"Francis captures our attention and holds us spellbound...The unraveling...comes with all the breathless pace we have come to expect of this superb writer."NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWWhen young investment banker Tim Ekaterin suddenly finds himself involved among the cutthroat characters of thoroughbred racing, his placid business world will never be the same. The multimillion dollar loan he arranged to finance the purchase of Sandcastle, a champion, is threatened by a newly discovered defect in the horse. As Tim searches desperately for an answer, he falls headlong into violence and murder. But he cannot stop--not until he finds the key to the killings. And to Sandcastle.