Love his books, another good one

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.

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.

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.

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?

Love

I love Dick Francis books. They always keep me wondering about the end! Love the horses as well.
Read th.

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.

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.

Typical Dick Francis thriller. He makes it very easy to root for the main character (the quiet underdog hero who gets caught in some illegal / ruthless heist) and to sincerely hope he will get the girl in the end.

Fast paced and interesting in the flying taxi details, for me it suffers a little due to the rather obvious and insufficiently convincing bad guy. But as far as I'm concerned, Francis could pick any boring subject and still make it an etntertaining ride - I seem to remember one book with an accountant as the hero.

The ending of this book was a cruel way to treat readers. It's extremely open ended, which isn't really Francis' normal style.

Still a great read.

I read Rat Race when it first came out in 1970 and I must have read it a dozen times since it still holds me completely from page one onwards to the last page.

Another fun one, but not as polished as some later ones. The love interest is much less developed, and the love rival is a caricature, but maybe one that really wandered around race courses back then? I liked the depression aspect of his character.