ponydom.com

Dark Horse
Tami Hoag

Statistics:
Copyright 2002
435 pages
ISBN: 0553801929
Mystery
In Print
Buy this book at Amazon.com

Accuracy:

Quantity:

Quality:

Horse connection:
(jumping) American "A" Circuit (Wellington Equestrian Festival)

Description:
The wealthy world of the Palm Beach horsey set seems a long way from a cop's world in the narcotics division. But the disappearance of a groom at the Wellington Equestrian Festival brings a washed-up ex cop back to the equestrian scene she knew in her youth.

Accuracy:
How would you rate the accuracy of the horse content in this book?

painfully inaccurate   [login to vote]   detailed and exquisitely accurate

4.50 Rating, 10 Votes

Quantity:
How extensive is the horse content in this book?

minimal or background   [login to vote]   horsey

2.44 Rating, 9 Votes

Quality:
Rate the overall quality of this book.

waste of time   [login to vote]   worth a worldwide search

3.80 Rating, 10 Votes

Ratings Key

good , by spike25 on October 22, 2007

Tammi Hoag is an accomplished horsewomen herself-high level dressage so she knows what she is writing and she is an award winning author. Good mystery, not quite edge of the seat but close!

1 up, by Ilex on April 30, 2007

It's a quick read...not really horsey. But the detail was accurate. The mystery was okay. I'm keeping on the shelf for now...I might read it again.

pleasant surprise, by ponydom on July 27, 2004

I admit it.

When I first heard about this book - a horse-killing thriller set in Florida - I rolled my eyes. "Great," I thought. "Yet another author tries her hand at a horsey thriller, with the topic of the day."

I was wrong.

Tami Hoag really knows her horses, and she's clearly got a perfectionist bent. The horsey details are many and spot-on. It has plenty of darkness, and yet overall the novel is upbeat and brisk in its tone. I loved it even though it was a thriller - so for those of you who love mysteries, this is a must-read. This is a very fine contemporary novel - clear and direct (no need to reread a page of painfully original metaphors in order to figure up who is beating up on who and why) and yet not simplistic fluff.

Excerpt:

Riding was my refuge as a teenager, when I felt I had little control over any other aspect of my life. It was my stress releasse when I had a career. It had become my salvation when I had nothing else. On the back of a horse I felt whole, complete, connected to that vital place in the very center of me that had otherwise closed itself off, and the chaos within me found balance.
D'Artagnon and I move across the sand arena through the last wisps of the morning ground fog, the horse's muscles bulging and rolling, his hooves striking the ground in a perfect metronome rhythm. I massaged the left rein, sat into his back, tightened my calves around him. The energy moved from his hindquarters, over his back; his neck rounded and his knees came up in the stylized, slow-motion trot called passage. He seemed almost to float beneath me, to bounce like a huge, soft ball. I felt he might take wing if only I knew the one secret word to whisper to him.
We halted in the center of the ring at the place known as X. In that moment I felt joy and peace.

Note: the author (and the main character) are dressage people, but the mystery takes place around hunter/jumper characters.

a pretty good read, by horseygal714 on July 05, 2004

Although there wasn't a lot of horsey things mentioned, the accuracy was amazing. Overall, it was a pretty good summer trashy novel, perfect for the airplane or the beach.

Dark Horse, by omegafarms on April 19, 2004

I found this book to be an enjoyable read, but was disappointed in the lack of depth in the horse area. There were lots of opportunities to expand their role, but little performance was involved. It was sort of trashy in a fun way, a little rough in the language department, but still, a fun read.