Friday 14 November 2014

Available Now: The Mandarin Stakes

THE MANDARIN STAKES
E.H. Ward

Length: Novel
Genre: Thriller
Price: $4.99

Get your copy here: Tirgearr Publishing

When the Turkish Jockey Club President is killed in Istanbul and the first Lady Chairman of the British Horseracing Authority is murdered at Newmarket races, the two deaths appear random. But amateur jockey-turned-stud farm manager and bloodstock agent, Andrew Dixon, discovers the awful truth.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, a quiet politician edges closer to China’s highest office.

Andrew begins to realise that the relentless commercial pressure in modern racing and breeding is distorting the sport he loves into something more sinister: something his boss – an aristocrat who attended Eton and served in the SAS – is delighted to exploit.

On the eve of a major trade agreement between Britain and China, Andrew has to face the terrible reality that ruthless forces, with high-level connections, have hidden agendas and shocking methods of persuasion to make the Chinese agree to a lucrative gambling deal.

As the stakes are raised, it becomes impossible to know who is manipulating whom, as powerful Chinese form their own plans.

With Europe still reeling from the financial crisis and the overproduction of racehorses, British racing’s coffers are all but empty. Harnessing the might of the Chinese Dragon is the only sure bet for survival. When billions are at stake; intimidation, blackmail and murder are just means to an end.

His life on the line and his credibility in ruins, Andrew will have to team up with an old friend in the Met and defy the odds in a race against time to stop a brutal, public atrocity, which will send shockwaves far beyond horseracing – through Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and around the world.

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