Review of Bullet Work

Bullet Work

Steve O'Brien

A&N Publishing 2011

ISBN 9780982073599

   Horse racing looks like it is all glamour. Everyone waiting for their horse to come in. Pass their competitors in the last few seconds of the race. Bring in the money. This is the story of the reality of the backside . There is a fierce competition between the jockeys, vets, owners and trainers. In this world of horse racing, something has gone seriously wrong. As opening day approaches, a horse is poisoned, one has it's leg crushed and another is kidnapped. Shock and anger travels throughout the race track.

   Despite all of the security efforts, the brutally continues. Dan Morgan has a vested interest because his two year old filly is targeted. In amidst this turmoil, a young' horse whisperer' by the name of AJ Kaine is befriended by Dan. He is a lonely, hotwalker at the track. A hotwalker is the lowest of jobs in the backside. AJ has a secret that may be able to help corner the killer. Will Dan and AJ be able to crack the case or will they be the next victims?

   I am not a horse racing fan so I had some difficulty in following parts of the book. There was a fair amount of detail describing the ins and outs of horse racing, betting on racing, workings of the track, etc. I was rather lost in some of this detail and found I either had no idea what I was reading or just skimmed over it. I actually found a lot of this was unnecessary to the storyline. The actual storyline was not bad but all of the extraneous information bogged the story down. I would have rather seen more story and less of the other information.

   Dan and AJ were probably my favorite characters in the story. AJ was quite the unlikely character; but he had more integrity then anyone else in the story. He was a prime example of how the less fortunate can be ridiculed in society. Dan was an attorney who befriended AJ. Other then the horses, Dan was the only person to show any real decency and compassion for him.

   This was a story of horse racing; but it was a story of greed and extortion. A story showing the lengths that people will go to in order to get what they want. Parts of the storyline dragged because of all the racing details. I would have liked to see more indepth storyline and less of the other stuff. The last third of the book was the best part because most of the action was there. If you are a fan of horse racing, you would probably enjoy this book much more then I did.

   I received this book free from the Cadence Group for the purposes of reading and reviewing the book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I was not compensated in any way except for being provided the book. 

I gave Bullet Work 3 out of 5 stars