Everyone "comes to grief", mourns many lost lives, friendships, loyalties in this troubling sad novel where we know the perpetrator from the start. Laughing, lovable ex-jockey Ellis Quint has everything he could want: fame, youth, money, good looks, talent, parents and public that believe his innocence. Jockey turned detective Sid Halley has to figure out is why his longtime friend Ellis also has a streak of sadism that leads him to cut the foot off prospective champion racers in the dead of night, then televise owners, such as Rachel, dying from child leukemia, now troubled by nightmares of her beloved pet. Sid has nighmares too, fearing for his surviving hand, after first crushed and torn in accident riding and by criminal torture when detecting; the terror starts coming true.