The bloodstock business turns sour in this tale of kidnapping, drug deals, resentment and violence. Shane, the young boss of a Thoroughbred racing outfit fires a hand, Krebs, for slovenly and cruel work practices. Simultaneously old Vic, ex-jockey, is forced into retirement. The two jobless men conspire with another man to extort the cash from horse sales by means of kidnapping.

Pennsylvania never looked so dark as in DANGEROUS DECEPTION. I can't figure what drew Krebs to the world of horses at all, because he doesn't like them or the work, and acting up around young racehorses gets people killed. He's happy to commit a federal offence for a share of five hundred thousand dollars, and smirks as he uses a cattle prod on a chained victim. Having second thoughts, Vic gains help from another elderly hand but fails to do anything useful like calling the police. Thieves fall out and it is clear that Krebs never meant to return his captive Shane alive. Meanwhile Shane's father Mike is getting a search underway and the culprits and hideout seem obvious to him. He doesn't call the police either. A biker gang called the Nomads is on its way to rendezvous in the old mansion where Shane is being held, and they don't like outsiders.

This is closer to 'Reservoir Dogs' than to 'Secretariat', with a strange flavour from sentences such as: "Her full perfect breasts to remain exposed." Cindy McDonald has assembled a cast of odd characters, from unremittingly sour stable hands to a woman who thinks white wine should be uncorked and left to breathe. Perhaps the most unusual is Luzetta, the elderly daughter of a horror film director who camps out in her crumbling mansion, devoid of money but not of good intent. I did like the few insights into the horse training world but we could have done with more of them and less of brutality to suit a general readership. If you enjoy reading about dirty deeds and violent crime, DANGEROUS DECEPTION could be just the ticket.