Novels

Slay Ride
"He's a complex person but his attitudes are all fixed."

Date of Publication: 1973 (PB)

Publisher: Pocket Books

Foreign Titles: Schlittenfahrt (or Ein Jockei auf Tauchstation)German; Chladna Zrada Czech

Setting: Norway: Oslo; England: London

Synopsis:
British jockey Robert Sherman disappears from a Norwegian racecourse ... leaving behind a very pregnant wife, and vanishing without a trace. Was it by impulse or design ... or a smokescreen for something else altogether?

But for British investigator David Cleveland, any conclusion was impossible to prove. Especially when his one and only suspect turned up dead. All the clues pointed to a gruesome string of deaths ... and his own seemed perilously close at hand.

Main Characters:
David Cleveland
Arne Kristiansen
Kari Kristiansen
Mikkel Sandvik
Gunnar Holth, trainer
Mrs. Emma Sherman
Lars Baltzersen
Per Bj¿rn Sandvik
Sven Wangen
Rolf Torp
Erik Lund
Knut Lund

Professions:
David Cleveland is the British Jockey Club Director of Security.
Arne Kristiansen is the Norwegian Jockey Club's chief investigator.

Comes after: Smokescreen

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

Quotes:
Behind her the flat looked warm and colorful, and the air was thick with Beethoven.

"He says they're [politicians] are all the same, hot air and hypocrisy."

"I heard him telling someone on the telephone that you had the eyes of a hawk and a mind like a razor."

"It isn't what I haven't seen, it's who."

You could have sworn that around the snowy cliffs you could hear crashing chords of Beethoven echoing in the wind.

Quiz:
highlight the area beneath the question to discover the answer

1. What are the two unsual descriptive features that the little girl uses to describe the bomber?
birds eyes (yellow) and a butterfly (birthmark) on his neck

2. What does David find in Bob's helmet?
a key to a locker

3. What did Per do during the war?
he was in the resistance

4. What is the name of Erik's dog?
Odin

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Related Links:
The Jockey Club

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