Silks
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
There are few thriller writers who have had such long and distinguished careers as Dick Francis, and his lengthy series of books (with their zesty recreations of the racing world) are among many readers' favourite novels in the genre. Recently, ill-health seemed to threaten the author's reliable productivity, and the death of his wife (who had long been a behind-the-scenes collaborator on his books) made it appear that the golden days of the Dick Francis racing thriller were firmly in the past. However, here is Silks, the result of a collaboration between Dick Francis and his son Felix -- and it will be a welcome arrival for the legions of Francis admirers.
Julian Trent is found guilty of a violent unprovoked attack on an innocent family and a charge of attempted murder. He is accused by the judge of showing no remorse for his actions, but receives a remarkably light sentence. Surprisingly, this news is not welcome to his defence barrister, Geoffrey Mason, who was secretly hoping for a more severe judgement against his client, whom he does not like. Mason is a part-time jockey (this is a novel with Dick Francis's name on the jacket, after all), and when Mason dons his racing silks and travels to Sandown to follow his real passion -- riding a thoroughbred in a heated steeplechase -- he finds that he cannot leave the violence that is often the bread and butter of his profession behind him A fellow rider is savagely killed by a pitchfork driven through the chest, and there is a persuasive amount of evidence against champion jockey Steve Mitchell as the killer, but Mason becomes involved -- and finds all the various aspects of his life coalescing in a lethal fashion.
Dick Francis has 41 novels under his belt, and remains the consummate thriller practitioner. Felix, his son, had helped with the research on his father's novels over the last 40 years (notably Twice Shy, Shattered and Under Orders). Silks is their second full collaboration after Dead Heat, and should provides Francis aficionados with all the elements they've grown accustomed to. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'A gripping murder mystery set against the glamorous world of horse racing, with a bit of violence and romance.'
--Dorset Echo
`Full of rapid twists and turns, unexpected revelations, surprises and romantic episodes, I'm sure this fast-moving story will also be a winner.'
--Hull Daily Mail
--Dorset Echo
`Full of rapid twists and turns, unexpected revelations, surprises and romantic episodes, I'm sure this fast-moving story will also be a winner.'
--Hull Daily Mail
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lacking and lacklustre,
By bluecougar25 "hobbitblue" (Liverpool, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Silks (Hardcover)
I've been a Dick Francis fan for 25 years and have read and re-read everything he's written with glee and delight: even when the basic plots and what happened to the hero seem formulaic, the background research and the sparkling dialogue, and the quick way in which the author taught you about the new area of knowledge the book was dealing with always shone out against much less accomplished writers.
Sadly, the recent efforts lack that polish and clarity and Silks is even more longwinded than Dead Heat was. Perhaps some of the fault lies in the main character, a rather staid and straight-laced barrister who takes most of the book to be jolted out of his rather complacent life, but the dialogue seemed stilted, whole pages were devoted to complex backstory that previous books would have dashed off in a few succinct paragraphs, and overall I felt what was needed most was a good editor. Once the story got going I did enjoy it, but getting to that point was a chore, no devouring page after page with gusto as in previous works. Its great that Dick Francis is still writing, and I'm glad his son Felix is able to work with him but I suspect what we're really lacking here is the fine and sure touch of his wife Mary; it must be hard to change a writing team that had honed its skills to perfection. This is readable, and somewhat fun, but I hope the next book sees Dick and Felix getting into their stride. Not one I'll be re-reading, sad to say and three stars mainly because even a poor Dick Francis is still a Dick Francis
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
His worst book,
By
This review is from: Silks (Hardcover)
I'd had this book for a week before I had time to read it and was looking forward to it very much. I have all of his other books and have read them several times. It took a very long time for me to get into the book, Far to much legal waffle for me. The thing that upset me most was half way through a photo was found to be missing showing a dead girl with a foal. I recently read John Francome's Cover Up and I read on with dread that this book was going to follow the same story line, and it did. Surely someone involved with the production ot this book should have noticed the similarity, Cover Up was only published in 2005. I do hope He does better next time.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top quality that I have become accustomed to with Dick Francis,
By
This review is from: Silks (Paperback)
Silks was one of those books I didn't want to put down! Dick Francis has the knack of describing the writer's feelings of fear and love together with excitement around the storyline. It was detailed regarding court procedures without being boring and taking one through a horse race as if on the back of the horse. His description of the injuries sustained in a fall, made one feel them personally! The life of a jockey is opened up for all to experience and literally feel!
The story kept me guessing about the outcome to the last page and cleverley involved a genuine fear for the main character's father.
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