Forfeit (published in 1968) - Written by Dick Francis, an Edgar Award winner

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 in CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Forfeit is just another Dick Francis mystery set against the racing background. Here the protagonist James Tyrone is a sport writer who tries to solve the problem of the favorites of the race track not coming up to scratch. James Tyrone works for the London Tabloid, the “London Sunday Express” and is a racing correspondent. His friend Bert Chekhov in a drunken stupor advises him about being true to his self while covering the races. His blabbering about selling the soul, lies and fraud makes no sense to Tyrone who leaves him alone in the office.



The next news he gets is about Chekhov's death as a result of a fall from the seventh floor. Tyrone smells a story and his enthusiastic editor smells a scandal with profit and encourages him to go ahead with his investigations.
As Tyrone investigates, he comes across the betting syndicate which forces racing correspondents to mislead the general public. The syndicate which has made a great fortune is not willing to let go of it and can even resort to murder to prevent the cash outflow. Tyrone has his own personal demons to kill. His wife is incapacitated by polio and he feels he is living a life of “dust and ashes”. He is very much attracted to another women but loves his wife too. Picking up a life with pleasure or getting a world with love is a hard choice is make for any man, but the dilemma is managed beautifully by Tyrone.
As he meets the cold blooded murderer in the wild life cages of London, Tyrone manages to make the choice. He helps to save his wife inspite of being drunk and also fends off the assassin thus solving the mystery. A very fast paced book from the master of mysteries which manages to to keep your attention to the last. The language is very crisp and fresh with all the characters very properly nuanced. It is one of the first books where Francis delves in to the romantic nature of the hero. Tyrone's dilemma in letting go of sex and his love for his wife is well put through. This episode reflects Francis's personal life where his wife Mary had contracted polio. This book would be one of my favorite Dick Francis books and would highly recommend it.

Force 10 from Navarone (published in 1968) - Authored by Alistair Maclean - Mallory and Miller sent to Yugoslavia to fight along with the partisans

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war that he was part of, and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Force 10 from Navarone is the sequel to the highly successful Guns Of Navarone. Guns of Navarone had featured the doughty heroes of MacLean, Mallory, the resourceful mountaineer, Miller, the the explosives expert, Andrea Stavros, the brooding cool Greek resistance fighter, Brown, the engineer and radio expert and Stevens the medic. Brown and Stevens were martyred in their last mission to silence the German guns in Navarone. After the Aegean war Andrea stays over to marry the Greek resistance fighter,Maria and Mallory and Miller return to the war in Europe.
Force 10 picks up the threads right after the war. Miller and Mallory are ordered to return to Navarone and fetch Stavros for a mission in Yugoslavia. Stavros after much resistance comes with them. They are joined by Royal Marine Commando's who fill up the vacancies of Brown and Steven's. But one of them, Reynolds is less than pleased to be a reserve. But a team they must be, to fight the Germans in eastern Europe. They are briefed by Colonel Jensen about the mission. They are supposed to go to the Neretva region in Bosnia and check out why all allied agents have been kidnapped and if possible undertake a rescue mission.



They meet general Vuckovic the commander of the partisan forces supporting the allies in Yugoslavia. He informs them that the partisan forces are trapped against the river with German Panzer forces moving in on them. He indicates that if the partisans are defeated the German Army will control all of Yugoslavia and asks for help from the allies to prevent the slaughtering.
The mission starts as soon as they are air dropped down to Neretva and are captured by Drozhny, a huge partisan Bosnian. They tell him that they are allied deserters who are being tried by the army for selling Penicillin. Drozhny produces them before a German captain Neufeld who informs a stunned Miller that Drozhny and group are German collaborators called the Chetniks. Thus the mystery of the continuous capture of allied agents become clear.
Now in the hands of the enemy they have to engage them with lies and deception. They meet the singing blind minstrel Peter and his sister Maria who have secrets of their own. After a series of twists and action the heroes manage to rescue the captured Allied Prisoners and outwit the Germans. The ending is phenomenal with a dam burst and washing away of the Panzer divisions.
This book was also adapted to become a movie, directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Barbara Bach, Edward Fox and Franco Nero and was a moderate success. But the movie has little in common with the book apart from the principle characters and the title. So grab your copy and enjoy the action packed thriller.

Airport By Arthur Hailey (published in 1968) - the handling of an airport during an emergency

Arthur Hailey was born in Lutton, Bedford-shire, England and served in the royal air force during world war II. He emigrated to Canada and got his first break through as a writer through his book 'Flight to Danger'. After this he never looked back with his novels like Wheels, Airport, Hotel and Final Diagnosis becoming best sellers. He moved to the Bahamas to continue his writing career until his death on November, 2004.
Airport is one of the best selling novels of Arthur Hailey and has gone on to become a well known motion picture of the same name. It portrays the working of a fictional airport, Lincoln international in Chicago. The main protagonist include Mel Bakersfield who is the general manager of Lincoln International Airport who is working hard to keep the airport in working condition during the worst snow storms of the decade. The Chicago airport is blanketed with snow which had to be cleared at all times to keep air traffic under control. But things get worse with a plane careening of the adjacent runway and getting stuck on the crucial runway three zero. So the runway two five is used frequently and it troubles the Meneawood community which ultimately pickets the airport to stop the flights.



Meanwhile in the air the Golden Argosy, Trans America Flight two is piloted by Vernon Demerest who is the brother in law of Mel Bakersfield. Both have a very tenuous relationship and are at the throats of each other. D.O Guerrero, a bankrupt businessman boards the flight with a bomb to blow himself up to enable his wife to collect the insurance benefits. Vernon Demerest is having an affair with the in flight stewardess Gwen who is pregnant with his child, but does not yet know about it. Aboard this flight is Ada Quonset, a frequent stowaway who sneaks into the flight to visit her daughter in New York. Amidst all this action the drama unfolds with Vernon trying to take away the bomb from D.O Guerrero,who inadvertently detonates it blowing a big hole in the plane. Now Demerest has the unenviable task of landing the Golden Argosy in Lincoln international Airport with out any delay.
At the airport Mel Bakersfield need to get the stuck plane off the run way to clear the path for the Golden Argosy. Mel's wife Cindy is a social climber and socialite who is unhappy with her husband because he does not attend many functions in her social calender. She warns him of ending their marriage if he fails to attend this particular event tonight. Amidst all this chaos Mel also discovers the soft corner he has for Tonya Livingston, the passenger relations executive.
The other characters involve Keith Bakersfield who is in charge of the radar control who has his own demons to slay. He is tormented by a mid air collision and feels guilty for the fateful accident and is contemplating suicide. But this sudden turn of events brings everybody together to save the passengers trapped in the plane. In the end a high octane finish happens with Joe Patroni the chief mechanic managing to clear the runway to enable the smooth landing and Vernon Demerest and Harry, his copilot make the unthinkable happen.
If you want to have a high adrenaline rush in your veins you can pick up Arthur Hailey's Airport. It will sure liven up your mundane days and you will never look at the airplane surging up overhead without wondering at the men and women who make it all happen.