Very disjointed and not very convincing. Too much detail on the glass blowing.

An absolutely cracking story but not without problems.
First: a well paced and lively read. A novel and captivating tale. Occasionallly thrilling.
Second: I read a first edition copy. The very poor editing by the publisher, alongside some almost incoherent sentences (the fault of the author or the editor?) greatly detracted from overall enjoyment.
I’m not too familiar with Francis’ writing and I’d be interested to hear if regular readers recognise this issue.

I love Dick Francis books! They are always fun and exciting, and this one is no exception. This revolves around a friend of a jockey who dies. After his death, his friend discovers that he had a secret. This is an easy read with likable characters and I highly recommend it.

always love a dick francis book

While this book was interesting, I found it slow and hard to follow the plot line at times. Why would people be obsessed with attacking a glass blower for a video tape? I don't think this question was ever fully answered, at least in my mind.

Fairly good mystery but his books all seem to follow the formula of lots of beating up the hero but without actually killing him, and a fair amount of sex off screen. The glass blower details are interesting.

Another exciting yarn from Dick Francis. The protagonist in this case is a glass-blower, which was refreshingly different.

I have been a Francis fan for many years now, having read most of his books. While this one is not his best, it it still a far better effort than we see from other authors.
This book contains the familiar comforts we have come to expect from Francis-- a likeable accidental hero, a loathsome villan or two, a nice girl and the chance to learn something. Reading one of Francis' novels is like sitting down with an old, familiar friend. We know what to expect, and I think this lack of surprise is why so many reviewers have panned this book. It is exactly the reason I bought it. I knew what I would be in for and I didn't have to wonder if I had just wasted $20 and killed a few trees for nothing.

I have heard rumors that this may be Francis' last book. While I understand his desire to retire, I will miss the yearly visit with my old friend. But then, I have 40 other chances to become reacquainted with him.

Dick Francis at his worst is still better than other authors at their best!

Read this if you are a completist...but sadly it is too dated these days for me to enjoy.The plot revolves around videotapes and dialup internet connections - and loses it's vibrancy as it is not relateable. Also, the handling of female characters jars. I'd recommend his other novels to newcomers though, especially the earlier ones.

Meh. The last Dick Francis novel (before his son turned the Francis name into a brand) and his career ended not with a bang but with a whimper.
If you want a good racing mystery, go waaaay back to the early books. If you've never read a Francis novel, DO NOT START HERE. Granted he wrote some enervating tosh before this one that is much worse, but this is just dull, dull, dull.

Francis retired from racing in 1956 and by the turn of the millenium it really shows. Racing gets only a passing mention, because after all he's totally out of the loop on modern racing etc. so it's a very weak hook to hang all the glassblowing research on. The story begins on NYE of 1999, and I nearly gave up after pages and pages of mentioning "the new millenium" every few sentences. I got the feeling the publishers wanted a "millenium Francis" to go out on. VHS tapes would still be produced until 2008, but less and less--and I couldn't help wondering at a research lab that had no backup copies of all of this oh so important information. At that level computers etc would certainly be around.

The villain is of course unhinged, apparently into S&M, but fortunately we are spared the details. Even the hero and his hookup only mention "bed" but no sex scenes. Surrounded by would be protectors, the hero is of course left on his own for the crucial confrontation.
I listened to this on audiobook by a less than riveting reader, which only added to the yawnfest of the book. He's not as bad as David Case, but then no one could be.

Zipped through this book in an afternoon. I like it; as always, Francis constructs a great plot and nicely develops his characters. But the traumatic conclusion makes me uncertain whether or not to keep it. It’s so horrific. Solution: I’ll keep it for the time being an postpone the decision!

I read it because 1) I was looking for a book touching on business espionage, and 2) I've been meaning to read a Francis novel. There is an industrial espionage component. A jockey gives a video to a glassblower right before his death on New Year's Eve, 1999. The video is stolen from the glassblower that night.

Eventually we learn the video has the only copy of a potential cure/treatment for cancer. On a VHS tape. Yeah, because that makes sense. Separately, there is some discussion about secret glassblowing methods, which might have been a more logical candidate for recording on a tape. Or that the stolen tape might shed further light on the jockey's death, but no, that is never revisited. The combination of horses, glassblowing, Y2K, and cancer research came across as random.

The plot is Gerard's search for the tape and the thief's identity. Meanwhile he begins a love affair with a female police detective. You'd think that she would help him with his investigation. Not so. For some reason, Gerard gets help from a bunch of random guys, including an ex-con in the neighborhood who has three Dobermans. This is because some masked thugs beat up Gerard so he needs protection. Which again, why wouldn't his cop girlfriend be the one to protect him?

Which brings me to a related point. The interactions among the characters in this novel are bizarre. There's a long hunt by Gerard for somebody named Daniel Force. Once he's found, we are told again and again that Force is charming and that everybody likes him even when they know he does shady things. But his behaviors and dialog do not make him appear charming in the slightest. The real mystery is why anybody would like Force.

We're also told repeatedly that the jockey's mother-in-law, Marigold, is a charming, delightful woman. But every statement she makes throughout the novel is pouty, self-indulgent, or idiotic. I cannot see why anybody would be charmed by her.

More broadly, there are the good guys, (Gerard and team), and the bad guys (Force, a sadist named Rose, et al). For some reason in the beginning and middle of the book, interactions between the good guys and bad guys are fairly convivial or muted. Gerard asks lame questions like, "Did you do it?" He gets lame answers like, "Maybe, but I won't tell you any details." Rebuttal: "Well then, guess I'll take a train back to my glassblowing shop." To me this was very passive by typical mystery/thriller cat-and-mouse standards.

The climax was sort of compelling but by that point I'd already given up on enjoying this awkward mashup.