Overview
"In 2002, seven friends from their days at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, are getting together for a few flutters on the horses. On this magical day they hit the Pick Six. It's a lot of money. And their leader, Arnie Rison, convinces them to use some of their seven-figure payoff to buy race horses." "Here they get lucky again: one of their buys turns out to be a stallion with sensational speed. A money-maker. When injury sidelines The Badger Express in 2005, he is worth a fortune more at stud fees. So Arnie instigates an agreement: if one of the significant seven dies, the others assume his share down to the last survivor." It's now 2009. When members of the group begin to drop like flies, ad-man-turned-investigator Jack Doyle finds himself protecting Renee Rison, Arnie's daughter. Will the always irreverent, observant, opinionated, sometimes mistaken but always persistent Jack Doyle solve not one, but two, series of crimes?
Synopsis
Seven lifelong friends and racing fans from their student days at the University of Wisconsin strike it lucky at Saratoga Race Track when they combine to win a plus million dollar Pick Six. They subsequently use some of those profits to buy race horses, one of which, The Badger Express, turns out to be a sensational runner, stallion, and money maker. Seven years later, the men become targets of a professional assassin, an ex-Navy SEAL and Iraq private security guard named Orth. They begin dying, one by one. Jack Doyle returns to the race track, volunteering to aid FBI agents in a search for criminals fixing races. Doyle then becomes involved in protecting Rene Rison, the favored daughter of the Significant Seven's leader Arnie Rison. Jack Doyle, as always irreverent, observant, opinionated, sometimes mistaken but always persistent, eventually manages to find answers to the questions of who is fixing the races and who is having members of the Significant Seven killed off.
Publishers Weekly
In McEvoy's fine fourth horse racing mystery (after 2008's Close Call), FBI agents persuade reluctant sleuth Jack Doyle to work undercover for a Chicago trainer to discover the culprits fixing races by “sponging” the favorite, an ugly practice that deprives the horse of enough oxygen to race effectively. Interwoven is the feel-good story of the Significant Seven—seven middle-aged friends who parlayed a huge pari-mutuel win into a small but successful racing syndicate thanks to the racing and stud career of a horse named the Badger Express. Seven years after their initial win, a pair of trained killers, both ex-navy SEALs, begin systematically eliminating the syndicate members. When Jack becomes suspicious about their deaths, he also becomes a target. McEvoy is a racing expert whose knowledge permeates the pages, and, like any good tout, he's full of amusing stories about horses, bettors, and trackmen. (Apr.)