Brilliance as always is untouchable

I have read and re-read every Dick Francis and now Felix Francis book. I can't get enough of them.
The images leap from the pages as if your watching them happen.
You get to know the characters and Sid Halley is my favourite, the ongoing development of the character over the books he appears in is phenomenal he grows in strength of mind as he comes to terms with both his disability and his lost abilities to race as a jockey.
Well worth starting on a journey of discovery of an established author of you haven't read him before.

It's no secret that I've been reading Dick Francis mysteries, thrillers, tales of suspense, for years. Years, and years, and years. Dick Francis kept writing them for years, and years, and years. Come to Grief is a story about a jockey-turned-detective named Sid Halley. The thing is, the first Sid Halley story was Odds Against (1965), which was a breakthrough novel for Francis because it was made into a television program. Whip Hand (1979) was the second Sid Halley story. Come to Grief was the third Sid Halley story, published in 1995, sixteen years after Whip Hand and thirty years after Odds Against. The author kept coming back to this character, this intractable, stubborn, tough character, as if he was trying to find out how much pain Halley could take without breaking.

The key here, hinted at in the title of Whip Hand, is that Sid Halley lost his left hand to a racing accident, and he's terribly afraid of losing the other one. In Odds Against he gets along with his ruined hand until a villain takes it beyond toleration. In Whip Hand he uses his new prosthetic hand and, of course, a villain threatens to blow off the good hand. In Come to Grief, once again, someone who understands Sid Halley threatens his right hand as the only real point of leverage.

What makes Come to Grief different is that Sid Halley is chasing down a friend, a fellow jockey turned television personality. Closer than brothers one might say. But Sid Halley doesn't back down, no matter what it costs him. There's a scene late in Dashiell Hammet's The Maltese Falcon in which Sam Spade explains to Bridget O'Shaughnessy that, however much he loves her, he has to see that she faces justice for her crime. It's what you do.

Sid Halley would understand Sam Spade. Sam Spade would understand Sid Halley. Dick Francis wrote three novels to help us understand Sid Halley. Very much worth reading.

The third Sid Halley book. This one much slower paced than the previous two in the series. I was a little disappointed  that yet another bad guy threatened to crush Sid’s good hand. I did recently break my wrist and was shocked by how hard it was to do so many things one handed: put on socks, zip my pants, dry my hair, and more. But I really want my Dick Francis villains to have a little more up their sleeve. (Too obvious?)  

I missed Chico and wonder if we’re going to see Jonathan again. I liked his teenage sullenness. Mostly everything got wrapped up nicely but I would have liked more closure with Rachel.

Really enjoying the Sid Halley books. So often, I pick up a Dick Francis and enjoy the central narrator...only to realize that at the end of the book, that's the end of my relationship as a reader with the hero. Think there are five Sid Halley books. I'm working my way around and about to each of them.

I'm not sure Francis wanted to return to Sid Halley, yet somehow maybe felt he must?

I enjoyed this book from start to finish. A read that carried you along. I know it is Sid Halley book 3 but it is the first I have read - I will now have to read the previous two. Sid is an ex champion jockey turned investigator. He lost a hand and has prosthetic, (I will no doubt find out exactly how he lost his hand by reading the earlier books) but you don't need to know all this to enjoy the book. A number of yearling colts have had a foot removed, cleanly. The animals have been found in the paddocks, usually the following morning. Sid is called in to investigate and when he begins to suspect the person responsible, Sid's life is put at risk. The book also mentions places close to home - Frodsham being one of them. A place I might look at in a different light from now on!

It was a pretty average book until the last sixty-or-so pages and then it earned its fourth star. For a novel that has around 300 pages, this was obviously the climax--- the action part. I guess I am an “actiony” guy however I do enjoy detective mysteries. This book tells the tale of Private Investigator Sid who is hired to find out who has been mutilating horses. Around a hundred or so pages is of him going to different victims and re-interviewing them (well the owners not the actual horse victims). He gathers evidence, jots notes down, and looks for common clues that connect the cases together. This meticulous search for the whodunit is lifelike and mildly interesting... except that the reader knows exactly who did it. The back-cover synopsis told me that the suspect was a former friend and then the novel opens up during the judiciary arraignment of our former-friend, Quint. Basically the case was already solved and the court proceedings are beginning to take place. So reading a hundred or so pages of Sid engaging in meticulous investigative task just to reach the conclusion that Quint is behind these unspeakable crimes was a waste of time. Especially when we already knew from the opening pages that he is the bad guy. I understand the need for the background and how the conclusion was made, but when there's around eight victims that Sid travels to and interviews. There are eight different minor characters that were introduced, eight different (former) crime scenes in eight different settings to read about. I got bored during some visitations to these victims. All these extra details are moot when the reader already knows who the suspect was. Francis could have saved 85 pages if he just did a brief summary of the conclusion.... Or subtract the amount of minor characters (although I admit he does good at reminding us where we met the minor characters [the Scottish owner who was furious at me but then understood and calmed down when I told him the deal]).

My major complaint with this novel is its transitions, or lack thereof. From my recollection, there were at least three occurrences where the transitions were horrible. I am going to give you the very first unforgiveable one that messed with my mind. This is a summary of the events from the first thirty pages:

>Sid and Quint are sitting in court when news breaks out that Quint's mom committed suicide. The case was adjourned for the day because of this.

>Sid goes home and was attacked by Quint's father.

>Sid seeks refuge at his former father-in-law's crib.

>Gets a call to visit this girl with leukemia at the hospital.

>Wakes up next day and heads to hospital

>Talks to her mom about horses being killed. The girl’s horse was killed.

>The mom mentions Quint coming to see the girl when he found out her pony was killed.

>Sid goes to speak to Quint.



Wait.... I have so many questions. Is this a parallel alternative universe containing clones? Where was the transition? You just were in court with Quint. He is locked up. Why would you go talk to your former friend that you're helping prosecute? What makes you think he will give you help or even acknowledge your existence? Is he going back and telling us how he met the girl with leukemia? Then why bring up the trial in the first place and the beating that Quint's dad gave him?

Rereading the first 9.7% of the book quintuple times, diligently searching for anything to pop out and yell TRANSITION. No such luck, no luck at all. This is the exact outline of the stuff that happened. I did not miss anything.

It will be insane to reread these thirty pages anymore and hope to find any transition spectacle. After all insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over again and expecting different results. When the other two transition discombobulations appeared I just angrily shrugged it off and reassessed myself that it wasn't my fault. My eyes were working correctly.

Despite these pitfalls (and me putting the negative critiques first in my review) there were things that I enjoyed in this novel. I can really relate to Sid as an actual person, not some make believe super ninja you read about in some novels. He is more vulnerable than the Average Joe as he is handicap. Sid was once a prime athlete and high-profiling horse jockey. During one race he fell off his horse and was trampled on. He lost use of his hand and is now equipped with a prosthetic one. This was obviously a life-changing event for him. He was once a sports star and then the next day he was limited.

I personally understand the frustrating feelings of depression and uselessness Sid has throughout the book. I am an athlete also and had to alter my lifestyle for around a year and a half after suffering a temporary injury. All the frustrations Sid had I really related to. Once an active lifestyle the injury brings feelings of shamefulness and self-pity and doubt to you. Francis is excellent in conveying these themes.

The traumatic event brings about nightmares to Sid. He suffers a reoccurring nightmare about losing his arm. It is always the same dream and he always starts in his prime during that final race where he had both of his arms. Slowly, but quickly, the tides turn for the worse and the nightmare goes into full effect. This dream sequence is legit. Unlike typical nightmares I read in other novels where I tend to not really be enwoven in them, I was hooked on these flashbacks. Francis is excellent in conveying these themes. I truly was immersed in the personal journey of Sid Halley.

Another thing I give points to is the painful heartbreaking despair that Sid feels breaking apart a valued friendship. The crazy realization that your good friend lives a double-life was well documented. The following passage is from when a search warrant was signed and his pal's house was minutes away to being raided:

"All the villains I'd caught before hadn't been people I knew. Or people---one had to face it---people I'd thought I'd known. I'd felt mostly satisfaction, sometimes relief, occasionally even regret, but never anything approaching this intensity of entrapped despair./ Ellis was loved. I was going to be hated./ Hatred was inevitable./Could I bear it?/ There was no choice, really. .... the search warrant was signed, the Superintendent had given the expedition his blessings, and off we could go to [his former friend's place]. / I sat without moving, without starting the car. "What's the matter?" Archie demanded, looking at my face. / I said with pain, 'Ellis is my friend.'"



Overall the good overweighs the bad and I am currently hooked in the world of Sid Halley and I am reading the next adventure of his in “Dead Heat”.



My final rating: 81%

Wow, I picked this book up from the library, after reading another Sid Halley book, Whip Hand, and I thought, "that was good, let's give this a try." I really enjoyed reading this, and seeing the mind of Sid Halley work out what happened, and the steps he went through as a private eye to bring the person to justice.

But even more, I enjoyed the side characters, like the news reporters India and Kevin, or the young kid who helps Sid out, or the child with leukemia he befriends, and of course the police and magistrate he meets along the way. Plus, his ex-father-in-law, who is a rock for him. The side characters were so interesting and involving, I burned through this book in two sessions.

I don't know if there are more Sid Halley books, but I'm going to look them up, for sure!

Sid Halley, former jockey turned private eye, never knows when to stop, throwing himself into danger just as he did when riding Triple Crown winners. He is a quietly courageous man, modestly keeping quiet to preserve his honor, and secretly made of steel. He’s the same in every book, sacrificing himself repeatedly, bravely, and we know what to expect, and still we read on. Maybe it’s that we need such a hero these days, but I read (and sometimes reread) these tales. Here he’s chasing someone who disables horses for pleasure; what a contrast between these characters! Portrayals of various characters, including Sid’s former father-in-law, and his ex-wife, build complexity into his relationships. Dick Francis is reliably a good read.

The third book in the Sid Halley series was another decent mystery that focuses on Sid accusing a friend and popular figure of a detestable crime. Then having to deal with everyone being against him due to not wanting to believe that this person could do such a thing. This book does jump around in time a bit. It starts out in the thick of things with an upcoming trial then uses flashbacks to explain how we got there. I liked it overall but Sid certainly has to take a lot of abuse which is common in his books.

This was my first Dick Francis and after a bit of a slow beginning it was enjoyable.

Dick Francis was a skilled writer of mysteries, perhaps behind only Raymond Chandler as a storyteller in the genre, and his character, Sid Halley, is as iconic as Phil Marlow while being completely different in character and types of investigations. Francis’s expertise in horse racing and related things consistently shows in his stories and his ability to advance a well-written plot is always entertaining. With all that said, the villain of this particular story is both less believable and somehow more chilling than the prior ones on the series, but the book is overall quite excellent.