Synopsis: the book starts with a mystery: why has Roland Britten, accountant and part-time jockey, been kidnapped? From here it moves into thriller and detective territory, with a spot of horse-racing, with some satisfying romance, with villains of the threatening persuasion, and a smart, quick, graceful girl thrown in to boot.
"Thursday, March 17th, I spent the morning in anxiety, the afternoon in ecstasy, and the eveining unconscious." From this first sentence it gets better and better. We get the psychology of a prisoner, of a pursued victim; but of course a Dick Francis victim, which means that "when things are bad, you endure what you must, and thank God it's not worse." The hero suffers; but he gets back on his feet, analyzes the situation and the problem, and he solves it, too. Moral problems, excellent writing and real-life personalities; with a few deft lines Francis breathes convincing life in them all.
This book is from 1977, which means it is his middle period: he is moving on from pure horse-racing thrillers into what later become his 'specialist profession' thrillers, in which the hero (always male, but usually with good strong female characters in the story, too) brings his specialty plus a large dose of common sense to bear on the problems. And the problems are alway big, in these books, as is the suffering! Excellent books to read when you're ill. This one has excellent writing, good psychology, and a few scenes I found pretty moving. Not his very best, maybe, but a candidate for the top ten Dick Francis books, and certainly a five-star book!
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