Like all of Dick Francis's books, they are hard to put down

You are absorbed in the book from start to finish, I have yet to find someone who does not enjoy them. Mrs H

I always enjoy Dick Francis. Good simple read with a compelling story.

I am definitely a fan of Dick Francis. His books are always entertaining and suspenseful with intelligent, stoic heroes and cruel villains. In Bonecrack, Neil Griffon was forced into a desperate situation on the first page which grabbed the reader's attention immediately. Unlike the other books I have read by this author, horse racing wasn't the main focus. Instead, the novel concentrated on father-son relationships and the negative impacts fathers can have on their boys.

Although I didn't like young Alessandro at the start, he was arrogant and spoilt, thankfully, under Neil's guidance, he changed for the better and by the end I felt quite sorry for him. The only thing I didn't like about Bonecrack was the murders of three beautiful race horses. I hated that Alessandro's father used them to try and bend Griffon to his will. So unnecessary! However, I did appreciate the lengths Griffon went to to protect his jockeys and horses and keep them safe. A very enjoyable read.

This is early Francis.A rich megalomaniac will stop at nothing,not torture,not even murder,if his son is not turned into a champion jockey in a matter of days by a racehorse trainer.

Neil Griffon gets kidnapped and is given plenty of threats that unless he trains Alessandro to ride the horse Archangel in the derby and win it,his father's stable will be destroyed.And Allesandro himself is a sullen character,while his father is a vicious blackmalier.

As he frequently likes to do,Francis puts his hero through plenty of trials and tribulations.Once again,all that torture is a bit hard to read about.

Not among my favourite Francis books,but still has a powerful and shocking climax.

While this isn't one of my favorite Dick Francis novels, it is none-the-less very good, and quite different from its predecessors. (I have been reading them chronologically.) The "big" finale is not as suspenseful as some of the others, perhaps, but the final pages are quite moving, which is something I had not encountered before in a book by this author.

Dick Francis? The mob? Syphilis? Sign me up for that party! Fantastic as usual. The ending was maybe a bit too tidy, but it was still fantastic fun. All the characters are adorable and interesting, even the bad ones (okay, they aren't so adorable).

My least favorite Dick Francis. Flat characters; none of the suspense.

While I did not understand some of the horse racing terms and some British words, I still liked the book. It kept me interested throughout. Of course, I always like the main character in Francis' novels, and Neil Griffon was no exception. In fact, I liked all the characters even the nasty ones who were thoroughly nasty. Neil had to take over his father's training stables since his father had broken his leg and was laying in a hospital bed. When he was approached by a crime czar, Enzo, to make his son Alessandro a star jockey or his stables would be destroyed, Neil handled the predicament the best he could. Dick Francis did not fail in this novel either even though it was one of his earlier novels.

Absolutely dependable diversion. Dick Francis is always exactly what I expect him to be. This was a good one!

A perfect read for a long haul flight. Action and suspense and can be read without much concentration. I am in awe of how much physical abuse his hero’s body can tolerate.
I am saving my next Dick Francis for the next plane journey.

Not the best Francis thriller, but still worth four stars. Clever parallel of two father/son relationships.

My first Dick Francis novel, after my mum said my great-grandad was a big fan.

Pacey, with some intruige, and stylish too. You learn a lot about horse racing, and while it was a little far-fetched in a couple of places, it didn't try to outdo itself. Easy to read in a day if you can commit to it.