Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He droppd out of school to train as a Jockey and was fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall an d became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America's Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain's Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded in CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Rob Finn is the black sheep of the family of talented musicians. Not only he cannot sing he cannot get the love of the woman he wants. Finn is head over heels in love with Joanna who finds his attentions unwarranted due to the fact that they are first cousins. Finn learns to ride at the outback and is hired as a trainey jockey when he reaches England.
He rides the tempestuous horses and his fearlessness helps him to overcome the most beastly ones. Slowly his fame spreads and he is catapulted in to the big league of horse racing. After basking in the glory of great wins he finds sinister going ons around him. Vicious rumors are spread about fellow jockeys and soon suicides and murders happen. Canards are spread about Finn who suddenly find his rides sluggish and his winning streak severely down in the dumps. Word goes around that he has lost his “Nerve”.
As Finn tries to find the answers about himself, he looks into the death of his colleagues and finds similar patterns and rumors surrounding their ends. As he investigates he is kidnapped and is tortured and given up as dead. But the resilient Finn manages to escape and gets the police and tries to piece the puzzle. Now the motivation is to find revenge for his torture and Finn goes against a powerful adversary whose motive is to destroy jockeys who do conform. This tale is the ultimate revenge drama of a determined but unassuming man against the power corridors in the racing land. The ending is superb and you feel for Rob Finn as he struggles to find his place in the competitive world of horse racing and love. He wins the former, but alas I feel cheated as Joanna who rescues him does not return his love.
Again a great racing story from Dick Francis in his typical crisp English. Readers can feel the yesteryears Britain through his writings, especially the English Gentleman's stiff upper-lip. Rob Finn is the typical hero who plods through torture, injury and bad luck to find a smile. Again a great mystery solved with out the high tech devices, just by pursuit and brains. A great book to take home.
No comments:
Post a Comment