Horses and Heroin by Bev Pettersen

By: Anonymous on Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Title:  Horses and Heroin

Author:  Bev Pettersen

Published:  December 1st 2012 by Westerhall (first published November 16th 2012) 

Page Count:  305

Genre:  Romantic Mystery

Shelf:  Contests & Giveaways

Rating:  ★★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Jockey School Is Not What It Seems.

A talented rider disappears without a trace.
His frantic sister poses as a student.
A private investigator’s plans for quiet recuperation are shattered.

Megan is determined to find her missing brother even though no one else at the illustrious California Jockey School seems to care. Her only ally is a recuperating PI who unfortunately is the owner’s best friend. Soon she is caught between a blossoming romance and a far-reaching conspiracy…where misplaced trust can be deadly.

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.


My Review:

This book was extremely refreshing to read. The author wrote about training to enter the equine racing industry. She also did so with knowledge. She didn’t take the route that so many authors take, skimming over the entire workings of the industry. Pettersen took the time to fill in the details with true facts. Pettersen also writes about a PI investigation in a realistic manner. People don’t run around in this book with guns blazing all the time. They investigate and act appropriately rather than having everything turn into a paramilitary operation. It is more realistic and doesn’t make the entire story seem like an action flick.

Pettersen is amazing at writing emotions into her novels. I was impressed as to the range of emotions portrayed by each character. It really helps the reader connect with the characters. I spent a great deal of time sitting on the edge of my seat, running around with the characters. I was nervous and scared for them. I wanted to help. I must say, however, that by the end of the novel my eyes were full with tears. For once, they were full with tears of joy. It was such a perfect ending to the story. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

The characters in this novel were also very personable. You could relate to most characters in the book. Those characters that you cannot relate to are the same ones that you would avoid if you ran into them in a public place. They had histories that led them to being the people they are today. Every action that anyone took was consistent with the person that they were meant to be. There were also some very strong bonds between certain characters. You wanted them to succeed.

As a whole, this was an amazing novel. It was also extremely well written. The author melded everything together in such a way that you were lost within its pages from the beginning to the very end. She also made the novel much more enjoyable by keeping her facts straight.

Buy your copy online here today!