Reviews for Contemporary mathematics in context

The average rating for Contemporary mathematics in context based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-10-08 00:00:00 Anthony Beck A Spectacular, Tension Filled, Fast Paced, Read that I enjoyed even more the second time! Daniel Roke feels trapped. His parents had both drowned in a sailing accident when he was eighteen, his two sisters and brother were younger still. Since then he has been running a very successful Australian stud farm in order to support himself and his siblings but he's dead bored of it. Then one morning a man who calls himself the Earl of October and offers him a job to go to England as a corruptible stable lad to investigate a doping scandal. "Can I make you understand how concerned my colleagues and I are over these undetectable cases of doping? I own several race horses mostly -steeplechasers- and my family for generations have been lovers and supportive of racing. The health of the sport means more to me, and people like me, then I can possibly say.... Daniel still remains unconvinced that he can afford to leave his responsibilities to chance. Not easily deterred Lord October has come prepared, offering him £20,000. "I'll tell you what you would do with it, if you like. You would pay the fees of the medical school your sister Belinda has her heart set on. You would send your younger sister, Helen, to art school, as she wants. You would put enough aside for your 13 year old brother, Philip, to become a lawyer, if he still has a mind of it when he grows up." And with that, Daniel agrees to the job. The first stable he's been assigned is with Inskip, a hard, no nonsense trainer. Unfortunately Daniel is finding nothing helpful in his investigations. Daniel needs some way to get moved to Humber's stable, a seedy, mean trainer, but must keep up appearances to do it. Then, by chance, Lord October's promiscuis daughter lands Daniel in hot water, leaving him with more than a bad taste in his mouth but the perfect reason to move to Humber's. "Very well he said heavily. I'll tell Inskip that you are to be dismissed. And I'll tell him it is because you pestered Patricia. "Right." He looked at me coldly. "You can write me reports. I don't want to see you again." I watched him walk away strongly up the gully. I didn't know whether or not he really believed me anymore that I had done what Patty said; but I did know that he needed to believe it. The alternative, the truth, was so much worse. What father wants to discover that his beautiful 18 year-old daughter is a lying sl*t? After two months of less than deplorable conditions at Humber's, including Adams, an owner, who beats and humiliates the lads for his own entertainment, and no signs of doping. Then a horse returns to the yard from a seemingly routine swim in the ocean. He's completely unhinged, needing daily sedation, with suspicious burns on his legs. Something is very bad happened to him and Daniel won't stop until he finds out what. He also knows that if Humble and Adams discover what he's doing they won't hesitate to stop him. Permanently. I've read hundreds of books and Dick Francis remains my favorite author. For Kicks is absolutely riveting! My heart was in my throat and I had to remind myself to breathe. And the world disappeared. The plot is swift and comes to a stunning conclusion. A must read!

Review # 2 was written on 2015-01-21 00:00:00 Karol Kk When I was in middle school, I went on vacation with a friend's family. She was an only child and soon decided she did not like sharing attention with another kid. It was a long week with a lot of time spent in a car. The only thing that saved me was "For Kicks", which I found shoved under the front seat of the family car. I read through arguments about dinner, car sickness, and sleeping in the same room as a sick cat for two nights. After I returned home (finally!) I conveniently forgot to return the book. I haunted the local library for more Dick Francis books and even worked up the nerve to get permission to browse the adult stacks (tiny local library with specific ideas about what children should and should not read). After high school I traveled to England partially because of Francis' books. To this day "For Kicks" remains one of my favorite books.