Bloodline (Published in 2012) - Authored by Felix Francis, continuing with legacy of Dick Francis

In Bloodline, Mark Shillingford is a television commentator, and his twin sister Claire (the number of twins in Francis’ stories is mind boggling!) is a famous steeplechase jockey. Mark covers horse races, in most of which Claire is riding. On one such occasion, he brings to the notice of the audience that Claire deliberately lost a race, though this went unnoticed, supposedly, by many present. Angry that Mark should tell the world so, Claire and he have an angry exchange over a tension ridden meal later. Claire tells him that it isn’t such a grand deal, admitting that she has done so four or five times earlier. Leaving in a huff, the two return to their respective homes - when Mark arrives at his, the ID on the display of his phone tells him its Claire; anticipating more anger, he doesn’t answer her call. When he does choose to listen in - there is only silence from the other end, so he hangs up.
Several hours later, she is dead, plunging fifteen stories down to her death from the balcony of the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, central London. Mystery surrounds her death - did she jump or was she pushed? Why was she in a hotel in Park Lane, after having mentioned to Mark that she was, infact, heading for their home in Newmarket? The police support the suicide theory, insisting it makes sense after reading the note found in Claire’s room. Their father is cold and distant, sinking into the oblivion of gloom and anger after his daughter’s tragic demise. Only Mark seems hell bent on getting to the bottom of the conspiracy (if any) and wants to fight for justice for Claire.




Delving into the dark mystery, Mark uncovers a sinister plot dealing with fixing races; this supports his theory that Claire had no intention of killing herself. On the other hand, a yellow scribe writes a piece about Claire, being nasty and unkind to her to say the least, insinuating that Mark too has some murky skeletons in his closet. Later Toby Woodley, the rake writer, is found knifed to death; obviously, the police suspect Mark to have a hand. Later Mark discovers that Claire was a victim of blackmailing – her trainers and members of the equestrian fraternity seem involved.
The best aspect of the Francis duo is that the novels are simple narratives - not long winded and plagued with equine jargon. However one point to be made is that Felix has to learn to create male characters that respect women - Mark seems to bed them first, and as an afterthought enquire about their lives much later. The race fixing plot has been the discussed in Dick Francis’s other novels as well, but Felix Francis seems to rely heavily on it. Although Felix lacks his late father’s insight into the world of equestrian sport, yet has the requisite charm of storytelling given the fact that he co authored four novels with Dick, and of course, genes matter, too!
The book is the second solo attempt for Felix to keep the memory of his father alive - and although the Sr. Francis penned almost more than forty novels, his legacy seems to be in safe hands in the future!

Gamble (published in 2011) - Authored by Felix Francis, son of Dick Francis

Felix Francis goes solo in Gamble after his father Dick Francis’s death. He has co authored four novels with the stalwart. Nicholas Foxton, aka Foxy, is a former steeplechase jockey. Former because he was injured seven years ago, breaking his neck, and the doctors insist that he ought to stay away from any equine related activity in the saddle.
Foxy is now a financial adviser, a job he has little interest in, but one he pursues with equal commitment. His calm existence is about to once again be jolted; on a day when all was well with the riding world, Nick and his friend – Herb Kovak (who is employed with the firm Lyall & Black, a financial advising firm) are waiting to witness the Grand National, when the most heinous crime unfolds right before Nick’s eyes. Herb is killed mercilessly - three shots fired at close range.
Nick is plunged into sorrow over his friend’s untimely and cruel death, he is also dragged unwittingly into the handling of Herb’s worldly life - becoming executor and sole heir and beneficiary of his late friend’s earthy estate, leaving Nick both touched and surprised. No hallowed place this, it is a cesspool of poor management and intriguing business deals.




Herb was an expat American. And like most of his countrymen, plastic was his weakness - he left his earthy abode neck deep in debt and meager savings. Sherri, Herb’s twin sister, lends Nick a helping hand, and they unravel an alternative source of income that kept her brother afloat - an income source that was cleverly not recorded in any of his financial statements or books. It seems to Foxy that Herb was involved in gambling activities over the Internet which sustained his lifestyle, leaving Nick wondering how the authorities hadn’t caught up with Herb for as long!
As he delves deeper into Herb’s moonlighting activities, he becomes the target of enemies of his late friend, who had him murdered in cold blood. There seems to be no one he can trust, and he is plunged into isolation, knowing full well that he has only his insight and experience to fall back on in hard times. A client of the firm, Bobby Searle meets Nick and in desperation demands that his financial portfolio be sold, so that he can pay off a debt of a hundred thousand pounds; when Foxton is unable to liquidate Bobby’s funds soon, Searle is almost killed in a hit and run accident.
Meanwhile, a client of Lyall & Black – Col. Roberts - has asked Nick to advise him with regard to a trust fund set up by his family for the Roberts Family Trust Hospital, in Bulgaria. The Colonel’s nephew claims that the hospital is a hoax - it does not even exist. The man had visited the site where the buildings were supposed to have been constructed - nothing has come up as yet. When Nick investigates further, he discovers discrepancies in the Trust, conveying this to Roberts, who dies thereafter under mysterious circumstances.
On the personal front, Nick’s girlfriend, Claudia, who is an artist of some repute, is suddenly cold and seems distant. His world in turmoil, Nick is trying hard to balance his work, personal life and the sorting of his late friend’s affairs. In typical Francis style, there are a number of red herrings liberally strewn over the place, and the hero Nick, is the quintessential Francis character - upright, integral and hardy. Felix has taken on Dick’s mantel with grace and smoothness, perhaps lacking his late father’s ringside insight into the world of steeple-chases and horses, but nevertheless, keeping the reader enthralled!

Intervention (Published in 2009) - Authored by Robin Cook, attempt to mix religion and science

The story revolves around two plots, which are connected although they may seem unrelated at first. Archaeologist cum biblical scholar Shawn Doughtry and his molecular biologist wife Sana are in Cairo. Shawn is head of the Department of Near Eastern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. His interest in the Arts and all things antique leads him to acquire an ancient book. Shawn retrieves a letter from between the leather cover of the book; it talks of an ossuary containing the remains of the Virgin Mary, which may be buried under the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Shawn shares the news with Sana, justifiably excited at this grand find, knowing that it would cause ripples in the Catholic world! Shawn is typically on an adrenaline high; go getting and hurried, he likes to take charge of things and have his way, being career obsessed, he believes he’s hit the jackpot after the discovery of the ancient codex he bought at the souk. He plans on making the journey to Rome, to unearth the ossuary and see what remains in it after two thousand years!
Then there’s Robin Cook’s favorite medical practitioner Dr. Jack Stapleton, who is also a pathologist - likes to kill time engrossed in work along with wife Laurie Montgomery, with whom he has co-partnered in several over six books. He uses his work to seek a way to deal with his young son’s cancer. Whilst conducting an autopsy on a young college student, who lost her life thanks to some trending alternative therapy - the chiropractor, treating her tore the lining of her vertebral arteries whilst manipulating her cervical spine. Jack decides he must address the issue of patients stepping outside the realm of traditional medical science and seeking help from healers and dubious gurus. Will his zeal and fervor put an end to an era of quacks or will it die on seeing the light of day?




Jack and Shawn haven’t met for thirty years, but share a camaraderie that has lasted these past decades, it includes another former classmate James O’Rourke, now Cardinal O’Rourke, Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York. Shawn obviously cannot wait to share this piece of news with both the men, especially James. The Cardinal, when he is told of the ossuary, is concerned that he may jeopardize his future in the Church with this seemingly blasphemous discovery, and asks Jack to intervene.
However, determined to see the ossuary out of the Basilica, Shawn and Sana are able to retrieve it and mail it to New  York, as the personal property of the Cardinal. O’Rourke is racing against time to stop his friend Shawn from making his finds public, for the entire world believes that the Virgin Mary was taken up into Heaven, in Divine Ascension, like Christ. Written a few years after the famed Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, which truly shook the Catholic world with its outrageous and blasphemous claims, Intervention doesn’t even come close. However, Cook has tried to marry science, religion and medicine as best as he could, not quite the racy nail biter compared to his other works, but an okay read.

Death Benefit (Published in 2011) - Authored by Robin Cook - Promise vs. greed

Afrodita Pia Grazdani has had the nightmare innumerable times. And it always has the requisite affect on her - leaving her in cold sweat, afraid and insecure. A fourth year medical student at the Columbia University, Pia has been offered an enviable assignment - assistant to the living legend, Nobel Laureate, molecular geneticist Dr. Tobias Rothman himself. He is conducting two researches simultaneously about virulent strains of salmonella and the other, more challenging task of finding out whether healthy human organs can be created from stem cells - organogenesis.
Pia is from Albania, and has undergone immense suffering as a child at the hands of her uncle and authorities in foster care, this hurt was entrenched further when her own father refused to come to her rescue at the foster care center; she is now twenty six and although beautiful, with a stream of admirers, suffers from what could only be some sort of a ‘detachment syndrome’. Her most loyal friend George Wilson, an ardent admirer with whom she has had intimate (according to her, plain sex) relations on four occasions to be precise, is at the receiving end of her lack of emotions; she would rather he leaves and goes home than spend the night in her bed! This is a serious flaw that mars the otherwise pristine beauty.




Dr. Rothman becomes the father figure in Pia’s life; she is deeply attached to him, making up for the loss of emotional contact from her own parent in her growing years. The doctor admires her tenacity and dedication, they become kindred spirits, he even confesses to her that he suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. The success of his research means that Tobias will put a lot of drug companies out in the cold, as organs such as the pancreas will be ‘created’ in labs, bringing down the usage of diabetic drugs, a major source of revenue for drug firms. When Pia breaks the news that after she completes her research and Ph.D, she plans to look after the financial needs of the Convent of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Rothman is livid, he wonders how she can throw away an opportunity to work with him over a god forsaken charity in Africa! When she tells Tobias the reason why, he offers to loan her fifty thousand dollars for the Convent, the Mother Superior refuses to be repaid, using the word ‘betrayal’, even as Rothman urges Pia to move on instead of being bulldozed with ‘Catholic guilt’.
On the other hand, unknown to the scientists cocooned in their laboratories, the world of medicine, life and death is manipulated by avarice and money. Two former employees of Wall Street, set about to earn a quick buck by buying life insurance policies with death benefits, from people who are in dire straits. They pay premiums on the policies, collecting benefits when the people die. They have researched well and are aware that people in need of organ transplants are especially prone to financial crunches, weigh the odds of finding a donor, and the body rejecting the donated organ. The machinery they’ve created is well oiled and earning them enough cash, when things get a little shaky.
One of their own, a protégée of theirs, decides to pull a fast one on them - she is short selling their stock. Apparently the woman had wanted to be a part of their team, but was rejected, this mad her see red and she decided that they would pay for this decision. This brilliant yet twisted creature has gotten onto the trail of Dr. Rothman, and his cutting edge theory of organogenesis. Maybe these banking brains could make money out of it! Robin Cook has authored thirty odd books, Death Benefit  is another brilliant work from his amazing storehouse of storytelling and imagination!

Dead Heat (Published in 2007) - Authored by Dick Francis and Felix Francis

Max Moreton is well known in the racing town of Newcastle, he owns a Michelin starred restaurant - the Hay Net. His connection to horses - both his brother and late father were horse trainers. The local community knows and respects him for his celebrity status as well as his success as a restaurateur, the youngest decorated chef etc. Unfortunately, this blissful state is short lived. After dining at the Hay Net, regrettably twenty four of his guest diners fall violently ill and are hospitalized. Their illness is linked to a possible case of food poisoning, the origins of which are further traced to Max’s restaurant. His business standing and goodwill take a direct hit when the Hay Net is forcibly closed by the Health Department; he faces a spate of ill luck and court cases.
Just hours later, Max is also seriously ill, so much so that he almost loses his life - could the poisoned food have found its way into his home as well? Despite the fact that he is so unwell, picking up the pieces, he sets about to cater at the Two Thousand Guineas one afternoon - the lunch is being hosted by an American company - Delafield Industries - which manufactures farming machinery. MaryLou Fordham, the lady in charge of the event is overly concerned that the function goes off well, even though a number of prominent faces will be missing after having taken ill. As his crew is serving lunch, a bomb blast rips through a boxed area seating (where a wealthy Arab prince and his entourage were to be seated), killing twenty people, and almost killing Max, too! MaryLou is critically injured and Max wonders whether she will survive. A young employee of his dies on the spot - the damage to life and property is colossal. The police think that the perpetrators of the crime have blown up the wrong box. Sadly, MaryLou loses both her legs in the blast and dies in hospital, part of the other fourteen dead.




Max is also being sued by a young violinist Caroline Aston, who is  part of a string quartet, who was at the Stakes; she holds him responsible for the loss of professional opportunity - their anger turns to strong attraction, though. The two fall in love and are engaged at the end of the novel. Amidst all the problems that’re piled up against him, Moreton is concerned and dogged in his determination about finding out who is responsible for this debacle?
His culinary reputation and business on the stake, Max Moreton sets out to clear his name - his findings lead him to the fact that kidney bean lectin, found in undercooked beans is responsible for the illness of his guests, including himself. However, there is one little detail that the Health and Police Departments need to be aware of - kidney beans weren’t on the menu the night the mishap took place.
After his wife Mary’s passing away in 2000, Dick’s son Felix worked with him to research on the next novels, co-writing with his father. Dead Heat is a refreshing look at the mystery genre the Francis duo are famous for, set in the world of hospitality, with the racetrack as a backdrop.

Whip Hand (Published in 1979) - Written by Dick Francis

Sid Halley never had it easy - orphaned at a young age, he became a racing trainer’s apprentice at fifteen, but was well looked after by his trainer who taught him the ways of the world and the racetrack - he became a champion jockey, turned sensible investments into a fortune, married for two years in happiness, two years in discord and one year in bitterness - divorced after five years – choosing the racetrack over marriage. Misfortune struck when his left hand was crippled after he fell from a horse, and the animal trampled his hand. Furthermore, it was amputated after a villain - Howard Craye, damaged it (Odds Against). He has still not come to terms with the loss of his limb and struggles to accept his new battery charged hand, all metal and plastic in place of sinew and blood.
As he sits watching a ‘decent comedy’ on  telly one evening, he is visited by Rosemary Caspar, the wife of a well to do, high flying trainer George Caspar, for whom Sid had ridden in the past. The lady suspects that someone is out to ruin her husband by sabotaging his thoroughbreds; sadly no one gives her any attention or believes in humoring her suspicions. A lot is at stake for the Caspars - their reputation, wealth and social standing, their future in racetracks and off course their beloved horses, who have suffered at the races, losing out to equine specimens lesser than them. Now there is Tri-Nitro, and Rosemary is concerned that he will suffer the same fate. She pleads with Sid to ensure that nothing happens to George’s thoroughbreds, he agrees to help.




Sid gets in touch with Bobby Unwin of the Daily Planet, who wrote a piece on George Caspar sometime ago. The journalist agrees to give him a copy of  the magazine when they meet. While he is trying to sort through affairs de Caspar, his ex father in law Admiral (retired) Charles Roland asks him to come over and meet Jenny, his ex as well as him. Apparently Jenny was swindled by a smooth talking conman, into doing some shady mail order business to raise money for charity - once Jenny rakes in the moolah, the conman disappears, leaving her to cover his tracks and answer to the donors; she also faces the horrific possibility of landing in prison!
A third sub plot is added, as Sid’s help is requested to investigate the shady dealings of many patrons and syndicates of the Jockey Club. Lord Friarly, Earl and landowner approaches Sid and tells him that he is concerned about how syndicate formers were buying horses cheap, selling them for four times the profit – it was legal up till then, but things went awry when these horses  failed to perform - the Earl suspects that the races are being fixed.
Sid has his hands full this time, and he is in a spin - yet, he never compromises on his ethics and ideals, ever the perfect Francis hero! Whip Hand is the only novel other than John Le Carre’s The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, to have received the Gold Dagger (Best Novel, 1979) and the Edgar Award (Best Novel,1980). For Dick Francis fans, this book can be enjoyed.

Reflex (A novel by Dick Francis) - Published in 1980 - Insurance conspiracy

Phillip Nore is lying with his face in the mud - thrown off an ill tempered, poorly trained horse; as he trudges uphill to where the rest of the jockeys are in the weighing room, he is constantly reminding himself of why he is a steeplechase jockey - he loves riding, he loves horses, and frankly, he doesn’t know how else to spend his life, other than pursuing his second love, amateur photography. He is reminiscing about another famous photographer - George Millace, father of Steve Millace, twenty three, serious jockey, upset that his prize winning dad is no more and his mum’s house has been burgled. Phil had been riding Steve’s horse, incidentally, when he had a fall.
Getting ready one day for his next race with Daylight, Phil is brimming with confidence as he is certain that he’ll win the race; however, the horse’s trainer Harold Osborne asks him to deliberately lose, just so that Victor Briggs, a moneyed horse owner who owned most of Osborne’s horses, had placed a bet on another horse winning. Harold does not want to displease his boss, and would rather compromise on the fair rules of the game than earn Victor’s ire. Phil is thirty years old, and has worked with Harold for seven years; he lost races intentionally for three, and knows full well that if he  were to disobey the boss’s orders, he might lose his job and worse, he may never be employed elsewhere either. However, Phil does not accept any remuneration for these fixed races, and refuses Victor’s generous offerings.




And so, Phil loses the race, so does Steve Millace, who also nurses a fractured collar bone and asks Phil to drive him to his mother’s in Ascot. The young man mentions to Phil how the late George Millace appreciated Phil’s talent for photography and thought he would make an ace photographer. As they near Steve’s home, they are shocked to see an ambulance and police car parked outside. Steve’s mother has been beaten black and blue, furniture is broken, the surroundings are in disarray. Phil accompanies the lady and her son to hospital, but not before he collects George’s ‘rubbish’- old film negatives and photographs, to sift through later.
Meeting a lawyer friend of his later, Phil sits down with Jeremy Folk and the two are surprised at the contents of George’s box. Some years ago, a man called Elgin Yaxley had received a huge sum in insurance after five of his thoroughbreds had been shot dead, the killer -Terence O’Tree had been sent to prison. Yaxley had told the authorities that he had never met O’Tree, and had no idea who he was; yet, George had photographed the two men at a French Café two years ago, before the incident had taken place (according to the date on the picture) – Terence was imprisoned and Elgin had raked in all the insurance money and gone away to Hong Kong. Obviously, the presence of the picture negated the man’s claims, and implicated him in fraud - could this be the reason why George’s house was ransacked and his poor wife attacked?
A refreshing story, told in Francis’s smooth and simple style of writing, Reflex will capture your imagination as the motive for murder and fraud take the reader by surprise. Phillip Nore is the quintessential Francis hero - principled and young, attractive and humble. Worth reading!