Risk (published in 1977) - Written by Dick Francis, a story of a kidnapping

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.
Ronald Britten the hero is an accountant who moonlights as a steeplechase jockey. This is one of the few books of Dick Francis which has an accountant as the star, as accountants are considered the nerd incarnates. But as it is foretold “nerds rule the world”, Ronald Britten with his penchant for number's analyses and observes each and every situation and gets tailored made solutions for them. Any ways as he wins the Cheltham Open Championships, he is kidnapped and locked aboard a sail boat.



Ronald cannot make head or tail of his incarceration and gets no answers. He soon escapes to an island and is helped by the middle aged spinster Hillary Pillock to evade the criminals. Hillary has a very unusual request as a price for her help and she becomes very crucial for Roland later. Ronald reaches mainland and continues his investigations. He checks out whether he has any bad run ups with anyone while doing auditing and soon he pin points certain suspicious elements.
As the investigations go on, Ronald gets involved in the races and develops a romantic interest with a jockey's daughter. But as he is riding to another race, he is again kidnapped, but let go. Soon he peels off the disguises of many of his so called friends and with the help of his fiancée and Hillary manages to bring his captors to the book.
A very engrossing tale complete with all the racing trivia which an insider like dick Francis can only provide. The language is simple and to the point, therefore there are no skip areas. This page turner does follow the formulaic thriller of Dick Francis, with an underdog hero coming up trumps against a violent world intent on killing him. But Francis manages to get the readers attention focused on the who done it plot. The unmasking of the villain is the masterpiece of this novel and I would suggest not to miss this one.