Cactus Jack: A Novel

Written by Brad Smith

Narrated by Lesa Wilson

Brad Smith “rivals Elmore Leonard at his best” (Publishers Weekly). His latest novel, for fans of Richard Russo and Jane Smiley, is a terrific novel about a thirty-something single woman, the untried colt she inherits, a horse crazy little girl, and their band of misfits and has-beens who stick it to the establishment in the cutthroat world of horse racing. Billie Masterson is a thirty-something chronic underachiever, drowning herself in alcohol and bad relationships in Ohio. She hasn’t been home to the family’s broken-down thoroughbred farm in Kentucky since college. Her mother committed suicide when Billie was a teen and she blames her father, Will Masterson. When Will drops dead while working on the farm, Billie returns to rural Kentucky for the funeral, intending only to pay her respects before high-tailing it back to Ohio. However, she’s informed by her father’s lawyer, the garrulous David Mountain Clay, that she now owns the farm…and all the debt that goes with it. Determined to sell everything, settle the debts and get out of town, Billie discovers that her father’s colt, a horse named Cactus Jack, is the object of obsession for billionaire Reese Ryker, the louche scion of a department store dynasty and now owner of Double R Racing, one of the top thoroughbred stables in the world. Billie is willing to sell everything to Ryker—until she realizes that he’s an entitled misogynist and a not-so-subtle racist. Against her better judgment, she decides to keep the farm and the untested horse. To do that she needs to race the animal—and beat Ryker at his own game. Assisted by a team of misfits, including a washed-up trainer with whom she has a bit too much history, the horse-crazy little girl next door, and her father’s ex-girlfriend, Billie and Cactus Jack take the track by a storm.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Sep 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094428765

Brad Smith

Brad Smith is Microsoft's President. He is responsible for the company's corporate, external, and legal affairs and serves as the company's chief legal officer. He plays a key role in representing the company externally and in spearheading the company's work on critical issues relating to the intersection of technology and society, including cybersecurity, privacy, accessibility, environmental sustainability and digital inclusion.

Reviews for Cactus Jack

[kelly · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good story, horrible ending!…bc it abruptly and suddenly ends just when things start getting good. Needs another minimum 5 chapters to finish the story properly. Just a big ol’ downer.

[Julia Pfefferkorn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The honesty and mistakes the characters made- what life is really like/ very interesting and well read. Loved it! I listen to about 4-5 books a month. Recommend this one you will never be bored.

[Bob Grygo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is an enjoyable book and has characters to sassy characters.

[Angie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book I have read by Brad Smith. Very good and looking forward to reading more of his. The narrator was also very good. Sometimes I forgot she was there! The story was light, easy and enjoyable.

[Michael Ciofalo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great characters in a well driven plot. No meekness or cowering, as is male-view-typical and way to played out, makes this piece very believable. Thank you for the story.

[Joyce Harout · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book started out so weird. The narrator was not good. I stopped listening.

[Janet Bradley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this book. I enjoyed the characters and wasn’t quite ready for it to end!

[Robert Mann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm very busy and don't have time to write a review. I'll say if you pass this book up you've missed out on a fantastic Story, Author, Narrator wishing it would never end. But All Good Things Come To An End. Peace Bobby M.

[Nanette Oosthuizen · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I just started, but do not like to listen to the frequent use of the f word. So I quit.

[Bill Hair · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

What as. Complete waste of a good story.

Spoilers below..
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Last chance
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1. The Billionaire bad guy gets away with cheating at a horse race and no one questions the lack of evidence on a photo finish... That would never happen!
2. The guy running the track gets away with cheating and allowing the losing horse the victory along with not getting charged or prosecuted for an earlier blackmail scheme in a felony amount.
3. The snippy jealous ex high-school frenemy gets away with divulging financial information about the h to said Billionaire in point number 1.
4. The H doesn't learn to hold back on constantly hitting on women after the blackmail attempt.

I don't get why the author felt that the dirty players didn't need to be at least exposed or punished for their illegal behavior other than the bad guy's horse pulling up lame (which could be minor or major). It just ended with little to no resolution.

[Jennifer Adams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes, you read a book and the characters become real to you. You feel their angst, their triumphs, their sadness, gut feelings that should not belong to you, but they do.

Cactus Jack has this. Thank you Brad Smith.

Tell me, what am I to do with with this feeling of emptyness and loss, this family of characters is gone, poof!

Mr. Smith, want them back,

[Saida Aleksandra · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book wasn’t very good anyway but the narrator ruined it that much more. Is it so hard to change tone of voice? Everyone sounded angry every time they spoke. Also, half the time I had no idea who was speaking because she couldn’t be bothered to change her pitch. I mean, the nine year old sounded the same as the 32 year old!
I was expecting this book to be about the racehorse but the debts and mortgages featured more than cactus jack. Oh, and Luke flirting and sleeping with women as well of course - why wouldn’t I care every time he hooked up with a girl…? Every character was boring and one dimensional, and it was clear the author knows nothing about horses. That, or he couldn’t be bothered. He didn’t skip out details like Billie peeing in the morning and didn’t pass up the opportunity to tell us every time she got up for a beer but missed out crucial details about the horse and the process of the races. I mean, if you want to run a horse at full gallop without warming it up first you go right ahead. Some may say it isn’t necessary to include such details, of course they warmed the horse up first… to which I say, knowing how many beers billie drank during the day was also unnecessary but I was still subjected to the knowledge.
I was under the impression that this book would be about the bond that Billie forms with cactus jack and that’s why I read it in the first place. I love horses and I was excited to see how the relationship grew. Spoilers, it isn’t about that at all. Billie isn’t really bothered about the horse, all she wants is to run it in races to get back at a man who, granted was rude and selfish and narcissistic, but I need something more substantial to a book personally. I wanted to hate him. I wanted more instances where he displayed his narcissism so I could do just that but in the end I was left disappointed. Yes he’s rude and selfish and money and power hungry but that’s not enough to really hate him. This then meant that I wasn’t really bothered about Billie winning. So she wins, great, the world goes on. What I’m trying to say is that there wasn’t any satisfaction because I didn’t hate him enough to be elated when she won.
Also, I hate horse racing in general. I think it’s cruel and cause nothing but pain and an early death to a horse. To race a two year old cult is ridiculous. A horses skeleton isn’t fully fused until about four years old and they’re not fully grown until five. Can you imagine the toll that would take on a two year old? Not the books fault - this is something that goes on in the real world, but I wish it was handled better. Billie caring about what happened to cactus jack would’ve made it a bit more bearable. And plus even two years old is too young even for racing. Just wish the author would’ve done a bit more research on horses and their behaviour before writing this.

[Melissa Brewer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A well crafted story that reads like a motion picture

[dorry korn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was Excellent. Now desire to listen to One Eyed Jack

[Sherie Hollins Hayes · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Another incomplete book. Thinking about canceling my subscription if it keeps happening

[Joe Maggio · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Throughly enjoyed this novel from beginning till end! Will also say that usually I prefer men readers to woman but this reader changed my mind on that! Will listen to another from the author Mr Smith.

[Ani C · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Without the swearing, drinking and sex, this book will be half of what it is.

[Yolanda Bates · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really do wish the language was cleaner. Do cowboys and girls are really as portrayed? Or is it a bad generalization?

[Jenna Vaughn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Better than I expected. Not very swift moving and it ends like you expect but all in all it is a nice story leaving you with a warm heart.

[Fred Sawtelle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was the best literary surprise I've had in a long while. I was expecting a mediocre two-star story. To my delight, I was laughing out loud at almost every page. The book is saturated with witticisms. I highly recommend it.

[Kathy Wallace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the story but hated to heugly inappropriate unnecessary language. Please this s NOT needed to make a goodbppl

[JP · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

SO MUCH FOULlanguage unnecessary! Would be a five star except for that.

[Andrea Caulfield · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book, I’d read more by this author. I felt it ended a bit abruptly and would have benefitted from an epilogue to tell us how the characters faired

[brangwinn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you like horses, you’ll like this novel. Its about the horse born of the greatest horse in the world and the people connected with this horse. They are a mismatched, but interesting group. Fast-paced and plenty of drama will make this a good book to read.