Dark Horse

By: Tami Hoag

Narrated by: Beth McDonald

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)

A real winner!!

Tami takes the triple crown with Dark Horse. The narrator does an excellent job with bringing the characters to life. The story keeps you guessing throughout the entire book. She is becoming one of the very best authors in the genre. Buy and enjoy!

Every night!

I couldn't wait to go to bed and listen!!
Great story, well read. I am sad that it ended.

Hoag has it...

I always enjoy a book that is successful in creating a strong but likeable female as the central character. Elena Estes is just that; tough yet incredibly fragile, gutsy but dealing with deep fears, just a good complex character with a great wisecrack built right in. I'm hoping that there is a future for this her in books to come. It will be interesting to see how she develops....

Gripping stuff.

A story that grabs you from the off and keeps going all the way. The narration was good and the almost 14 hours of the story seemed far too short.

This sort of story justifies the ?430 spent on my ipod.

Dark Horse

Terrific first audio book for me. Initially, I didn't know if I would care for "being read to". Well, the narration was wonderful and this excellent Tami Hoag story was enhanced by Beth McDonald's narrative abilities. Beth's textured voice portrayed the heroine and other characters in a very real way. Not for one moment did I think she was "acting." The other thing that I really liked, was although I hated interrupting the story for, well, life, it was very easy to get back in to the story when I was ready for escaping back into the tale.

Narrator ruined the whole thing

Narrator was great...had she been reading a children's book. Ruined the whole thing! c
Couldn't tell what age the main character was supposed to be portrayed as, narrator made her sound like an old smoker, which contradicted the story. Could have been a good book....but wasn't.

great read

this is the third time reading it in the past 5 years. i might forget about it for a time but the second i stumble across it i just have to re-read it.

Great Listen

I really enjoyed this book. It kept my interst from the beginning to the last lines. Elle was very interesting and not the usual lady detective type. You slowly get to know her and fill she is the typical person with problems and doubts like we all have. I'm looking forward to another case with her as the lead.

Dark Horse

Any additional comments?

Audiobook. Dark Horse is read by Beth McDonald, and she does a great job. There are multiple point of view shifts and she handles the switch from male to female in such a manner that the listener keeps up. The current mantra that authors must select a specific point of view and stick with it at all costs is, well, to be blunt: bull. How this fallacy got started is beyond me. Successful authors like Tami Hoag and many others (hello, Stephen King), take all the so called writing rules and stir them in a stew, scooping out only the most delectable bits for themselves. Which is as it should be.

Dark Horse is an enjoyable mystery, with all the twists as turns you’d expect. A nice who-done-it. The female protagonist is an emotionally fragile and physically damaged former police officer embroiled in a missing person case by a youngster needing to find her older sister. The horse world setting is a educational and fun arena in which to be engrossed.

A most significant element is the reader voice. Barbara Rosenblat’s interpretation of Anna Pigeon, the main character in the Nevada Barr series, is similar to that of Beth McDonald. A sarcastic and witty character, Elena from Dark Horse has more reason for the caustic look on life, in my opinion.

Wonderful

What did you love best about Dark Horse?

Dark Horse had a gripping plot with an unpredictable yet satisfying end.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character Estes was interesting- a gritty character with a dark past, yet realistic and never cheesy.

What about Beth McDonald’s performance did you like?

The narrator did well and gave a gritty, exciting feel to the story.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this audiobook to anyone who wants an exciting mystery thriller within the backdrop of a realistic horse-person theme.