I don't really read Dick Francis for his cleverly build mysteries: the plot and the identity of the villain is usually given away very early in the narrative. I'm also not really looking for originality. Almost all of his main characters are variations of one archetype: the tall, quiet professional with an iron will and a hidden weakness. His villains are similarly predictable: egomaniac bullies with a penchant for torture.

So why is he my comfort writer for relaxing and having a good time (with or without a Suntory single malt)? Why do I keep coming back to read about his racecourse centered world? I guess because he's a natural born storyteller, with a keen eye for sketching characters and describing emotions. He is also rather safe, with a clear line between good and evil and a romantic, positive mindset, where you know the good guy will come through somehow and get the girl as a bonus.

Dick Francis also has a vibrant curiosity about the world around us, his books are always informative and rich in trivia, showing off the indepth research on the chosen subject. In the case of Smokescreen the trivia relates to South African gold mining, wildlife parks, movie making and surviving in the desert. The author dances around the subject of apartheid, avoiding the politically charged issue, and showing a recurring infatuation with the higher echelons of Anglo Saxon society.

So: a good addition to the collection of Dick Francis fans, maybe will have less of an appeal with readers unfamiliar with his work.

Smokescreen is an international thriller that pits a dashing film star, Edward Lincoln, against some real life villains.
Upon the completion of his latest film, Lincoln is asked to visit Johannesburg to discover why a friend's horses are suddenly doing badly on the race track. His attempt to help his friend puts Lincoln in harm's way from the moment he steps foot in Johannesburg. He quickly becomes the target of someone who wants to put a stop to his informal investigation. First there is a near fatal accident during an interview quickly followed by a dangerous mishap during his tour of a gold mine. It seems that Lincoln’s luck is all that is keeping him alive. What seems to begin as an attempt to discourage Lincoln's investigation escalates into obvious attempts on his life. His luck finally seems to run completely out when a tour of the Kruger wildlife park begins to resemble a horrific scene in Lincoln's latest movie.

Edward Lincoln, British film star, goes to South Africa on behalf of his step-aunt to check on her horses there. They have been running poorly lately. We learn a little about South Africa, apartheid, gold mining, and the 8000 sq mile Kruger game preserve.

Lucky to have found this for £1 in my local shop. Great book. Francis' characters are always so believable and likeable.

Dílo drobné a dobře čtivé čtenáře umí zaujmout. Kniha jenž má být z dostihového prostředí jej spíše pouze mírně přejde a zaměřuje se spíš na jiné věci. Spíš bych to označil za "slušňáckou" detektivku. Jedná se opravdu o jednoduché čtení, které dlouho v paměti neutkví.

Memorable main character..the suffering was like I was there. Outstanding!

Here’s a book written a long time ago about topics that resonate as loud now as they did then. The settings along the journey, with all there splendor and description add to the novel showing its age. Written in 1972, Smokescreen follows the adventures of a British actor (movie star?) from filming his latest which was shot on location in Spain, to solving a series of small mysteries in South Africa. Very little of his time is spent at home in England. Still in the brief pages of his life there, we are treated to seeing how real this actor is off camera. And just as quickly as he arrived, he’s off again.

Arriving in South Africa to coincide with the premier of his new movie, Ed Lincoln, Aka Link, assumes a role of private investigator without fanfare or any sort of acting. He knows there’s something to find and well, that’s enough to find it.

The world is old fashioned, and it gives a certain charm to the entirety of it. Range Rovers driving in Africa, cars being hired not rented, and those cars had models like saloon or special. Telephone calls across the continents take hours to place before they go through, and the movie paraphernalia, including actual film, speaks to the golden age of the medium.

And then there’s the other parts of the novel that are timeless. There’s still conglomerates trying to make money, a relentless press who would do anything for a story, a paparazzi of sorts, and above all, greed. Timeless are these themes and the acts of the people who live by them. The technology around it all has changed, making everything happen faster and faster, but other than the speed, the everything has stayed the same fifty years later. There’s no reason to think it’ll change one hundred and fifty years later either.

But the strongest of the themes is a tightly written scene about two thirds through; a defining moment for our main character. The conversation turns to equality and diversity and the struggle between races within South Africa. These passages show a struggle that is very much still ongoing to this day. In the book the phrase used was “black is beautiful,” and it was a everything then that “black lives matter” is today.

The book may be an obscure. The author might be too, but nonetheless, I recommend it. It’s written honestly from the main character’s point of view, seeing the world that he’s living in, describing both his and our worlds alike.

Another exciting thriller from a dependable writer. This one was slow to grab my interest but ultimately barreled to a thrilling climax in the Kruger game park which I visited a few years ago. Fun read!

Not sure how many times I've read this over the years lol...I have ALL of Dick Francis's books now...as I came upon them much younger..as back then I was into mysteries and also horses. Still am!

This one was very good...one of Dick's earlier ones...enjoyed his main character Edward Lincoln..."Linc' - an actor, who by and by was also a wannabe jockey till he grew to 6ft...though still loves horses/racing etc. Took a roundabout journey to come to the conclusion of who was messing with his friend's horses...and as always with Dick Francis...the 'cleverness' of Linc and his thought processes always keep me hooked till the end. A shorter book...I do very much enjoy the longer ones and am always sorry when I've come to the end.

A middling story made superlative by Tony Britton's reading. Maybe I've read and listened to so many Francis novels that I'm onto all the tricks, but I'm afraid that while the plot ideas were good, the execution was predictable. I knew who the bad guy was the moment he made an appearance; I knew how the plot would play out from the first two pages. It reminded me very much--perhaps a bit too much--of Risk, published five years later but I read it long ago, decades before I listened to this one.

Our Hero is an actor who plays James Bond-ish sort of parts in action movies. When he goes off to S. Africa to check on a friend's horses there and find out why they are running so badly, everyone around him expects the man to equal the part played--and surprise, surprise, he's nearly as resourceful as his movie characters. By the way, I've talked to native Africans from various countries. They all agree that yes, it gets much hotter here in S. Spain than it does in their various homelands. Even so, I don't think the survival thing would have been possible within the scenario as stated. I also don't believe a park ranger would tell them that the elephant is the most dangerous animal in Africa; the hippo has that distinction.

Racing plays almost no part at all in this particular excursion, and the author felt the need to whack in a lot of research on mines in a way that stuck out like neon in a dark tunnel. Not sure if I would have finished the book if I had been reading it myself instead of letting the excellent Mr Britton read it to me.

Over the last couple of years I finally started reading Dick Francis and I've become a fan. However, it's lucky I didn't start out with this book. LOTS of filler in here and it seems like more of a travelogue of a time Dick Francis visited South Africa than a suspenseful novel. The ending was quite satisfying, but it took a LONG time to get there. This would have made a much better lengthy short story than a short novel. It can safely be passed up for better Francis efforts.

tOne of the characters in this novel is very much like Sean Connery’s James Bond, so what other reason do you need to read it? This is one of more enjoyable and open DF novels. There is a sense of What if here, especially in regards to the central character’s marriage