My first Dick Francis. I want to ride Archangel.

My edition of this book quotes a review from The Atlantic Monthly, indicating that the book is "guaranteed to drive the reader to hysterical dithers and jotters." I confess that I have absolutely no idea what even regular dithers and jotters might amount to, let alone hysterical ones, and while I enjoyed the book, I was not especially moved to any unusual emotional reactions.

Neil Griffon's profession is consulting with troubled companies and restoring them to good health. But then his father, who owns a large stable operation with eight-five horses in his care, is badly injured in an auto accident, and Neil is temporarily forced to leave his own job and take over the stables. Neil's relations with his father have never been good (a frequent problem for Dick Francis's protagonists), and the last thing he wants to do is assume this responsibility. Sadly, he has no choice.

No sooner does Griffon settle in than he is kidnapped by a couple of professional thugs and delivered to a rich and powerful criminal. The criminal's son, who has no experience in these matters, wishes to become a champion jockey, preferably starting tomorrow. The crook instructs Griffon to take the son into his operation and set him up on the best horse in the place in the coming race season. Should Griffon fail to do so, the crook will destroy the stables and inflict great bodily harm on Griffon himself.

Obviously, this seriously bad guy has never read a Dick Francis novel or he would have had sense enough to take his son and his threats to another stable. Anyone who ever has read one of these books understands immediately that any Dick Francis protagonist will face such threats stoically, bravely, and intelligently. Most of all, he will never, EVER, give into such threats irrespective of the harm that will inevitably be inflicted upon him along the way.

Griffon's challenge, then, is to diffuse the situation without ever speaking of it to anyone else, the police included. Bringing them into this matter simply wouldn't be fair to the poor bad guy who has no idea who he's dealing with or what he's getting himself into. And even though I wasn't reduced to hysterical dithers and jotters (at least as far as I know), I did enjoy watching Neil Griffon wrestle with this challenge and I expect that most other readers who like this series will as well.

Another great one by Dick Francis. This time, our Everyman Hero Neil Griffon is abducted and bullied into putting an amateur jockey up on the favorite mount for the big race. Just covering for his father after a serious car accident, he has no experience running a stable and is quickly in over his head.

Classic Francis at his best, we have the intricacies of a strained father / son relationship, empowered, strong women well ahead of their time, and a great Everyman main character in Neil. Yes, we have horses, and racing, and insights into the everyday operations of a racing stable. But we also have a smart mystery that will leave you guessing until the end.

I just love his books. 3.5 stars.

Dick Francis has been one of my favourite authors for many years, and I always find his books entertaining. For some reason, I had a harder time getting into this one than I have in many of his other books. I think the main character's reactions weren't quite as believable to me as in other books. But once I got past the first 50 pages, I was sucked right into the story. There were a couple of events that occurred that made me mad, but otherwise, it was a good read.

An interesting redemption story of two men with father issues. One who has already come to terms with his cold, dominating father, and a younger man who is still trapped in the dysfunctional dynamic.

I've been reading Dick Francis' novels for years and finally located several of his early novels that I had missed. I read this one with great pleasure, as usual. A son steps in to run his father's training stable when his father is hospitalized and runs into some potentially ruinous events and bad people. Our hero nicely outthinks the villain, who has a fascinating backstory and reason for his actions, and after some worrisome twists, all turns out satisfactorily.

Typical Francis. Horses, intrigue, action and a great story.

Our hero, who already is in an impossible situation due to his father's accident, is forced into yet another impossible and life-threatening situation by another father/son duo. Neil has taken on running his father's stables while his father recuperates in hospital traction. Theirs is a fraught relationship made worse by a 16-year estrangement. No matter what Neil does, his father will not be pleased, even though Neil is a self-made man with a strong head for business. Into this situation comes an Italian mobster who demands his son ride a Derby contender, no matter that the rules of English racing will not bend to these demands. Neil must comply or his father's stable will be destroyed. What follows is an often tense battle of wills between and among the foursome, culminating in a Francis' trademark rush of deadly action.

There are two stories at work in Dick Francis’ mystery, Bonecrack. On the surface this is a contest between two men—a wealthy criminal trying to force Neil Griffon into putting his amateur eighteen-year-old son onto champion horse, Archangel, for the Derby. It’s a totally unrealistic and impossible demand, but that only makes the insane lengths to which the villain is willing to go to make it happen all the more frightening.

The real story, however, is about two young men and their dysfunctional relationships with their fathers. Both fathers are absolutely determined to control their sons and neither can ultimately handle their inability to do so. There is a lot of pain in this book—but worst of it is the emotional damage these two fathers keep inflicting on their boys.

The heart of this novel is watching Griffon slowly cultivate the feelings of competence and independence in Alessandro that helps to break him free of his criminal father’s control. It’s extremely well done and highly believable. It also creates a very human core for the book—especially when you realize Dick Francis’ true vision of a father-son relationship is the mentoring Griffon gives Alessandro and the mutual respect this generates between them.

Bonecrack also has one of the most dramatic endings of any Dick Francis novels as Alessandro’s father goes to horrifically insane lengths to get his way. This is one of those books that sticks with you years after you first read it.

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Very enjoyable read.

Kept me reading even though I should have been spending time with my family for Labor weekend. I really enjoy Dick Francis

Perfect thriller, I shall see it as a grand introduction to his books! Not really a whodunnit in any way.

Neil Griffon is an English businessman whose father owns a very successful stable. Griffon is smart, observant, and resourceful. We get this picture early on when he is mistakenly kidnapped and beaten in order to force him to do a powerful criminal’s bidding. Since stable owners are counted on to serve the owners of the horses with recommendations as to the best jockey and the appropriate race for their horse, this is what the pressure is all about. Neil is in this position because his father has been hospitalized after a very serious car crash and will be “out of the picture for several months.”

The story itself is surprisingly not dated (being one of his earlier efforts), but sexism is pervasive and, if that bothers you, then it may be easier to skip this one. Neil did not follow in his father’s footsteps; he made his own way in the world of artifacts and antiques. He has a keen business sense and great powers of observation. (see below)
"Nothing in the room looked cosily lived in. In essence it was a middle-class sitting-room in a smallish middle-class house, built, I guess, in the nineteen thirties. The furniture had been pushed back against striped cream wallpaper to give the fat man clear space for manoeuvre: furniture which consisted of an uninspiring three-piece suite swathed in pink chintz, a gate-legged table, a standard lamp with parchment-colored shade, and a display cabinet displaying absolutely nothing. There were no rugs on the highly polished birch parquet, no ornaments, no books or magazines, nothing personal at all. As bare as my father’s soul, but not to his taste. The room did not in the least fit what I had so far seen of the fat man’s personality."
and
"They dumped me presently down on my side, on a wooden floor. Polished. I could smell the polish. Scented. Very nasty. I opened my eyes a slit, and verified. Small intricately squared parquet, modern. Birch veneer, wafer thin. Nothing great."

Having given Neil all these keen attributes, is the story is in danger of collapsing because of Neil’s seeming inability to marshal his skills toward a satisfactory outcome? Not so! Neil is a patient victim who lines everything up for a satisfactory resolution.

Here are some things that Dick Francis’ fans might not like:
1.t There is almost no horseracing;
2.tEven the running of Griffon’s stable isn’t given a lot of detail;
3.tMaybe, the most important thing about this story is that it is NOT a mystery. Less mysterious than most any other Francis novel. This should be billed as a pure thriller.
4.tThe story is really focused on father/son relationships and makes me wonder what Francis’ relationship with his father was all about.

Tony Britton’s reading adds a welcome layer to the story. 3.5