- Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Pocket; Reprint edition (May 22 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671041851
- ISBN-13: 978-0671041854
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.7 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 222 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
An innocent man convicted of a crime he didn't commit finds a way out of prison just before his whole world--wife, kids, and business--goes to hell. But the way out has its own heavy price: it puts Ben Hemmings between ruthless federal agent Dan Patrone, who framed him in the first place, and Rollie Shore, an Atlanta mobster who Patrone wants Ben to bring down.
Before he went to prison, Ben built state-of-the-art barns for wealthy Georgia horse breeders and gentlemen farmers. Now Patrone wants Ben to use his knowledge and contacts to retrieve the extremely valuable horse semen presumably stolen from one of Ben's former clients before Shore gets his hands on it. But Shore, who's just been released from the same prison as Ben, is a very dangerous man to cross, as Ben well knows. Ben's fears for his family's safety--and Patrone's promise to send him back to prison for the rest of his life if he refuses--make the gamble a bet he can't afford not to make.
Much of the book takes place in the Alabama facility where Ben, Shore, and Ben's gentle cellmate, Black, are incarcerated. While David Ramus's characterization of Ben Hemmings, a decent man trapped by forces bigger than he is, is outstanding, the scenes of prison life are among the best in the book. That may be due to Ramus's firsthand knowledge of the world behind bars: he was a high-stakes art dealer in the '80s who got involved in drugs, corruption, and federal investigations. Having rehabilitated himself with two other solid thrillers (The Gravity of Shadows and Thief of Light), Ramus scores a bull's-eye with this one. --Jane Adams --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
The best moments in Ramus's third thriller are the scenes of prison life--not surprising, since the author is a former art dealer who did some hard time before writing his well-received Thief of Light and The Gravity of Shadows. His latest isn't as original as those art-flavored crime capers, involving instead a complicated and implausible scheme to steal and hold for ransom expensive samples of frozen sperm from top racehorses. Ben Hemmings, a builder of barns and stables for some of Atlanta's top horse breeders, gets into trouble when the Feds decide to turn his less -than scrupulous bookkeeping and his boyhood friendship with a gambler into a money-laundering charge in order to squeeze Hemmings into ratting out his old buddy. But Ben won't bend and gets a three-year-sentence from an unsympathetic judge. In the minimum-security Alabama prison, he's lucky to share a cell with a wise and relatively compassionate drug dealer called Black, who teaches him the art of survival. Rougher lessons are supplied by Rollie Shore, an elderly Jewish mobster who rules the prison. Offered a chance to get out of jail after 18 months by a devious FBI agent with a private agenda, Hemmings risks not only his own life but the safety of his increasingly desperate wife and their two young daughters in a wild scheme to go up against Shore--also soon freed from prison--and find the missing horse sperm. Readers might not buy into Ramus's tangled plot, but they should be moved by the chilling truths of his prison scenes. When Hemmings talks about daily life behind bars, surrounded by drug dealers and "a mix of losers and sociopaths who'd done everything from robbing banks to peddling stolen military hardware," his voice crackles with authenticity.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Real Page Turner!,
By
This review is from: On Ice (Mass Market Paperback)
I have met Mr. Ramus in real life. He's a friend of my father's, so when I saw the book on my father's shelf, I had to pick it up. I had been slightly unaware of Mr. Ramus' writing until that point. I usually can tell if I'm going to like a book within a few chapters. Needless to say I couldn't put this book down. I've now re-read it enough times to actually put cracks in the binding. It's a very wonderful piece of work, keeps you on edge. I happen to be a very big horse lover and this book's topic just hit me hard. I LOVE IT!... I've given the book to a few friends of mine to read, and so far they've all liked it. I say give it a try, you'll be surprised at Ramus' writing talent!!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read,
By
This review is from: On Ice (Mass Market Paperback)
Good Read. One that after you start you do not want to put down. Takes the horse racing scene, the prison scene, mixes them together and comes up with a good story. Nice education of horses and horse semen and makes it interesting. If you like a good story and a good read this is one to take with you on a trip. Light reading, however after you finish it you have enjoyed it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am 14 year old reading this novel and I love it,
This review is from: On Ice (Mass Market Paperback)
I can not put the book down , its wonderfullly written from what I read so far. I am not even barely aware that i am in my room when reading this ,it keeps my attention and it does not stay on one thing for to long. I like the way Mr. Ramus describes the characters. Its got everything I like , the horses , the fights , suspense , and a little bit of romance. I would give it 16 stars if not more. It is worth your money and time.
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