Monsieur X by Jamie Reid
SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR AWARD 2019 Patrice des Moutis was a handsome, charming and well educated Frenchman with an aristocratic family, a respectable insurance business, and a warm welcome in the smartest Parisian salons. He was also a compulsive gambler and illegal bookie. Between the late 1950s and the early 1970s, des Moutis made a daring attempt to beat the French state-run betting system. With a genius for mathematics and a deep love and understanding of the horse-racing world – not to mention excellent relationships with all the top trainers and jockeys – he applied himself to his task with vigour and meticulous research. A series of spectacular coups netted him (and his friends, with whom he generously shared his predictions) the equivalent of millions of pounds, and soon saw him nicknamed Monsieur X and hailed as a hero by a public desperate to see someone get one over on the state. Des Moutis' success so alarmed the authorities that they repeatedly changed the rules of betting in an effort to stop him. And so a battle of wills began, all played out on the front pages of the daily newspapers as the general public willed des Moutis on to ever greater successes. He remained one step ahead of the authorities until finally the government criminalised his activities, driving him into the arms of the underworld. Eventually the net began to close, high-profile characters found themselves the target of the state's investigation, and people began turning up dead. This long-running cat and mouse game – with the law on one side and des Moutis and the gangsters on the other – is a dazzling tale of glamour, riches, violence and ultimately tragedy.
Another serious contender for sports publishing's top award..the pace of a thriller and the style of a great biography. * The New European *
A rivetingly good story, told with all the panache it deserves * John Preston, author of A Very English Scandal *
A story that deserves to be told and in the hands of Reid, has a chronicler more than equal to the task. * Racing Post *
I read it in two days. I thought it was superb. * Victor Chandler *
I enjoyed reading Monsieur X; very amusing. * Lester Piggott *
Gripping * The Spectator *
From page one to the end it is fascinating... superb investigative work and great fun * Thoroughbred Daily News *
A rivetingly good story, told with all the panache it deserves * John Preston, author of A Very English Scandal *
A story that deserves to be told and in the hands of Reid, has a chronicler more than equal to the task. * Racing Post *
I read it in two days. I thought it was superb. * Victor Chandler *
I enjoyed reading Monsieur X; very amusing. * Lester Piggott *
Gripping * The Spectator *
From page one to the end it is fascinating... superb investigative work and great fun * Thoroughbred Daily News *
A journalist and lifelong betting and racing enthusiast, Jamie Reid is the author of two novels and five non-fiction books including Doped, winner of the 2013 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, Blown, Days Like These: The Education of a Racing Lover and A Licence To Print Money, shortlisted for the 1992 William Hill Sports Book of the Year. He lives near Bath.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781472942289 |
| ISBN 10 | 1472942280 |
| Title | Monsieur X |
| Author | Jamie Reid |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2018-03-08 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |