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 Break In, never appear.The book synopsis here on Goodreads is laughably inaccurate. Someone is shooting horses and there is an arms dealer but beyond that the synopsis is pretty bogus. Having successfully defended his brother-in-law against a pair of news barons, Kit is asked to do the same for the princess's frail husband against a very hostile business takeover. Meanwhile he must deal with the possibility of losing his fiancée Danielle to a debonair prince, and protect himself from Maynard's hostility. Maynard, now a Steward, has all sorts of power over Kit, still a jockey, and after events in Break In is now actively trying to ruin him.Kit is under a lot more strain in this book, having to deal with events that hit home with him more personally than his sister's troubles did. He's a bit less of a badass here, which may be why I prefer Break In over Bolt, but his struggles are powerfully written. There's a very memorable scene involving a character hanging precariously from a roof and Kit's race to rescue them. There's also Kit's hugely entertaining battle with the bull-headed and excessively entitled Aunt Beatrice, liberally aided and abetted by the princess. The ending is more than a little horrifying and has always stayed with me. Again, powerfully written.Predictably the arms dealer is described as having "olive skin and a heavy dark mustache". He gives an alias of Mohammed and Kit guesses that he's "Arab, in some way...Definitely Mediterranean, not Italian, perhaps French." The stereotype doesn't extend beyond that that I can tell, but it's still present.It's slightly distressing to me that the threats to Danielle have nothing to do with her high-powered job, which she obviously loves, and everything to do with her body - physical harm, the loss of her beauty (via acid in her face). However, it makes sense in context. The villain has a large physical presence and thinks in terms of physical threats to everyone, not just Danielle. However, there's a telling exchange between Kit and Danielle - she doesn't want to report the vandalism of her car (and her near assault) to the police because "They think any young woman driving alone in the middle of the night is asking for trouble."Profession in Focus: None, beyond the horseracingProtagonist as a Memorable Character: High. Kit Fielding is one of only two protagonists Francis has used more than once. He first appeared in Break In.Relation to Horses: High. Kit is a steeplechase jockey and the princess owns a large stable of racehorses. Kit has ridden her horses for years.Love Interest: Yes, though this isn't Francis's usual tale of finding love.Abrupt Ending: Yes. Most Francis novels end abruptly once the killer has been discovered and/or incapacitated instead of taking time to ease the reader down gradually.
Dick Francis' Bolt revisits jump jockey Christmas "Kit" Fielding, first encountered in Break-In, as he matched wits with high-powered and sometimes murderous businessmen to save the horse training stables of his twin sister Holly and her husband Bobby Allardeck. In Bolt, Kit is still riding for trainer Wykeham Harlow and his primary owner, the Princess Casilia de Brescou, and is engaged to Danielle de Brescou, niece of the Princess and her husband Roland. A startling and confrontational visit from Henri Nanterre, the co-owner of one of Roland de Brescou's manufacturing concerns, once again draws Kit into a test of wills - will Nanterre's demands succeed in wearing down de Brescou's resistance to expanding the business to make non-metal firearms that could easily be used in acts of terrorism? Will Nanterre's subsequent threats and violence against the de Brescous' family, friends, and beloved race horses be enough to overcome the aging and ill patriarch's opposition? Not if Kit has anything to say about it. And lest we forget - Maynard Allardeck, Holly's father-in-law, is still just as infuriated with Kit as he was at the end of Break-In, and Kit can never afford to be casual about what Maynard would like to do to him, even when his attention is focused on the de Brescou family's problems.As ever with Francis's heroes - among them Alexander Kinloch, Lee Morris, John Kendall, Tor Kelsey, Ian Pembroke, and of course, the most cussedly stubborn of them all, Sid Halley - Kit's main strength is his refusal to cave in to bullying. Faced with an unjust situation, Francis' men dig in their heels and pull in the opposite direction, despite potential (and often actual) harm to themselves. Only when those they love are in danger do they weaken - and even then, only temporarily, until they can figure out a way around the threat. Somehow I imagine that Francis' favorite dog must have been a terrier - determined, stubborn, and never one to back down.
What do You think about Bolt (2005)?
Kit Fielding's future father-in-law, Roland de Brescou, is co-owner of a construction firm in France. The other co-owner, Henri Nanterre, wants to branch out the business to include the manufacture of plastic guns. Henri comes with papers to force Roland to sign the agreement. Roland refuses. Henri issues all sorts of threats against Roland's family and loved ones (which includes a number of the horses that Kit rides) in an attempt to get Roland to buckle under and sign. Kit is called in to action, not only as jockey but as thwarter of evil. A fast-paced Dick Francis gem! There are references in this to events from the previous Kit Fielding book, Break-in, which I have not yet read, but the references don't spoil it for me. The first bit of this one lays some foundation and explanation but then it takes off and races to the finish.
—Sue
BOLT - ExFrancis, Dick - 25th book / 2nd Kit Fielding tIn Kit Fielding's breakneck world of steeplechase racing, the ultimate catastrophe strikes: someone is shooting horses with a weapon fiendishly called a “humane killer.” Kit must stop the murdering madness, and everyone in his upper-crust circle becomes a suspect—the princely rival who's trying to woo his woman, the personal enemy bent on ruining Kit's family, the black-market arms dealer whose plans could imperil the globe. Such dire situations call for drastic measures that a civilized man like Kit must steel himself to use....I liked this Fielding eve better than the first. He's a great character, although it's too bad none of Francis' protagonists seem to have long-term relationships. The death of the horses is always hard to read but justice is done in the end.
—LJ
There is something comfortable about old and familiar series. Yet, the strange thing is, I never read any of Dick Francis's books growing up, even if we had a name in common. I thought in this particular book his antagonist was weak, not very well developed, nor highly believable. And yet, the story flowed, tension was developed the ending left you satisfied and you cared about the other characters.There is something comfortable about Dick Francis's writing. I can't put my finger on it, but I enjoy it and I look forward to reading more.
—Francis
