The Danger » (Large Print)

Dick Francis was one of the most successful postwar steeplechase jockeys, winning more than 350 races and riding for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. After his retirement from the saddle, he published an autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write more than forty acclaimed books, including the New York Times bestsellers Even Money and Silks. A three-time Edgar Award winner, he also received the prestigious Crime Writers Association s Cartier Diamond Dagger, was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen s Birthday Honours List in 2000. He died in 2010 at age eighty-nine, and remains among the greatest thriller writers of all time.

Felix Francis is the younger of Dick Francis s two sons. Over the last forty years Felix has assisted with the research of many of the Dick Francis novels, not least Twice Shy, Shattered, and Under Orders. Since 2006, Felix has taken a more significant role in the writing, first with Dead Heat and then increasingly with the bestsellers, Silks and Even Money. Crossfire is the fourth novel of this father-and-son collaboration. Felix Francis lives in England.

When a string of kidnappings rocks the horse racing world, Andrew Douglas is brought in to recover the missing-without becoming the next victim.

Library Journal

As a security consultant for a quiet and unspectacular British firm known as Liberty Market, Andrew Douglas works with the families of kidnap victims and local law enforcement agencies to free hostages and, if possible, capture their abductors. Andrew is very good at his job, and his success depends on remaining in the background; in this shadowy position, he has so far managed to bring 15 kidnap incidents to successful conclusions. The 16th case, arranging the release of Italy's most popular female jockey, Alessia Pucinelli, takes his life in an entirely new direction. Andrew's investigations into the unusual circumstances of her captivity lead him to suspect a pattern; it seems that this particular technique has been used by a gang before. Tony Britton's quiet, low-key voice gives the listener an excellent picture of the quiet, low-key characters that Francis (Hot Money) makes into heroes. Britton is also good at creating Italian accents that sound neither comic nor overdone, yet manage to be quite distinct from each other. For public library collections where Francis's works and/or suspense novels are popular.--Barbara Rhodes, Northeast Texas Lib. Syst., Garland Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\