Dark Horse

By: Tami Hoag

Narrated by: Beth McDonald

In her latest thriller, New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag takes readers on a suspense-filled ride of shocks and twists leading to an explosive finish. It is the story of an ex-cop, a missing girl, and a killer locked in a race where there can be only one winner--and the losers die trying.

In a trailer in a Florida swamp, time is running out for eighteen year-old 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 horse 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 BackTop 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 twelve 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. But Molly is convinced Erin is in danger. Estes has no P.I. license, no interest in a new career, 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 show grounds where Erin worked as a groom, and Estes is quickly pulled to the dark side of a glamorous sport. Behind the glittering, ultra-rich facade is an ultra-ruthless world of drugs, payoffs, and dirty deals. A world of dissolute playboys and crooked horse-dealers, of royalty and rabble, of rivals and enemies. An obscenely wealthy world where anything can be had for a price--including a life.

And in that world stalks a killer who will lead Estes down a dark, twisted trail of decadence and deceit, mayhem and murder--from the gilded life of Palm Beach to the darkest corners of the Florida swamps, to a final show-down 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

“With its hard-boiled view of equine society, Dark Horse helps fill the gap made in crime fiction by the retirement of jockey-turned-author Dick Francis.”—The Wall Street Journal

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.

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....