Seseorang yang menganggap segalanya dapat dibeli dengan uang dan kekerasan, mendebarkan apalagi membaca bagian di mana tulang-tulang si tokoh utama dipatahkan seolah ia bukan manusia tapi ranting pohon.

Another excellent mystery involved in the horse-racing world. Neil takes over running a racing stable when his father is injured but he is terrorized by an obsessive man who unrealistically wants his son to ride the favorite in the biggest race of the year. as is usual with Francis heroes, Neil is intelligent, systematic, and calmly goes about fighting the evil all at great risk to himself, and trying to keep the people (and horses) around him safe. I always feel such a strong connection to the heroes and enjoy the action and suspense, while admiring the logic and imagination of the story. I love all Francis's books, but this is one of my favorites.

3 Stars

Bonecrack by Dick Francis...
"The unexpected arrival of a new apprentice jockey at his father's racing stables heralds the beginning of a series of dark happenings for Neil Griffon. First his father suffers a grisly accident, and then Neil is brutally assaulted and abducted. The price for his freedom will mean the betrayal and deception of those who trust Griffon most. But he has no choice: a no-compromise crime czar has made an ultimatum--that his own eighteen-year-old son be hired by Griffon's stables to ride the superstar horse, Archangel, in the Derby. And the young man must be trained to win. Or else...."
->2023 Reading Challenge.
->Glennie's Collection
Dick Francis novels were a familiar fixture in our household when I was growing up, as both my parents loved his books. He was amongst the first ‘adult’ reads that I explored at the time, and over the years I have read everything he’s written. I remember every time my mother read one of his books, she'd tell me about him and how he'd gone from being an RAF pilot to being the Queen Mother's favourite jockey, before retiring to become a journalist/writer.
Since my mother passed away over a year ago, I have been making my way through her book collection, finally. I decided to make reading her entire collection a part of my reading challenge for the next couple of years (she has a HUGE collection), as well as a way to pay tribute to my mum, who was such a voracious reader..... Reading her collection of books has stirred up a lot of memories, mostly of our shared love of reading. I am forever grateful that she passed on her love of reading to me.

Kui paluda mul nimetada erinevaid krimiromaani kirjanikke, siis jääksin päris hätta, sest peale Agatha Christi ma vist kedagi peast rohkem ei teagi. Dick Francis oli minu jaoks positiivne avastus ja kuigi ma ei hinnanud teda maksimumiga (4/5-st), siis on tegemist minu uue lemmikuga. „Luumurd“ oli kirjutatud nii sujuva, pehme, sellise ... ülistiilse ja maitseka kirjastiiliga. Kes on vaadanud „Downton Abbey“ või „Doc Martini“ sarja (soovitan tõsiselt!), siis vot sellist aristokraatlikku, aga ka väikekodanlikku inglise hõngu saate ka Francise raamatust. Tegevus toimub Newmarketis, mis on tuntud kui täisvereliste hobuste võiduajamise sünnikoht ja ülemaailmne keskus. Rahad, mis seal liiguvad on miljardites naelades, kuigi rahvaarv on ainult 16 600 (nagu meie Valga 12 000 elanikuga).
Selles raamatus on peategelaseks Neil Griffon, kes isa jalaluumurru tõttu on sunnitud minema Newmarketisse, isa poolt hallatavasse talli Rowley Lodge`i asenduseks. Alguses on tal idee leida keegi teine tema asemel, sest ta pole hobustega alates 16. eluaastast, kui ta kodunt ära läks, tegelenud. Selle idee purustavad kaks kumminägu, kes ta ühel ööl röövivad ja viivad meesterahva Enso ette. Enso nõuab, et Neil võtaks enda juurde tema poja Alessandro, et too saaks derbil võistelda eelmise hooaja võitja hobuse Peaingliga. Kui Alessandro ei saa, siis isa hävitab kogu talli, mille väärtus on rohkem kui 6 miljonit naela.
Mulle meeldis see soe tunne, mida selle raamatu lugemine tekitas. Alguses muidugi pidin arusaama, kes või mis on „džoki“. Tõsi, teos läks aeglaselt, aga selle põhjuseks pean minu mitte suurt fännust krimiromaanide suhtes ja tahtmist lõpetada teised raamatud enne. Kriminaalromaanide suhtes on selline stereotüüp, et kohe alguses peab keegi hukkuma ning siis hakatakse otsima, uurima, jälitama. Vahest seetõttu ma neid ka väga ei fänna väga, sest kõik on kuidagi sarnased. Antud teoses, aga ei surnud ükski inimene enne viimaseid 3-5 lehekülge. „Pahalased“ olid justkui juba algusest teada. Milles siis krimka? Dick Francis hoidis pinget – kuigi me teame, kes on „pahad“, suutis autor nende käitumise, sõnade ning emotsioonidega hoida ülal samasugust pinget, kui siis, kui loeme detektiivi võidujooksu mõrtsukaga. Valusalt mõjusid hobuste hukkumised, kui Enso oma mõjuvõimu kehtestas. Hästi huvitav oli näha kahe perekonna isa-poja vahelist suhet ning kõikide meeste arengut ühes või teises suunas. Näha, et tegelikult võib laps ennast lahku lüüa perest, kui talle ei pakuta midagi, aga ka siis, kui kõike pakutakse. Kuigi teema tundus nii lahja, sest midagi ei toimunud ju eriliselt, siis Francis suutis lõpus ikkagi tuua ootamatud puändid, mis tegelikult selgitasid, miks Enso käitus nii nagu ta käitus.

Dick Francis never disappoints!

Dick Francis is one of my favorite authors. I truly grieved when he died. I read Bonecrack for the second time because I'm doing research for a book I'm writing and wanted to immerse myself in Francis's calm, cool, collected world.
Francis gives us yet another wonderful mystery story, all centered around horses (which I also love). This one is one of his better stories. Try it. You'll have a new favorite author if you do.

typical Dick Francis. Hero is facing insurmountable problems and then overcomes them. This time it is a megalomaniac who wants his son to ride the top horse in the country. It is always interesting how he picks a different field - this time it was antiques and training. It made me want to go to NewMarket. One day.

Strangely bland, even for an earlier Francis novel, most of the real action takes place in the final quarter. It seems to have been written at arm's length, as if the author had been thinking about something else most of the time. Set in the world of flat racing instead of steeplechase, which may explain why the main character is a looker-on instead of a jockey or other direct participant. Why Francis decided to make him an antique dealer-turned-business consultant is anybody's guess.

Francis is already recycling motifs, this early into his career: the loner child whose father never really loved him, who bottles up his feelings without pickling them first. One of the confrontation scenes with the bad guy is almost a rewrite of a previous novel. Said bad guy is Italian/Swiss, the typical "nasty foreigner", and his son's English goes from near-pidgin to Oxford-convoluted from one moment to the next. The "mean scenes" were no big deal, not that I wanted any more grit, but it was just all so sleep-inducing.

ETA: at second listen to the audiobook, I noticed that the women are either sexless (the secretary), obviously queer (the stable's "head lad", the only female with that job in England according to Francis), or there for the MC to visit occasionally for sex and/or food. I know the target audience was considered to be middle aged men, but even so I found the author's personal issues a bit too obvious.

This book just didn't seem to know where it was going. The MC's backstory didn't go anywhere, and the ending seemed patched on. Maybe it was the heatwave Europe has been locked in for the past week or so, but there's no "mystery" here, let alone "thriller."

This is not mental popcorn, because it had no crunch. Harmless is the best I can say for it.

I read some of Dick Francis’s books many years ago. When I read this one I did not know how good it would be. As an ex jockey and racing journalist he knew all the ins and outs of the racing game. All his novels are set in the racing industry and each novel is a stand alone one. This one was enjoyable from start to finish. The story tells of a brutal father who will stop at nothing to get his son to ride the favourite for the Derby. This book is well worth a read. If you have not read any of Dick Francis’s books before once you have read this one you will want to read more. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

If you don't like one Dick Francis hero, you are unlikely to like any of them. Sid Halley (Odds Against), Charles Todd (In the Frame), Roland Britten (Risk), or Neil Griffon (Bonecrack): they are all alike in important respects. They are not big men, they're soft-spoken, reasonable, and tidy. They don't look aggressive, and this leads their enemies to underestimate them.

Neil Griffon has no good reason to get into trouble. He's running his father's racing stables temporarily, while the old man is in hospital from a car crash. He's supposed to be looking for a long-term replacement, and he finds one. But then he turns the candidate down, and continues to run the place himself, contrary to his father's wishes.

Fathers and sons, and Turgenev realized, is what it's all about. Neil doesn't get along with his authoritarian father, a rather cold sort. Alessandro Rivera's father has given him everything, and has promised to make him a star jockey. In fact, Alessandro wants to ride Archangel in the Derby, and his father will do anything to make it happen. Anything, even murder.

Caught between two unreasonably fathers, Enso Rivera and the senior Griffon, Neil has to play a careful and dangerous game that will call on all of his considerable, if not obvious, resources.

Bonecrack was first published in 1971. I re-read it in the 1978 Pocket Books edition, and it is a wonderful read. Dick Francis as a writer is as much a master of pacing as he was as a jockey.

Marvelous

No one writes quite like Dick Francis. This was about the 6th time I had read Bonecrack and it still had a powerful effect on me. His stories are incredible, the writing superb, and the horses are beautiful, silken wonders. For the mystery reader it is as important to read Dick Francis as it is to read Agatha Christie.

An unusual story of madness and the lust for control, told in the author's well rehearsed voice. I enjoyed the radical change in Alessandro, and Neil's skill in dealing with him with honesty and compassion.
And the descriptions of races, along with the feeling of communicating with an animal who could easily rid itself of an annoying passenger, but instead responds willingly and bravely to it's rider.