Rat Race (published in 1970) - Famous jockey, bomb explosions, and insurance

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.
For a change the main hero of Rat Race is not directly connected with racing, but Matt Shore is a pilot who pilots an air taxi service. But still it is a Dick Francis story and there will be a racing angle. So Matt Shore is a pilot, down on his luck and who flies a light aircraft ferrying horses and jockeys to different racing locations. This book is heavily drawn from Francis's experience as a pilot and when he and his wife did run an air taxi service.



Matt Shore is a pilot whose life has taken a beating with some incidents, and an acrimonious divorce. His successful career as an pilot ends, retreats into flying for an air taxi, and is forced to live in a trailer. He gets the job at an Air taxi Service, Derrydowns as their pilot when one of the regulars go abroad. Other pilots do look down upon him and the competition for customers are tough. On his first day he ferries a couple of passengers who do not get along and among them is Colin Ross, a moody but a prize winning jockey. During the flight due to faulty wiring Matt undertakes an emergency landing and the plane explodes as soon as the passengers disembark. Even though no one was injured Matt is reprimanded and left searching for answers.
During his investigations he finds that one of his passengers was an explosive expert and deduces that the scheme was to eliminate Colin Ross. Because of the lack of evidence, the investigation is a bit slow, and the police are not so sure of what Matt is finding out. Matt soon finds the girl of his dreams, Nancy who turns out to be Colin Ross's sister. Soon they are romantically involved and things move on the leisurely plane. But then Nancy's plane is hot wired while piloting her brother and Matt guides their plane to safety. Matt restarts his investigations and unearths the syndicate which eliminates jockeys. Soon the villains smell the rat and start pursuing Matt and in a tense standoff he outwits them all, in a thriller that goes to the right page. Matt gets the girl and also Colin Ross's gratitude.
Dick Francis never disappoints with his taut narration of a mystery. But thats the only saving grace, otherwise the idea is a much used one. The villains are also etched well and does not glorify the violence to survive. A good book if you have lot of time to kill.

The Satan Bug (published in 1970) - By Alistair Maclean - A thriller about a deathly toxin stolen and used for murder

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 he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
The Satan Bug is written under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. Alistair Maclean is said to have opted for another name to prove that his books are best sellers on account of their content rather than on his popularity. Some say that he took upon the name to counter Ian Flemming and his James Bond.
The Satan Bug deals with the perils off biological warfare. The chief detective Pierre Cavell is called upon to investigate the gruesome murders in Mordon Microbiological Research Institute. He reaches there to find two deathly toxins, a Botulinium extract and the Satan bug missing. The Satan Bug is a lab derivative of the deadly polio virus which can bring mankind to extinction, in a matter of minutes and to top it all no vaccine has been discovered for it.
Cavell finds all the scientists and the research assistants could be viewed under an umbrella of suspicion. Everybody was involved in one way or the other to force the entry in to the lab. The chief security officer who was murdered was fed a candy with the virus by an insider. Cavell chips away the layers of deceptions and alibi's and concludes that most of the scientists who had colluded with the murderer had been coerced by blackmail.



As the net closes on the villain, he kidnaps Mary, Cavell's wife forcing him to launch a search on his own. The murderer manages to kidnap the entire police party along with Cavell and kills a constable with Botulinium Toxin. But Cavell's chase does not prove futile. He unmasks the killer whose real motive was to evacuate London to undertake a massive bank robbery. So the ultimate fight aboard a helicopter, has Cavell revealing the identity of the killer. The villain thus foiled plunges to his death leaving the other phials of the toxins unopened.
If you want an edge of the seat thriller on a bleak day you need to pick up this book. MacLean does not give you a lecture on the pro's and con's of biological warfare. He just lets you in to the details of the method and its effects. Like all MacLean's hero's Cavell is a cynical, anti-establishment tough nut. He saves the very establishment which scorned him and earns his redemption at last. So pick up the Satan Bug and be sure to wash your hands to kill the germs.