Banker

Written by Dick Francis

Narrated by Simon Prebble

An investment banker arranges the purchase of a champion racehorse and gets
caught up in murder in this New York Times bestseller that’s “fraught with
violence, conspiracy and, of course, horses” (The Boston Globe).
Tim Ekaterin raised millions of dollars to finance the purchase of Sandcastle, a
champion racer, only to discover an apparent defect in the horse. Investigating
further, Ekaterin learns that the business of investment banking is nothing
compared to the cutthroat world of horseracing—a world where violence and
murder only raise the stakes …
“The most elaborate plot Francis has yet devised.”—The Washington Post Book
World

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781461810377

Reviews for Banker

[Anderson Wrangle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I’m a fan of Francis’ horse mysteries, but I’d pass on this one for another.

[bardbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Remembering everything that I love about Dick Francis novels!

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Merchant banker Tim Ekaterin works for a firm that bears his family name. The family talent for figures skipped Tim’s father, who was better at gambling away wealth than accumulating it. Thus, some firm members are wary about whose footsteps Tim will follow - his father’s or those of the company’s founder. As confidence in Tim’s ability grows, he is given an opportunity to evaluate a potential investment in a stud farm’s purchase of a champion racehorse. It seems a safe bet, until something goes horribly wrong. Inevitably, Tim will be held responsible for the loss of the firm’s investment, until an even more horrifying possibility emerges. What if the looming disaster isn’t just bad luck? If it’s the result of deliberate action, then a chillingly evil actor is behind it.As is typical for a Francis novel, the plot is nicely twisty. Francis’s romance subplots are hit or miss for me, and this one is a miss, largely because I don’t buy Tim’s boss’s acceptance of the mutual attraction between his wife and Tim and his trust that their relationship will remain platonic. It’s a triangle not unlike Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot. The book also has a higher body count than many other Francis adventures, and one of the deaths is especially gut-wrenching.

[ameise1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Again, this was a good Dick Francis mystery.This time it was about narcotics of a special kind. An insurance agent Tim Ekaterin had to discover that a good racing stallion, who now started his service as a breeding stallion, had mostly disabled offspring. What's behind it? A self-proclaimed horse whisperer seems to have a hand in this. He does not shrink from dangerous, even deadly, methods. This applies to horses and people alike. Tim meets a pharmacist who helps him to uncover the tricky case.It was exciting from the first to the last page.

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Banker by Dick Francis is a 1982 publication. A nice change of pace! Tim Ekaterin is an up- and- coming merchant banker who goes out on a limb to front a huge amount of money to Oliver Knowles, a stud-farmer, to buy a champion horse named Sandcastle. Tim becomes friends with Oliver and his daughter while learning a great deal about horse breeding, in the process. Tim makes other acquaintances in the horse world, including an ‘animal healer’, a man with a reputation for bringing animals back from the brink of death. Things are looking good for Tim, career wise, and his office politics are improving along with his success. His personal life could be better, though, as he pines for the wife of one of his colleagues. Unfortunately, things begin to go awry when a veterinarian is murdered amid Sandcastle’s foals being born with deformities or dying. The race is on to discover who is behind the murder, and to figure out what is going on with Sandcastle’s progeny. The horse is insured to the hilt for everything imaginable- but this- which means Oliver will most likely lose everything…This book is so different from the ones I’ve been reading recently, I suppose that could be part of why I found it so appealing. The horse world has always harbored a dark underbelly and Francis made a career writing about it. This book is a bit different from other Francis novels, I think, as a merchant banker is the main character, a man who only had a moderate amount of knowledge about the industry, only becoming involved because of the bank’s business dealings. Francis, a former jockey, displays his personal insider view in these books. This novel offers quite an education about the breeding process. I found Tim likeable and although some of the plot points were a bit far-fetched, I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery and am wondering why all my Dick Francis books have been languishing on my shelf collecting dust for so many years. Because I’m culling through my paperbacks, making a few tough choices about what to keep and what to donate to the library, I was seriously considering letting the Dick Francis collection go. Now, I think I’ll hold onto these books for a little while longer! 4 stars

[streamsong_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tim Ekateron is the up and coming nephew in a family owned investment bank. His parents squandered their fortune on high living and betting at the racetrack. Although Tim doesn’t have their habits, he’s familiar with Thoroughbred race horses and racing. So when a race horse breeder approaches him about having the bank finance a $5 million stallion, Tim is intrigued and, after doing his due diligence, approves the deal.It looks like a can’t fail for all involved, until foals begin to be born with birth defects. A faith healer for horses, a seemingly impossible romance, and a nasty murder round out the plot.This was written in 1982 so the technology as well as the lack of women in the higher levels of the bank directors date it a bit. Still, a good ride. I rated this one a bit lower primarily due to the cruelty to animals, but also due to the (rather stereotyped) woman’s roles.

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Banker Tim Ekaterin is one of Dick Francis more likeable less physical protagonists and the mystery is not so obvious from the get go. There are certain similarities to others in this work, but over all it is a good outing in a somewhat different segment of the British working world.

[quibee · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was a bit slow in the build up and a bit obvious in what was behind what was happening. Didn't start to move well through the book.
Ok, but not the best.

[markatread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dick Francis's formula was simple and one he repeated for 45 years. His hero was generally a white, male, aged 20-40 who was single, and either directly or became in the course of the story associated with horse racing. Many of today's heros in mystery and crime fiction have numerous personal flaws that they have to overcome. But not so the hero in a Dick Francis novel. They usually were decent, humble, courageous young men that were admired by both men and women alike. The hero would usually get beat up along the way, perservere through several close calls, and then end up getting the girl in the end.Another part of the formula for Dick Farancis, was to take a particular aspect of horse racing, and even another profession, and look behind-the-scenes of this aspect of horse racing. In the Banker, Francis has the hero, Tim Ekatrin, who is a merchant banker (not unlike an investment banker) become involved with a stud farm owner who wants to borrow money to buy Sandcastle, a superior and as a result, expensive thoroughbred who has won several important races including the Royal Ascot. Tim has to decide whether the bank will approve the loan for Sandcastle, and then after he does, he has to become involved as things quickly deteriorate at the stud farm and the farm and the 5 milion pounds that the bank loaned for the purchase of the race horse are at risk.Sometimes Dick Francis's formula works better than it does in other books. Sometimes the hero is just too wonderful; sometimes the the behind-the-scenes look is too intrusive or obscure; sometimes the formula just doesn't work as well. But in the Banker, Dick Francis wrote a book where everythng works well. Not only is he able to make merchant banking exciting and relevant to the story, the part about the stud farm is enlightening and the information about the breeding of race horses works well within the plot. The villian is well done as is the solving of the mystery. The Banker is one of the top Dick Francis books though as a side note, the love interest in the book is again a married woman. I did read a few of the Dick Francis books in the 70's but never focused on the fact that the love interest is a married woman. In three of the last 4 books I have read by Dick Francis, - Forfiet (1969) the hero is having an affair, Slay Ride (1971) the hero is very attracted to the wife of the man he is staying with, and now in Banker (1983) - the love interest for the hero involves possible extra-marital affairs. In the Banker, the hero reaffirms his noble characteristics and does not have the affair. The 60's and 70's were a different time with different sexual mores, but as the 80's arrived Dick Francis had his hero reaffirm his honorable status and even in spite of the fact that it is true love, the hero remains honorable till the end.

[miyurose_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Banker, Dick Francis is able to take two things I know very little about — merchant banking and thoroughbred breeding — and twist them together in such a way that I can’t put the book down. I always find reading Francis to be effortless. He pulls me in from the start with an unusual situation. Young banker Tim Ekaterin finds his boss standing in the fountain in front of the bank with his clothes on. This situation is what leads to Tim being responsible for deciding whether or not the finance the purchase of Sandcastle, a star racehorse. He becomes quite close to Sandcastle’s owner and his young daughter after birth defects begin to appear in the horse’s progeny — they all have too much to lose. Francis tends to set his main characters up in almost-but-not-quite inappropriate relationships with young (17, in this case) girls, which is a little weird, but things never cross the line. Regardless, I know when I pick up a Dick Francis book that I’m going to be sucked in until the last page.

[tzelman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3-year drama of horse-breeding and high finance. Not a spell-binder but fascinating Francis nonetheless.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent book, like most of Dick Francis' I vaguely remembered the plot and had forgotten all the (complicated, and interesting) subplots.

[tripleblessings_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Timothy Ekaterin is a young merchant banker on the way to the top, who puts his firm's money behind a 5 million pound stud venture founded on the purchase of a wonderful stallion. Then with murder and deformed foals, things start to go badly wrong, and Ekaterin must investigate to protect the firm's interests. One of Francis's best.

[golfjr_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fine story