I gave this book a three star rather than a two because all though it was okay, there was just enough mystery in it to say, I liked it. As so many reviewers here, I've been a big fan of Dick Francis for years and enjoyed the horse/racing aspect being a horse caretaker (they really own us, don't t...
There are so very many great books out there, so many influential, life changing, intellectually challenging books that exist, that I am loathe to give a Dick and Felix Francis horse racing murder mystery five stars, but I gotta confess, Even Money is a damn good yarn. Even Money tells you just ...
There was a time when I would buy the latest Dick Francis hardback every time I visited England in September. But that was in another life and I only recently caught up with this, Francis’ purported last solo effort. It was delightful to meet Sid Halley once again. He was the protagonist of the v...
Whenever I need a little pick-me-up, I know I can always count on Dick Francis. First of all, I always fall for his heroes. They are invariably good, honest guys with a core of toughness, an iron-clad determination to do the right thing. In For Kicks the hero is Daniel Roke, an Australian owner o...
This book was a turning point in my life, although I didn't know it at the time. I was just 14 when I read it and 'on the run' from school again (I was a frequent truant). I've never forgotten the first line ..."The mingled smells of hot horse and cold river mist filled my nostrils." It drew me i...
"Shattered" by Dick Francis is the fate of glass horse award exploding at climax of plot, told first-person, by glass-blower Gerard Logan. He loans his videotaped instructions for a priceless antique necklace copy to pal jockey Martin Stukely, who falls fatally, before dressing-room valet Eddie r...
First Sentence: I picked four of them up at Whit Waltham in the new Cherokee Six 300 that never got a chance to grow old.Matt Shore’s life and career as a pilot have been on a downward spiral. His latest job is with a flying taxi service for racecourses and his first flight ends with the plane ...
Warning!!! Fanboy rating !I’ve been reading and re-reading the novels of Dick Francis since the early 1990’s and I’m hardly objective when it comes to judging their worth. I am aware that many critics consider him a ‘one trick pony’ who somehow stumbled over a succesful formula for writing murder...
What is there to say about Dick Francis? As I think about all of his books (yes, this review covers all of his books, and yes I've read them all) I think about a moral ethical hero, steeped in intelligence and goodness embroiled in evil machinations within British horse racing society - either d...
I stood on the outside of disaster, looking in. Sometimes you know right from the opening phrase that you're in for a treat and that you will probably abandon all other pursuits around the house until you turn the last page of the latest Dick Francis thriller. As I've already read about two dozen...
What is there to say about Dick Francis? As I think about all of his books (yes, this review covers all of his books, and yes I've read them all) I think about a moral ethical hero, steeped in intelligence and goodness embroiled in evil machinations within British horse racing society - either d...
Winning was all. Winning was my function. What I was there for. What I wanted. What I was born for.In the dream, I won the race. The shouting turned to cheering, and the cheering lifted me up on its wings, like a wave. But the winning was all; not the cheering. I woke in the dark, as I often did,...
What is there to say about Dick Francis? As I think about all of his books (yes, this review covers all of his books, and yes I've read them all) I think about a moral ethical hero, steeped in intelligence and goodness embroiled in evil machinations within British horse racing society - either d...
A Pretty Good Book.Synopsis:Artist Alexander Kinloch has worked out a good pattern for his life. His home is a small bothy on a remote mountain in Scotland; he paints on commission, from which he derives both pleasure and a decent income; he lives alone and likes it. One day, however, Alexander's...
A worthy follow up to Break In. It's great to spend another book with the ever-capable Kit. It was also neat to spend more time with the princess, meet her husband, and get to know them better. It's a bit disappointing to me that Kit's sister Holly and her husband, who featured so heavily in Brea...
No surprises here: a solid thriller set in the world of horseracing. Read it in one sitting, on a beautiful summer morning, lazing in the sun of my backyard.The two sides of the conflict are clear right from the start line. On one side is Steven Scott, young and wealthy, an enthusiastic newcomer ...
"Come to Grief" by Dick Francis describes the final result - everyone mourns many lost lives, friendships, loyalties. "I had this friend, you see, that everyone loved." I thought narrator Sid was starting with his previous case, but no, the friend and connected relationships - parents, social gro...
Fans of Dick Francis will enjoy this but overall it's just not as good as other books in the Francis library. I was left wanting more depth. Peter Darwin has spent most of his life living abroad, thanks first to his diplomat step father, then to his own diplomatic postings. He returns to his chil...
"I intensely disliked my father's fifth wife, but not to the point of murder." I read those fourteen words, and I was hooked! That is the compelling first sentence in this standalone novel by the master storyteller, Dick Francis. This book has convinced me that I want read all of his work, which ...
”It came, the blinding flash in the eyes, as we soared into the air. White, dazzling, brain shattering light, splintering the day into a million fragments and blotting out the world in a blaze as searing as the sun. I felt Revelation falling beneath me and rolled instinctively, my eyes open and q...
It seems to me that I am, slowly but surely, becoming a Dick Francis fan. After "Reflex", "Banker" came next on my list. Here are my thoughts after reading the novel. The composition of this novel mirrors that one of "Reflex", in terms of slowly unfolding plot. However, unlike "Reflex", "Banker" ...
Jonah Dereham, retiring from the saddle, chooses to become a bloodstock agent and spends time travelling round racehorse sales, finding and bidding for the sort of horse his clients want. Jonah wants only to mind his own business, but several disturbing incidents force him to realise that someone...
The Barnes & Noble Review Dick Francis is the only author to win more than once the coveted Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. The three-time winner has recently published his 36th novel, 10 LB. Penalty, and created one of his most interesting and unusual characters t...
I had been so sure he wouldn’t know me. Stupid, arrogant mistake. ‘I expect it was when we were over in Europe and went to the Derby Eve dinner in London,’ the elderly woman said. ‘We sat at the head table.… We were guests of dear Ezra Gideon, poor man.’ I moved away sending wordless prayers of t...
They, Castle Houses, had put up the prize for a steeplechase and had also taken over a prestigious handicap hurdle race already in the program for Saturday. The cash on offer for the hurdle race had stretched the racing world’s eyes wide and excited owners into twisting their trainers’ arms so th...