor sound

The quality of the recording is challenging to listen to but the story is quite good

Wonderful

I can listen endlessly to this. The narrator is soothing and the storyline great. Bliss

When bankers used to be the good guys

Written long before lax regulations and greed put bankers beyond the pale, this is an interesting tale of a stud farm whose future hangs on the purchase of a £5m horse to improve the quality of its foals. But as usual dark deeds are afoot to scupper their new acquisition, and it's up to our likeable hero banker to delve the depths and sort it out. It plods along at a reasonable pace, though after the initial action at Ascot there are no helter-skelter racing scenes nor much scent of the turf, so it lacks the spills and thrills of other Francis novels. It's a fairly strong detective story with numerous strands that are neatly tied up by the end.

Like many of these old Dick Francis/Tony Britton recordings, the overall sound quality drags this title down into 3* territory. It's just about tolerable as there's no obvious background hiss (unlike 'Straight'), but the sound leaps around all over the place with blurry, muddied sections, some over-fast bits, and a general 'copied from worn audiotapes' nastiness. A pity.

Another enjoyable listen

Alway seem to enjoy Francis books, this one really good listen.
Kept the interest in the story going right to the end, excellent.

Another great listen

anything narrated By Tony Britton is destined to be great. A shame about background hiss

An amazing Story.

Possibly one of the best Francis novels. The audio version by Tony Britain brings life to the book.

A Cracking Listen

Well worth a try, even if you are new to Dick Francis. The book moves along at a fairly swift pace but is a little predictable. The narration is excellent and Tony Britton really brought the characters to life for me.

Not one of his best

An enjoyable book, but not quite as good for me as his usual books, I felt it was a little formulaeic and the characters weren't quite up to scratch. It was still enjoyable though, and worth reading.