The second Kit Fielding book was ok. His fiancé, Danielle, is struggling with the idea of being married to someone who puts their life in danger by riding on racehorses but little does she know that there is worse danger lurking. Kit rides horses owned by Danielle's aunt, Princess Casillia. The princess is married to a member of the French aristocracy who owns a French company and he is being bullied by his deceased partner's son, Henri, to sign papers allowing the company to manufacture and sell guns. He doesn't want to sign but lives are being threatened. Kit askes them to give him time to stop the intimidation before doing anything. At first, Henri is just menacing and making vague threats but soon the Princess' horses are being killed, Danielle is followed while driving home late at night after work and the Princess' nephew is left dangling off of a balcony that is under construction at the racecourse. Kit sets a trap and catches Henri trying to tamper with his car and forces him to sign papers that renames the company and buys out the Princess' husband's shares. In the end, Kit figures out that it wasn't Henri killing the horses but Maynard, his nemesis from the previous book, in retaliation for Kit ruining his chances for knighthood. Not a bad book but it wasn't all that exciting. I am not sure why a second Kit Fielding book was written when his twin sister and most of the other characters from the previous book were all but missing in this one.

Hands down -- is that a horse-racing term? -- the worst Dick Francis book I have ever read. Where are all these glowing reviews coming from? (Haven't seen anything like it since Amazon's reviews of "The Gingerbread Man.")

For starters: Kit's relationship w his fiancé -- kiss on the cheek before bedtime? -- is wholly unconvincing. Her new suitor w his arm around her? Sitting together in the back seat -- Kit driving?

Second -- the characters I've seen in many Francis novels.

Third -- the Hardy Boys ways so many chapters end: '"K-K-Kit." He was stuttering dreadfully. "Come here at once."' 'I stopped the car abruptly. "Say that again."'

Fourth -- the way Kit's "heroics" are woven into the narrative. Unconvincingly.

Fifth -- Nanterre a completely unconvincing villain.

Sixth -- no guards around the stables....

Well, you get the idea.

A worthy follow up to Break In. It's great to spend another book with the ever-capable Kit. It was also neat to spend more time with the princess, meet her husband, and get to know them better. It's a bit disappointing to me that Kit's sister Holly and her husband, who featured so heavily in Break In, never appear.

The book synopsis here on Goodreads is laughably inaccurate. Someone is shooting horses and there is an arms dealer but beyond that the synopsis is pretty bogus. Having successfully defended his brother-in-law against a pair of news barons, Kit is asked to do the same for the princess's frail husband against a very hostile business takeover. Meanwhile he must deal with the possibility of losing his fiancée Danielle to a debonair prince, and protect himself from Maynard's hostility. Maynard, now a Steward, has all sorts of power over Kit, still a jockey, and after events in Break In is now actively trying to ruin him.

Kit is under a lot more strain in this book, having to deal with events that hit home with him more personally than his sister's troubles did. He's a bit less of a badass here, which may be why I prefer Break In over Bolt, but his struggles are powerfully written.

There's a very memorable scene involving a character hanging precariously from a roof and Kit's race to rescue them. There's also Kit's hugely entertaining battle with the bull-headed and excessively entitled Aunt Beatrice, liberally aided and abetted by the princess. The ending is more than a little horrifying and has always stayed with me. Again, powerfully written.

Predictably the arms dealer is described as having "olive skin and a heavy dark mustache". He gives an alias of Mohammed and Kit guesses that he's "Arab, in some way...Definitely Mediterranean, not Italian, perhaps French." The stereotype doesn't extend beyond that that I can tell, but it's still present.

It's slightly distressing to me that the threats to Danielle have nothing to do with her high-powered job, which she obviously loves, and everything to do with her body - physical harm, the loss of her beauty (via acid in her face). However, it makes sense in context. The villain has a large physical presence and thinks in terms of physical threats to everyone, not just Danielle. However, there's a telling exchange between Kit and Danielle - she doesn't want to report the vandalism of her car (and her near assault) to the police because "They think any young woman driving alone in the middle of the night is asking for trouble."

Profession in Focus: None, beyond the horseracing

Protagonist as a Memorable Character: High. Kit Fielding is one of only two protagonists Francis has used more than once. He first appeared in Break In.

Relation to Horses: High. Kit is a steeplechase jockey and the princess owns a large stable of racehorses. Kit has ridden her horses for years.

Love Interest: Yes, though this isn't Francis's usual tale of finding love.

Abrupt Ending: Yes. Most Francis novels end abruptly once the killer has been discovered and/or incapacitated instead of taking time to ease the reader down gradually.

Rich, classy horse owners are threanted by a deceased partner's unethical son. Pretty exciting. It would be fun to write a book liek this.

Dick Francis only ever returned to two main characters: Sid Halley and Kit Fielding. I'm not entirely sure why but possibly because Halley, as a detective, was a good option for the treatment. Fielding is not and he didn't even have a gap between the returns so maybe it was just that he had two different plots in mind for the character and decided to do them both.

This second Kit Fielding book doesn't really hit the highs of the previous one, despite being more of a classic Francis thriller. There are three big reasons, the first being that it leans heavily on the old cliche of "they got together perfectly in love at the end of the last one so in order to have a love story running through this they have to be having a rocky time of it". Of course we know in these books the love story will work out in the end so it almost feels a slog here that we have to endure this wheel-spinning side plot.

Big reason two is probably of little consequence to some, but there's an Asian shopkeeper depiction at one point which is racist. It has no real weight to the plot, leaving you with the impression Francis just wanted to get something off his chest about Asians and/or Asian shopkeepers. Every aspect of it is unkind and left me quite uncomfortable reading it. Probably only takes a couple of pages but non-white characters are rare enough in Francis's books so it's jarring when one of the few instances is so negative.

The third issue is simply that our villainous characters are far too much. Allerdeck is back but the age old feud and the work that went into Break-In make him seem entirely correct. Whereas here we have Nanterre who is like a strange cross between T-1000 and Goldfinger, as well as Aunt Beatrice who is a caricature too far.

It's a shame because there is a good plot here and it's very much in classic thriller territory. If it had been dialled down a little then or if there had been some slightly more intense motivations I'd have been giving back a star. As it is, this one is certainly a fine readable tale but it's a shame the second character Francis brings back isn't in another Whip Hand.

I've been reading one Dick Francis novel after another (5 so far) and found I have enjoyed everyone immensely. Each of the novels that I have read have something to do with horses, horse racing and the people involved with the horses; owners, trainers, jockeys, friends and families, however each novel is very different. The protagonist, Kit, in Bolt is a steeplechase jockey and a very cleaver man. He is well liked by the owner of the horses he rides because he has helped the owner escape a dangerous situation in the past. Once again the owner finds himself in need of Kit's intelligence and skills off the racetrack. The story is complex enough to keep you engaged but not so convoluted as to frustrate and confuse. I know nothing about horse racing, especially steeplechase, and so found the information about the subject that the author shares interesting and well integrated into the story. Published in 1986, but not a dated read.

Perfect comforting read when in need of entertainment and not a literary challenge - once again. I consider myself lucky to have ammassed such a shelf-full of them to choose from when need becomes must.

Great work!

I first enjoyed this work in the mid-80s. Reading it again, it still stands up. This book hooked me on Francis.

How did I miss this Dick Francis book!!? I read the first book featuring Kit Fielding, Bolt, but somehow I missed this one! I’ve read it now and wow! This is a fantastic read, with so much of it taking place at various racecourses, as Kit Fielding is a successful jockey. Sadly, 3 horses were shot in this book - but thankfully with no grisly detail. I love the description of the actual races and details of how each horse was ridden, some winners, some not. The book romps along at a great pace - an arms dealer is trying to take over the company owned by an owner that Kit races for, and her husband, so that he can use it to manufacture and sell guns. The plot to prevent this was ingenious, well planned and exciting. There is a shocking twist at the end, which I didn’t see coming.
This was written 40 odd years ago, with no bad language and no sex, which was a refreshing change to most books written today. I love all the Dick Francis books, so I suppose I’m biased!

Whilst all the hallmarks of a Francis hero are present here; upright, generous, modest this story does at least stray from the more formulaic of some of his novels.

There is peril for the Kit Fielding but there is also peril for many of the people surrounding him too which makes a bit of a change. There are two intertwined stories here and to get full enjoyment of the subplot you will really need to have read the first Kit Fielding novel: Break In.

An above average Francis with a leading man, like Sid Halley, who really should have been developed into a character who starred in more novels.

Another page turner from Dick Francis. Not quite as good ad the first Kit Fielding, but close. I particularly like the horse racing characters that Mr Francis creates - they have the ring of authenticity.

There is something comfortable about old and familiar series. Yet, the strange thing is, I never read any of Dick Francis's books growing up, even if we had a name in common. I thought in this particular book his antagonist was weak, not very well developed, nor highly believable. And yet, the story flowed, tension was developed the ending left you satisfied and you cared about the other characters.

There is something comfortable about Dick Francis's writing. I can't put my finger on it, but I enjoy it and I look forward to reading more.