The start is good,a plane goes down in a hurricane,and the pilot gets stranded on a desolate Caribbean island.After that,it goes downhill.Not among his best.

4.5 stars. I really liked it. This was my first foray into Dick Francis's works, although I've certainly seen them everywhere over the years. While the mystery itself had a couple of weaker areas, I really liked the character portraits, the overall story line, and the depth of knowledge Francis managed to convey on everything from meteorology to flying planes without once sounding like an encyclopedia. I will definitely read more of his books!

This was pretty much a 3 star story but it was not quite there. I like Dick Francis. I like his easy style and readability. I like that people who have not read him think his books are about horses when they are decidedly not. There are usually horses though. His protagonists are all fairly similar, essentially the same character with different jobs and backstories. And all his books have some connection to horse racing. The connection in this book is almost nothing. I am not even sure why they put a horse on the cover.

By the end of the book this was an okay little story. And little it is. Slightly less than 300 pages in large font, with heavy leading (line spacing). The publisher used very thick paper to make it seem like an average sized novel. I like thick paper.

But, overall, the story was too easy. Too juvenile. Too poorly structured. The protagonist makes strange decisions with nothing to justify his actions. He throws himself into harms way regularly right up till the climax of the book with no personal payoff to speak of. Not that it was not enjoyable. It's just the protagonist is a weather man, not James Bond. It is James' job to do what the does, the character in this book does what he does for no apparent reason. Given how many ways he risks death in this story (and it is only a few but the risk is exceptionally high) I kind of wonder how he lived to be as old as he is.

So it was an alright read. But a two as an all right read and not a three. If you are a fan you will probably enjoy it. It is enjoyable. But it is also too easy and the plot (which is not terrible) is held together primarily with good intentions.

Not that great....

This is my first Dick Francis novel. I really wasn't that into it and it fell short of expectations. I don't know if I'll try another.

I enjoyed the weather information and I hadn’t realised how technical horse racing is and how things can be affected by the weather. I liked the detail of the horse trainers owners and a horse stands a better chance of winning a race if the weather is correct for that horse eg dry ground. It was very far fetched re the island and goings on there however it was entertaining.

6/10 not his best. Too far-fetched and not enough background.

I am on a Dick Francis kick, probably because I am horse crazy and his mystery stories always involve horses and the business of racing. Plus the fact, he is a good writer. His descriptions of his characters as well as his ability to describe what's happening through dialogue make it hard to put his books down. In this book, the protagonist is a weather man who becomes involved in a plot to steal nuclear materials to make bombs with right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Dick Francis's research is so thorough you'd think he is speaking from his own experience.

Not the usual Dick Francis type of book nor story line.
I struggled to get into it and persevered for 200 pages before speed reading the rest.
Not worth the effort.... very disappointing novel

Unpredictable mystery which begins with a flight through a hurricane and emergency landing on an island.

For some great escapism from COVID-19 - highly recommend sinking into Dick Francis. Not sure if it works on everyone, but definitely works on me given I was raised with these books! :-) This one is interesting as only a very very slight connection to the racing world - there happens to be a horse in it. Which makes for an interesting change and shows he cloud write about any topic with great craftsmanship and make it interesting. I now want to study weather. Really liked... (if also a little far-fetched, involves flying through hurricanes and generally putting oneself in the line of fire... )

Not his best.

Storms, a lost island, radiation and mystery - that does not amount to much in the end.