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10 Lb. Penalty

dick francis

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Benedict Juliard is an aspiring jockey who must bypass his dreams of horse racing to help his father, George, in his quest to enter the world of politics. At 18, the reserved Benedict is asked by his father to enter into a pact: Neither of the two will do anything that could somehow hinder or destroy George's blossoming political career. Young Benedict, who has no stronger ambition than to ride steeplechase as an amateur jockey, agrees to the pact, without possibly knowing what lies ahead.

Twelve years pass, and Ben has since abandoned his dream of making a career on the racetrack. Like his father, Ben enters the political arena, becoming George Juliard's closest ally and most trusted confidant as he makes his move to become prime minister. However, Ben suddenly finds himself the target of a fierce attack brought on by his father's brutally ambitious enemies. Through his son, George Juliard is discredited and destroyed just as he makes his drive for the prime ministership, leading Ben into an existence of treachery and lies.

As these events unfold, Ben quickly realizes that it is his responsibility to protect his father's career as well as his own, but more important, he must protect their lives.

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1,1997

This edition

Format
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published
August 3, 2004 by G.P. Putnam's Sons
ISBN
9780425197455
ASIN
042519745X
Language
English

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About the author

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dick francis

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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

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.8 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
23(23%)
4 stars
38(38%)
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38(38%)
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99 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
HousekiGirl
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Another winner by my boy, Dick Francis. He never lets me down.

In this one, we have a wonderful everyman in Benedict Juliard. Responsible, not flashy, but definitely a great combo of smart, shrewd, and forthright. What Francis does best, in my opinion. We meet young Benedict at the tender age of 17, ready for his gap year to ride races and hopefully never return to school. Unfortunately, his rather absentee father has other plans, and Benedict is thrust in the gritty world of politics. People indeed do want to vote for the elder Juliard, and there are people who are just as intent on stopping him from climbing the political ladder.

Unlike most of his books, this one actually spans 5 years, and the story takes some interesting twists and turns. Not to worry, though, because our everyman stays lawful good until the end, and we get a rushed, but satisfying ending. 3.5 stars.
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R_2_R
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This was a re-read for me, one of my favorites by Dick Francis.
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GIF_with_a_J
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Such a refreshing read. To begin, I found this book slightly hard to get into. I struggled to get into a groove reading this.

But after the first initial chapters of setting the plot and introducing the characters, boy, was this a good book. I found myself thinking about the various suspects and ways that this book may end even when I was not reading the book.

I've read a few Dick Francis novels prior to 10 lb. Penalty. I must say, this was not what I thought it would be. My favorite part was the change in relationship between Ben and his "dad". It was great to watch the transformation and made me think that I could actually learn something from a fiction novel.

All in all, 4.5 stars from me on 10 lb. Penalty! Only way it could be better, is to somehow catch a hold of my attention sooner!
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Migelphobia
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Ben Juliard is a seventeen year old,who plans to spend his gap year as a steeplechase jockey.His millionaire father,George, is not too impressed by his plans.

George Juliard has plans of his own.He wants to contest an election for the British parliament,and wants his son by his side,as a bodyguard.

George Juliard has enemies and has also acquired new political opponents.But his resourceful son,though only 17,always comes to the rescue.

10 lb. Penalty is a very interesting look at the world of British politcs and the campaigning process.Horses are inevitably there,but this works very nicely as a political thriller.
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Shadesblade
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Not a typical Dick Francis book but engrossing nonetheless. There is danger, yes, but more emotional and understated than in the usual Dick Francis manner since this book centers on the UK political system and the dangers inherent in running for office and putting oneself 'out there' among the 'gutter press' and exposing one's life to close scrutiny, not to mention the occasional 'crazy'. Quite relevant in today's political climate, but what kept me reading was the developing relationship between Ben and his father, the candidate. Francis does emotions remarkably well for male characters who otherwise present the cool and collected exterior. Ben himself is a highly engaging character as he grows from 17 to 22 and absorbs lessons from the father he's had a distant but cordial relationship with up to the moment 'Dad' chooses to campaign for Parliament. Not typical but well worth the reading.
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Noxaaa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Dick Francis has entered a different world in this excellent novel: Politics!
Though I have been involved, mostly on the fringes, in U.S. politics for most of my life, off and on, this inside look at British politics was eye-opening.
It seems, to this outsider, to be just as ridiculous and corrupt as ours, though, in this book, not as hate-filled and vicious as ours.
Still, a rational look at what government is and what it ought to be is just as absent as here.
This is, as we expect from Dick Francis, a darn good book, but of course it is not a political philosophy textbook -- nor really, for that matter, a how-to book of campaigning.
It is, though, a thoroughly entertaining story, with action and interesting characters, and I strongly recommend it.
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Usuiko
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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After a string of winners, this is a bit of a tired effort which rather limps past the finishing post. It is a bit of a departure from his usual formula and it doesn't really work. The storyline just doesn't ring true on a number of levels and the different characters are just too much of the traits the author wants to highlight.
It is still an OK read and it has its moments. 3 stars is a little on the generous side but 2 would be harsh.
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SnowHana
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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It has been a while since I'd previously read a Dick Francis novel in around 1990, I went through a spate of reading about twenty of them, my fiance was crazy about horses and had lots of them (Dick Francis novels not horses...). This was one I missed at the time, because I see it was first published after this time. It brings back memories, the central character, like the author, is connected to the horse racing world and tries to get to the bottom of some mystery and is often beaten up or falls off a horse part way through the book and slowly recovers.
He landed in a heap throwing me off forwards. I connected with the ground in one of those crunching collisions that tells you at once that you've broken a bone without being sure which bone.

Here the protagonist is Benedict Juliard, whose father is a hotshot politician. Ben wants to race horses but his father is keen for him to study at Exeter University first. Ben is helping his father get elected, when someone takes a potshot at them in the town square, later there is a mysterious fire, where they are staying. Ben is younger than the typical Dick Francis protagonist at the start of the book he is just seventeen. It is a quick read as Dick Francis takes us into the murky world of politics. Oddly, the names of the political parties are not mentioned and Ben's father is running for election in a fictitious Dorset town called Hoopwestern.
The 10 lb penalty of the title is the maximum a rider might carry with him to slow him down "in practice a 10 lb penalty is the most a horse will be faced with."
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