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 dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a 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 and 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 the CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Smokescreen slightly deviates from the usual text of Dick Francis where the protagonist is a swash buckling movie star, happily married and much touted family man. Edward “linc” Lincoln is a handsome movie star happily married to Charlotte with three children. Though English, Francis shifts the action away from the English shores to Spain and South Africa. Linc happens to be the star of a Spanish film, “man in the Car” and which while shooting in Spain comes across a draining scene. He is handcuffed and left to die for the shoot which proves to be for real. After this nerve racking experience Linc craves for something akin to a vacation. His godmother, Nerissa asks him to visit her and Linc on meeting her is taken aback by her condition. Nerissa suffering from a kind of cancer has few days to live. She asks Linc to check out her ranch in South Africa where her prized stallions are going bust in all the races.
She wants to leave her stallions to her nephew upon her death and also to Linc. Nerissa in her simplicity feels that the inheritance she leaves should not be a burden to her nephew. Linc agrees to go to South Africa and sort out the issue.
Linc, apart from being a movie star, in his earlier days was actually a prized jockey, whose only fault was to grow very tall. So he knows quite a bit about the horses and meets Nerissa's nephew, Danillo. At first Danillo seems to be a innocent young man, but soon Linc's suspicion shifts to him. Danillo seems to lead a double life and intends to usurp Linc's inheritance as well. As soon as Linc lands in South Africa, continuous attempts on his life takes place and he is compelled to play a game of cat and mouse with a tough assailant. As all the Dick Francis stars, Edward Linc is left battered, but he doggedly pursues the case and helps to get the knots untied.
As usual Dick Francis has come up trumps with a great book of the day and I can assure you that you cannot keep it down even for a second. If you are planning to read through the night get the lights properly checked for you ain't gonna let this go half way. Linc as a hero is superbly sketched and each encounters with the villain brings in goosebumps. South African scenery is well exploited in this book and mind you these are the dark apartheid days. In-spite of little craziness Smokescreen works wonders and is one of the best thriller you can put your money on.
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