Novels

Longshot
"Impulse will kill you one of these days."

Date of Publication: 1990 (PB)

Publisher: Ballantine Crest

Foreign Titles: Außenseiter German

Setting: London, Shellerton

Synopsis:
His agent has always known that John Kendall, writer of travel guides to harsh terrains, is impulsive. But taking an assignment because he needs money hardly seems a rash act, and off to rural England Kendall goes to interview his subject, a succesful horse trainer.

Soon enough, however, Kendall realizes that he must draw upon all his ingenuity to complete his book. In fact, the perils described in his survival manuals pale next to the dangers in rural England. "Impulse will kill you one of these days," his agent warned. Kendall should have listened, but he didn't -- not by a longshot...

Main Characters:
John Kendall, our hero
Tremayne Vickers, a trainer
Magdalene "Mackie" Mackenzie, assistant to Tremayne
Perkin Vickers, her husband
Gareth Vickers
Fiona and Harry Goodhaven
Bob and Ingrid Watson the head lad and his wife
Lewis and Nolan Everard
Ronnie Curzon
Sam Yaeger
Dee-Dee
Erica Upton

Professions:
John Kendall is a writer.
Erica Upton is also a writer.
Tremayne Vickers is a trainer.
Perkin Vickers is a furniture maker.
Sam Yaeger is a jockey. Ronnie Curzon is an editor.

Comes after: Straight

Villain and Motives: Spoilers! Click here to reveal the villain!

Quotes:
"Well, it wasn't fair. He told me that that was a valuable lesson, to learn that things weren't fair. Never expect fairness." Tremayne not so upset about being abused as a child

It came as a shock to me to wonder if Tremayne wanted his own achievements written in an inheritable book because Perkin's work would be valuable in two hundred years. Wondered if the strong father felt he had to equal his weaker son.

...insight through imagination...

"A good trap never looks like one."

Quiz:
highlight the area beneath the question to discover the answer
1. What item did John place over Fiona's head that made her look faintly ridiculous?
a plastic clothes bag

2. What did Dee-Dee offer as proof that Olympia was not a 'good girl'?
the fact that Olympia wasn't wearing any underclothes

3. How can you find cardinal directions without a compass, according to John?
Using a watch, point the hour hand at the sun, then halfway between the hand and twelve o'clock is the north-south hand

4. According to John, how do you jump shallow?
the second your feet touch the water, you raise your knees and crumple into a ball

5. Why shouldn't you eat polar bear liver?
because it's packed with enough vitamin A to kill humans

6. What was John shot with?
a flight-less arrow

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Mostly Fiction's Longshot Review

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