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Love his books, another good one
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Hired to fly four racing buffs to the track, pilot Matt Shore expects it will be the kind of job he likes: quick and easy. Until, that is, he’s forced to make an emergency landing just minutes before the plane explodes. Luckily, no one is hurt, but it isn’t long before Matt realizes that he’s caught up in the rat race of violent criminals who are dead-set on putting anyone who stands in their way on the wrong side of the odds…
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1,1970
This edition
- Format
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304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
- Published
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July 5, 2006 by G.P. Putnam's Sons
- ISBN
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9780425210765
- ASIN
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0425210766
- Language
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English
About the author
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Dick Francis, CBE, FRSL (born Richard Stanley Francis) was a popular British horse racing crime writer and retired jockey.
Dick Francis worked on his books with his wife, Mary, before her death. Dick considered his wife to be his co-writer - as he is quoted in the book, "The Dick Francis Companion", released in 2003:
"Mary and I worked as a team. ... I have often said that I would have been happy to have both our names on the cover. Mary's family always called me Richard due to having another Dick in the family. I am Richard, Mary was Mary, and Dick Francis was the two of us together."
Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror '
Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph '
Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jockey in 1953/1954 and rode for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, most famously on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National.
On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the biography of Lester Piggott.
During his lifetime Dick Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three 'best novel' Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2000. Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.
Series:
* Sid Halley Mystery
* Kit Fielding Mystery
Dick Francis worked on his books with his wife, Mary, before her death. Dick considered his wife to be his co-writer - as he is quoted in the book, "The Dick Francis Companion", released in 2003:
"Mary and I worked as a team. ... I have often said that I would have been happy to have both our names on the cover. Mary's family always called me Richard due to having another Dick in the family. I am Richard, Mary was Mary, and Dick Francis was the two of us together."
Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror '
Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph '
Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jockey in 1953/1954 and rode for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, most famously on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National.
On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the biography of Lester Piggott.
During his lifetime Dick Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three 'best novel' Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2000. Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.
Series:
* Sid Halley Mystery
* Kit Fielding Mystery
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Community Reviews
Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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I genuinely found this one a bit hard to follow. Due to some stylistic quirks (sentence fragments galore!), a tendency to bury plot points in boring dialogue, or just because I wasn't really paying attention? Eh, probably a combo platter.
I can tell you that emotionally-wounded pilot protagonist dude was super gay for uber-famous(-but-still-down-to-earth) racing jockey dude. So that was nice.
I can tell you that emotionally-wounded pilot protagonist dude was super gay for uber-famous(-but-still-down-to-earth) racing jockey dude. So that was nice.
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It is more than thirty years since I last read this story and it is great that it is now available to read on a Kindle. I welcomed the chance to re-acquaint myself with the story and found it as intriguing now as it was all those years ago.
Matt Shore has had a chequered career as a pilot through no real fault of his own. He is a very experienced and capable pilot and his latest role, taxiing people, is somewhat beneath his skills. However, those skills are going to be tested to the full in this intriguing mystery!
Whilst taking some racegoers home, he notices something feels untoward and makes an emergency landing. When the plane explodes within minutes of them leaving it that's the start of an investigation where it is unclear just when and how the bomb was put on board the plane or who was the target. As he continues flying race goers the mystery deepens, friendships are made and more dangers are faced. It is a fast paced story with flying and racing at its heart. The characters are well developed - there's even the possibility of a romance as well. I enjoyed re-reading this story and recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading suspense filled mystery stories set around the 1970s.
I requested and was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest review after choosing to read this latest version of it.
Matt Shore has had a chequered career as a pilot through no real fault of his own. He is a very experienced and capable pilot and his latest role, taxiing people, is somewhat beneath his skills. However, those skills are going to be tested to the full in this intriguing mystery!
Whilst taking some racegoers home, he notices something feels untoward and makes an emergency landing. When the plane explodes within minutes of them leaving it that's the start of an investigation where it is unclear just when and how the bomb was put on board the plane or who was the target. As he continues flying race goers the mystery deepens, friendships are made and more dangers are faced. It is a fast paced story with flying and racing at its heart. The characters are well developed - there's even the possibility of a romance as well. I enjoyed re-reading this story and recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading suspense filled mystery stories set around the 1970s.
I requested and was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest review after choosing to read this latest version of it.
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If you like a good mystery you'll like any of the Dick Francis books. Cuddle up next to a fire on a cold night and enjoy.
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washed up pilot?
Funny how the hero in these stories has a rough time that puts him in a rough situation, then makes him a hero that gets the girl. How come I never got that ride?
Funny how the hero in these stories has a rough time that puts him in a rough situation, then makes him a hero that gets the girl. How come I never got that ride?
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Love
I love Dick Francis books. They always keep me wondering about the end! Love the horses as well.
Read th.
I love Dick Francis books. They always keep me wondering about the end! Love the horses as well.
Read th.
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A fast-paced, entertaining thriller of a ride. A a lot of the action takes place in the skies above England's racecourses as the protagonist is a taxi-pilot, flying racing people from Newmarket to Cheltenham, for example, on a daily basis. Matt Shore is depressed, alone & penniless & is unwillingly mixed up in the racing community merely by being the pilot of the plane that exploded, nearly taking champion jockey Colin Ross with it. Again, I don't really believe the love angle - fondness, yes, love, no - but it does give Matt a reason to take an interest in his nowhere life, & that can only be a good thing.
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This is a fairly typical Dick Francis novel. In this case, the loner, withdrawn protagonist is a pilot, Matt Shore, who once flew for BOAC but who is now reduced to flying puddle-jumper charters. It's not initially clear why this is the case. Like a lot of Francis's heros, Shore has also recently been divorced and is very gun-shy regarding women, although inevitably a beautiful and desirable woman will soon be practically dropped into his lap.
Matt flies a party of four to a race meet and only a minute or so after they land, the plane explodes. It's a narrow escape, and luckily no one is hurt. But several other incidents follow and it appears that someone may be targeting a prominent jockey who frequently flies with Matt. As usual, there's a dark sinister force lurking in the background pursuing a foul agenda irrespective of the cost in lives or in property damage. Matt will have to sort all of this out and tame his own demons as well if he hopes to bring the mystery and his own personal circumstances in for a happy landing. Anyone who enjoys Francis's work could spend a pleasant evening with this book.
Matt flies a party of four to a race meet and only a minute or so after they land, the plane explodes. It's a narrow escape, and luckily no one is hurt. But several other incidents follow and it appears that someone may be targeting a prominent jockey who frequently flies with Matt. As usual, there's a dark sinister force lurking in the background pursuing a foul agenda irrespective of the cost in lives or in property damage. Matt will have to sort all of this out and tame his own demons as well if he hopes to bring the mystery and his own personal circumstances in for a happy landing. Anyone who enjoys Francis's work could spend a pleasant evening with this book.
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