Product Description

The New York Times bestselling author of Starting Over and An Ocean Apart returns with his strongest work to date-a heartwarming story of love, compassion, and redemptionAfter the dot-com bubble burst, Dan Porter is laid off from his job and must decide what is truly important. His wife of 20 years, Jackie, a beautiful and successful managing director for a clothing designer, no longer connects with him. His teenagers Josh, Nina and Millie are distant and confusing. Jackie is tempted by the attentions of a younger man at her office, and thanks to an opportunity suggested by a magazine article, Dan finds himself contemplating a drastic change in his life.A Risk Worth Taking is an engrossing, thought-provoking novel of a man who has to discover what he really values in his work, marriage, and life. Robin Pilcher writes fluidly, and is endlessly interested in the details of his characters' lives. He has written a poignant and moving story about the real choices adults face when they start taking stock of their lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1547006 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-20
• Formats: Abridged, Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

From Publishers Weekly
Pilcher (An Ocean Apart; Starting Over) crafts another engaging, happy-ending tale in the tradition of his mother, beloved British novelist Rosamunde Pilcher. Dan Porter was a successful London investment banker until the dot-com bubble burst. Now his portfolio's crashed, he's lost his job, and his beautiful wife, Jackie, the managing director of a design firm, is giving him the cold shoulder. His son, Josh, has dropped out of college, and his daughters Millie and Nina are miserable in the public school that dwindling assets force them to attend. A fortuitous inquiry into the sale of a trendy trousers factory in bleak Fort Williams, Scotland (sparked by an article about owner Katie Trenchard, which Dan reads in Woman's Weekly), leads to interim employment at Seascape, the prosperous prawn sales business belonging to Katie's disabled husband, Patrick. As Dan's getting drenched in Scotland, Jackie starts spending more time with Stephen, the design firm's young financial director. Pilcher relies heavily on coincidence, but readers will probably forgive strains on narrative credibility in their eagerness to root for Dan. Dan, Katie and Patrick all get along beautifully (barring one desire-driven slip between the first two, which only proves them human); Josh, who went north with his father, swiftly discards his slacker past for industriousness and affection for a young Latina co-worker, and Dan's stereotypical teenage daughters show emerging admirable traits. Jackie, on the other hand, sins and isn't sorry, so contented readers don't care what happens to her. They will care about Dan, though, and his children and friends, and will approve of Dan's belief that risks are worth taking, and that life can be a great game.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Robin Pilcher is a solid storyteller with a good ear for dialogue. Throw in some telling detail, and you have a pleasant listening experience. The story focuses on Dan Porter, a securities trader laid off in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He is becoming estranged from his wife and family. After reading an article about a potential business venture, he travels to Scotland and secures a temporary position managing a prawn processing plant. The owner suffers from multiple sclerosis, and Dan becomes involved in his family. Through that, he learns how to relate to his own family. The character change in Dan is not clearly drawn, but this is Pilcher, not Conrad. And the audio abridgment has a few jumps that leave the listener wondering how the characters moved from Point A to Point B. But overall, this is enjoyable. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Dan Porter had it all: the nice house in suburban London, three children, a beautiful wife, and a great job in finance until the dot-com crash and 9/11 changed his outlook about life and making money. Dan lost a good friend in the tragedy, and is now content being a househusband focusing on his family, while his wife, Jackie, pursues her high-level job with a fashion designer, but changes in income have caused strife. His wife and daughters want their old life back, and Jackie perceives Dan and their son, Josh, as loafers because they seem content with less. Recognizing his wife's discontent, Dan takes action after reading an article in a women's magazine about a woman who started a clothing company in a remote area of Scotland and now wants to sell. Dan travels to Scotland with the hope of buying the company and expanding the business, but he finds something much more valuable. Pilcher offers a charming story about life in the new millennium and one man's pursuit of happiness, a tale that will appeal to both men and women. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Almost a Blue Plate Special
I've read both of his previous efforts, loved "An Ocean Apart" frowned over "Starting Over". This book I enjoyed for the development of its principal character. The motivations and decisions that Dan Porter made were clear to me. I could only give it three stars as I felt some of the characters were superficially developed. His wife Jackie for example, I had no sense how she felt about her children, what motivated her to not consider custody of them, what was so attractive about Stephen. And Kate, the pivotal action she took was out of the blue, Maxwell Borthwick was a flat caricature. All of this aside, Pilcher has a lovely way with words, an adept, preceptive and warm manner in his presentation of children and adolescents, and wins me over every time portraying friendships of kindred spirits. I have to admit to taking him as he came, I haven't read any of Rosamund Pilcher's books, if having that name before him enhanced his being published, I am glad for it.

Third Time's the Charm
After two false starts, Robin Pilcher has come into his own with his newest novel, "A Risk Worth Taking."

This is the story of Londoner Dan Porter, a dot-com wunderkind whose entire fairytale life falls apart on 9/11, when he loses several close and dear friends in New York, and is subsequently laid off (made redundant, as the Brits say) due to the crash of the dot-com industry. As the book opens, Dan is a house husband, dealing with his three surly teenagers and his equally surly wife Jackie, a high-powered executive in her own right who has no patience or sympathy with her husband's jobless condition.

Dan is going in circles, both emotionally and professionally, when, on pure whim (unlike him completely), he suddenly decides to invest in a Scottish clothing company he has read about in a magazine. Dan's trip to Scotland, his subsequent reawakening, the friends he makes, and the unexpected turns he experiences, both in his own life, and that of his three children, change him, his marriage, his view of life, and his very soul forever.

I could not turn the pages fast enough to finish this wonderful book, and I am thrilled that Robin Pilcher has finally found his way, free of his mother's formidible reputation and finally able, like Dan Porter, to stand on his own. Bravo, Robin! Well done indeed.

engaging character study
Dan Porter believes his life is near perfect as he has a wonderful job with a dot com firm, married to a loving wife for twenty years, and three precocious children. However, when his company hits bad times, the policy of last in first out leaves Dan unemployed. Meanwhile his wife Jackie is managing director of Rebecca Talworth Design Limited, but makes little money as profits are returned to the company.

Dan fails to get a new job, which leads to a tear in his relationship with Jackie because she feels he has become complacent while their lifestyle slips. When he reads an article in Women's Weekly about a small Scottish firm Vagabonds needing help to expand, he races north while Jackie is on the continent on business. Though the makers of the popular "Vaggas" is not what Dan expected, he finds his life changes perhaps even more than when he lost his dot com job, but Jackie's resentment grows.

This is an engaging character study of a person who once was riding the crest, but since has lost his self esteem. He begins to regain his confidence with his trip to Scotland, but the cost may prove too high. The cast is a delightful ensemble, especially Dan, his family, and the Turnbows (owners of Vagabonds). Robin Pilcher provides a deep look at what really counts as Dan reassess his values and how he has lived.

Harriet Klausner