What do you think?
Rate this book
Risk
When he wakes in a pitch-black room with his hands bound, Roland Britten—accountant and champion steeplechase jockey—knows he’s entered a nightmare of someone else’s making. Wracking his brain to figure out who’s out to get him and why, he comes up empty, but somehow manages a death-defying escape. It isn’t long, though, before he’s recaptured. Now, with his life at stake, he must take every risk to outsmart his well-disguised enemy and save himself...
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
326 people are currently reading
720 people want to read
About the author
Dick Francis
529 books1,238 followersDick Francis, CBE, FRSL (born Richard Stanley Francis) was a popular British horse racing crime writer and retired jockey.
Dick Francis worked on his books with his wife, Mary, before her death. Dick considered his wife to be his co-writer - as he is quoted in the book, "The Dick Francis Companion", released in 2003:
"Mary and I worked as a team. ... I have often said that I would have been happy to have both our names on the cover. Mary's family always called me Richard due to having another Dick in the family. I am Richard, Mary was Mary, and Dick Francis was the two of us together."
Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror '
Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph '
Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jockey in 1953/1954 and rode for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, most famously on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National.
On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the biography of Lester Piggott.
During his lifetime Dick Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three 'best novel' Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2000. Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.
Series:
* Sid Halley Mystery
* Kit Fielding Mystery
Dick Francis worked on his books with his wife, Mary, before her death. Dick considered his wife to be his co-writer - as he is quoted in the book, "The Dick Francis Companion", released in 2003:
"Mary and I worked as a team. ... I have often said that I would have been happy to have both our names on the cover. Mary's family always called me Richard due to having another Dick in the family. I am Richard, Mary was Mary, and Dick Francis was the two of us together."
Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror '
Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph '
Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jockey in 1953/1954 and rode for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, most famously on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National.
On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the biography of Lester Piggott.
During his lifetime Dick Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three 'best novel' Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2000. Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.
Series:
* Sid Halley Mystery
* Kit Fielding Mystery
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
February 22, 2021
Dick Francis liked to put his heroes in difficult situations,where they underwent torture,captivity and claustrophobia.He has used this plot device in several books,but in Risk,it happens repeatedly and for extended periods of time.
This time,it is an amateur jockey,whose day job is accountancy.He wins the Gold Cup by accident,as the horses in front of him fall.But he has no time to savour his triumph as he is kidnapped straightaway and taken to a boat.
He manages to escape,but on his return home,finds the same men still searching for him.He eludes them for a few days and gets back to work.
But he soon discovers that several of his clients are involved in fraud and embezzlement,and want their accountant to help cover their tracks.
And if he won't help them,he should remain prepared to be kidnapped again and for further rough treatment.
There are multiple villains and a crooked trainer as well,who wants him to throw races.A good story,but the element of torture and captivity was overdone.
This time,it is an amateur jockey,whose day job is accountancy.He wins the Gold Cup by accident,as the horses in front of him fall.But he has no time to savour his triumph as he is kidnapped straightaway and taken to a boat.
He manages to escape,but on his return home,finds the same men still searching for him.He eludes them for a few days and gets back to work.
But he soon discovers that several of his clients are involved in fraud and embezzlement,and want their accountant to help cover their tracks.
And if he won't help them,he should remain prepared to be kidnapped again and for further rough treatment.
There are multiple villains and a crooked trainer as well,who wants him to throw races.A good story,but the element of torture and captivity was overdone.
July 31, 2018
This is another fairly typical Dick Francis novel. The protagonist, Roland Britten, is an accountant by trade and an amateur jockey who loves to race. Like most Francis lead characters, Britten is single, a man who lives within himself and who few people know really well. He shares the courage and steel will of his fellow Francis protagonists--a man who will not be bullied or bribed and who will withstand almost any amount of pain or suffering rather than surrendering to the will of his adversaries.
As the book opens, Britten unexpectedly wins a very prestigious race. But even before he has a chance to celebrate his unlikely victory, he is kidnapped and rendered unconscious. He awakens to find himself bound in a sail locker of a yacht that is obviously out on the high seas.
It's a dark, uncomfortable and claustrophobic situation, and Britten cannot figure out how or why he wound up there. "There was no one to pay millions for my release, no parents rich or poor ... I had no political significance and no special knowledge: I couldn't be bartered, didn't know any secrets, had no access to government papers or defense plans or scientific discoveries. No one would care more than a passing pang whether I lived or died ..."
Of course, he will live, at least for a while, or the novel would end after the second chapter. Britten will spend the rest of the book attempting to figure out how he wound up in the locker and who was responsible for putting him there. It's a good read although not one of Francis's best efforts, and fans of the author will know exactly what to expect.
As the book opens, Britten unexpectedly wins a very prestigious race. But even before he has a chance to celebrate his unlikely victory, he is kidnapped and rendered unconscious. He awakens to find himself bound in a sail locker of a yacht that is obviously out on the high seas.
It's a dark, uncomfortable and claustrophobic situation, and Britten cannot figure out how or why he wound up there. "There was no one to pay millions for my release, no parents rich or poor ... I had no political significance and no special knowledge: I couldn't be bartered, didn't know any secrets, had no access to government papers or defense plans or scientific discoveries. No one would care more than a passing pang whether I lived or died ..."
Of course, he will live, at least for a while, or the novel would end after the second chapter. Britten will spend the rest of the book attempting to figure out how he wound up in the locker and who was responsible for putting him there. It's a good read although not one of Francis's best efforts, and fans of the author will know exactly what to expect.
June 14, 2013
Risk is one of the better titles in the Dick Francis catalogue, one that I recommend to readers as yet unfamiliar with his opus as a showcase of his abilities as a storyteller. As usual, it is told in first person by a likable character that looses no time in getting under the reader's skin and gaining his sympathy. How's this for an opening line:
Thursday, March 17, I spent the morning in anxiety, the afternoon in extasy and the evening unconscious.
Read on to find out how the fortunes of Roland Britten, up-and-coming young accountant and amateur steeplechase jockey, rise and fall from one moment to another, with the regularity of a montagne-russe ride. A rather lengthy opening sequence describes Roland's attempts to escape from being kidnapped for unknown reasons. The time is well spent for getting acquainted with his level headed approach to problem solving, his ingenuity and his stoical acceptance of things out of his control ( When things go bad, you endure what you must, and thank God it's not worse. ).
Back in England (come on, you knew he would escape, Francis is not George R R Martin to snuff out his main character in the middle of the story!), Roland tries to put back the pieces of his life and return to the routine of balancing accounts, auditing tax declarations and sneaking off to ride in another weekend race. With the usual thorough research, Francis makes the rather boring activity of adding up columns of numbers into a glamorous and dangerous pastime. The mysterious bad guys are not finished with Roland and the plot thickens with the introduction of a trio of ex-convicts as potential suspects (sent down by Roland himself for fraud) plus assorted trainers, horse owners, bookmakers and racegoers. Complications of a romantic nature with a rather ripe and plain school mistress ( I wonder though what kind of school the author went to?) competing for Roland affections with the young and lively daughter of one of his clients.
I have read so many of Dick Francis thrillers that I am now able to spot the bad guy from his first or second appearance on the scene. With Risk, I am discovering it doesn't do to become overconfident, as the author is still capable of pulling a fast one on me (). The finale is typical Francis, brains and resilience ( Endurance is like tax. You're silly to pay more than you have to, but you can't always escape it. And you can whine, or suffer with good grace. ) versus violent ruthlessness and greed, leaving me with a feelgood smile pasted on my face and a little more hope in my fellow humans. In the introduction, critic H. R.F. Keating says Francis scores equally with professors of logic reading in the train from Oxford and children reading under the desk at school. I find myself in agreement with him, and look forward to keep reading these books as I get older.
Thursday, March 17, I spent the morning in anxiety, the afternoon in extasy and the evening unconscious.
Read on to find out how the fortunes of Roland Britten, up-and-coming young accountant and amateur steeplechase jockey, rise and fall from one moment to another, with the regularity of a montagne-russe ride. A rather lengthy opening sequence describes Roland's attempts to escape from being kidnapped for unknown reasons. The time is well spent for getting acquainted with his level headed approach to problem solving, his ingenuity and his stoical acceptance of things out of his control ( When things go bad, you endure what you must, and thank God it's not worse. ).
Back in England (come on, you knew he would escape, Francis is not George R R Martin to snuff out his main character in the middle of the story!), Roland tries to put back the pieces of his life and return to the routine of balancing accounts, auditing tax declarations and sneaking off to ride in another weekend race. With the usual thorough research, Francis makes the rather boring activity of adding up columns of numbers into a glamorous and dangerous pastime. The mysterious bad guys are not finished with Roland and the plot thickens with the introduction of a trio of ex-convicts as potential suspects (sent down by Roland himself for fraud) plus assorted trainers, horse owners, bookmakers and racegoers. Complications of a romantic nature with a rather ripe and plain school mistress ( I wonder though what kind of school the author went to?) competing for Roland affections with the young and lively daughter of one of his clients.
I have read so many of Dick Francis thrillers that I am now able to spot the bad guy from his first or second appearance on the scene. With Risk, I am discovering it doesn't do to become overconfident, as the author is still capable of pulling a fast one on me (). The finale is typical Francis, brains and resilience ( Endurance is like tax. You're silly to pay more than you have to, but you can't always escape it. And you can whine, or suffer with good grace. ) versus violent ruthlessness and greed, leaving me with a feelgood smile pasted on my face and a little more hope in my fellow humans. In the introduction, critic H. R.F. Keating says Francis scores equally with professors of logic reading in the train from Oxford and children reading under the desk at school. I find myself in agreement with him, and look forward to keep reading these books as I get older.
August 4, 2012
What is there to say about Dick Francis? As I think about all of his books (yes, this review covers all of his books, and yes I've read them all) I think about a moral ethical hero, steeped in intelligence and goodness embroiled in evil machinations within British horse racing society - either directly or indirectly. The heroes aren't always horse jockies, they can be film producers, or involve heroes engaged in peripheral professions that somehow always touch the horse racing world.
But more than that, Francis's heroes are rational human beings. The choices made are rational choices directed by a firm objective philosophy that belies all of Francis's novels. The dialogue is clear and touched with humor no matter the intensity of evil that the hero faces. The hero's thoughts reveal a vulnerability that is touching, while his actions are always based on doing the right thing to achieve justice.
Causing the reader to deeply care about the characters in a novel is a difficult thing to do. No such worries in a Francis novel. The point of view is first person, you are the main character as you read the story (usually the character of Mr. Douglas). The hero is personable, like able, non-violent but delivering swift justice with his mind rather than through physical means. This is not to say that violence is a stranger to our hero. Some of it staggering and often delivered by what we would think of normal persons living in British society.
You will come to love the world of Steeple Chase racing, you will grow a fondness for horses, stables, trainers and the people who live in that world. You will read the books, devouring one after the other and trust me Dick Francis has a lot of novels (over 40 by my last count).
There are several series woven into the fabric of Francis's work: notably the Sid Halley and Kit Fielding series.
Assessment: Dick Francis is one of my favorite writers. I read his books with a fierce hunger that remains insatiable and I mourn his death.
But more than that, Francis's heroes are rational human beings. The choices made are rational choices directed by a firm objective philosophy that belies all of Francis's novels. The dialogue is clear and touched with humor no matter the intensity of evil that the hero faces. The hero's thoughts reveal a vulnerability that is touching, while his actions are always based on doing the right thing to achieve justice.
Causing the reader to deeply care about the characters in a novel is a difficult thing to do. No such worries in a Francis novel. The point of view is first person, you are the main character as you read the story (usually the character of Mr. Douglas). The hero is personable, like able, non-violent but delivering swift justice with his mind rather than through physical means. This is not to say that violence is a stranger to our hero. Some of it staggering and often delivered by what we would think of normal persons living in British society.
You will come to love the world of Steeple Chase racing, you will grow a fondness for horses, stables, trainers and the people who live in that world. You will read the books, devouring one after the other and trust me Dick Francis has a lot of novels (over 40 by my last count).
There are several series woven into the fabric of Francis's work: notably the Sid Halley and Kit Fielding series.
Assessment: Dick Francis is one of my favorite writers. I read his books with a fierce hunger that remains insatiable and I mourn his death.
January 25, 2023
Roland is an accountant and amateur jockey. After winning the Gold Cup he is mysteriously kidnapped. He wakes up in a claustrophobic space in darkness. Roland has no idea why he was kidnapped. Eventually he escapes from the sailboat he is on and helped by a middle aged head mistress. He finds himself in Minorca.
Returning to England he investigates why he was kidnapped and once again is kidnapped but is unharmed. Suddenly he is released by the police who are incompetent beyond belief.
SPOILERS AHEAD
He finds his partner is a crook in collusion with his girlfriend Jossie father a horse train fiddling his books. There are also three other crooks who Roland sent to prison who take revenge on Roland.
Overall a good read. Far fetched but as always entertaining.
Returning to England he investigates why he was kidnapped and once again is kidnapped but is unharmed. Suddenly he is released by the police who are incompetent beyond belief.
SPOILERS AHEAD
He finds his partner is a crook in collusion with his girlfriend Jossie father a horse train fiddling his books. There are also three other crooks who Roland sent to prison who take revenge on Roland.
Overall a good read. Far fetched but as always entertaining.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2019
A young man with the hobby of being a weekend jockey is kidnapped, and taken away on a boat. Finally, he escapes, only to be kidnapped again. He has no idea what's going on, and tries to investigate.
Very good, generates a lot of tension, only somewhat dated.
Very good, generates a lot of tension, only somewhat dated.
January 26, 2019
One of my favorites. This was a reread. Or a re listen. When you can't find a good book to listen to on your commute, you can always listen to Dick Francis even if you've read the book before. They nearly always stand up to a re read or listen.
June 17, 2021
This is one of the best titles for a Dick Francis mystery. We’re all familiar with the normal risk in his adventures—the racing related risks and the mystery-solving risks. But this time, the whole thing revolves around accountant risks. Didn’t think that accountants take a lot of risks? Read this book and you may just change your mind.
Roland Britten, our accountant hero, wakes up to find he’s a captive with no clue in the world as to why anyone would want to take him prisoner. This is a tense and scary way to start the novel and it only gets more so as we learn more about Roland’s predicament. True to Francis’ heroes, Roland is clever and brave and he figures out a way to escape his captors, but things only get worse from there. They keep coming after him and he has no idea why.
We the reader are also perplexed by Roland’s troubles, but Francis plays fair with us just like we were reading an Ellery Queen mystery. The clues are all there, but when he finally figures out what’s going on, Roland doesn’t handle the situation the way that most of us would. And that leads to another thing Dick Francis does better than anyone else on the market—write about pain.
This is one of the better Dick Francis novels. I’ve read it at least three times now over 25 years and I would not be the least surprised if I read it again someday.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
Roland Britten, our accountant hero, wakes up to find he’s a captive with no clue in the world as to why anyone would want to take him prisoner. This is a tense and scary way to start the novel and it only gets more so as we learn more about Roland’s predicament. True to Francis’ heroes, Roland is clever and brave and he figures out a way to escape his captors, but things only get worse from there. They keep coming after him and he has no idea why.
We the reader are also perplexed by Roland’s troubles, but Francis plays fair with us just like we were reading an Ellery Queen mystery. The clues are all there, but when he finally figures out what’s going on, Roland doesn’t handle the situation the way that most of us would. And that leads to another thing Dick Francis does better than anyone else on the market—write about pain.
This is one of the better Dick Francis novels. I’ve read it at least three times now over 25 years and I would not be the least surprised if I read it again someday.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
December 13, 2015
I didn't find this as compelling as other Francis stories I've read. In others, Francis combines some aspect of horseracing with a couple of other things, like computer viruses and glass blowing in one. I think I've always been able to pick out two areas where Francis did some research and wove some details about the non-horse racing topics into the story. This one was about an auditor/accountant, and while I caught a sliver of an interesting tidbit about accounting, I didn't get anything else. In addition, the protagonist spends a lot of time in captivity and/or bound, and these passages were not that interesting. (Francis seems to have a lot of bound men in his stories. Or maybe I just notice this more in the post "Fifty Shades of Grey" era.) But Francis does drop in some excellent descriptions - I do enjoy his writing. Overall, I was underwhelmed with this Francis book in comparison to his other work, but it is still written better than many current and popular mystery writers.
June 13, 2016
Racing related thrillers - Roland Britten, accountant and amateur jockey, awakens one morning to find he can't move his hands because he is tied up with netting, held captive where no light penetrates and no amount of yelling will get any attention. But why? He knew that this was the latest in a series of events that had begun when he decided to ride in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, a race second only to the Grand National in the lives of British steeplechase riders. As an amateur jockey, Roland had pleased no one when he took Tapestry past the finish line first in what turned out to be the worst Gold Cup in history. As an accountant whose clientele included horse owners and jockeys alike, he also knew more about the private financial affairs of the racing world than any other person on the racecourse. Was winning the Gold Cup cause enough for his kidnapping? Or was it his knowledge of the books?
December 6, 2022
Another of the author’s usual — an exciting adventure mystery with Interesting characters in a well plotted tale. Excellent narrator Jeffrey Howard.
June 1, 2022
Dick F never let's me down
July 14, 2023
I decided to reread this classic to analyze the POV for a webinar I was planning. The story is told in the first person past tense but so deftly handled you feel as if you’re there, in the present moment.
April 28, 2016
'Endurance is like tax. You're silly to pay more than you have to, but you can't always escape it.'
I recall, back when I was younger, that Dick Francis was featured often in Reader's Digest selections. I think my uncle also has a copy of his novel. Since I never had the passion for the sport of kings, I simply ignored him and read more classics.
I admit, I hadn't read him until two days ago. But now I'm not surprised why a lot of people like reading him. His prose flows: it's simple, with little eclat, but it's very functional. He also admixes acerbic, world-weary wit in his major character, who in this case is Roland Britten. In the beginning of the novel, Ro finds himself imprisoned inside a boat cabin after winning the Gold Cup. While he thought it may have had anything to do with his accidental triumph, (Dick Francis features characters tangentially involved with horse-racing, but his novels don't really need a deep understanding of steeplechase) he looked further and simply discovered that was just a concurrent happenstance. As he pokes and plods further into the reasons why he was abducted, he discovers that the perpetrator is close to home - it's also partly the reason why he remains alive at the end of the novel.
Although the plot isn't really anything avant-garde, I definitely enjoyed Francis's characterization. Britten was a great character because he took the hits evenly and in stride, and he could make these types of comments regarding women: '[She has] A quick mind; a fascinating face, tall slender body: there was nothing egalitarian about nature.' I think I also liked this novel because I see myself in Britten: he'll do what it takes to survive, but always within the bound of ethics. I wish I also had one of his properties: women really like him. ;)
August 6, 2024
One of the first Dick Francis books I ever read as a kid (the absolute first was Dead Cert), and still one of my favorites. The hero (of sorts) is an accountant to those involved in the racing world, and a bit of an amateur jockey himself. Toss in a dash of romance, an inexplicable kidnapping, and the challenges of coping with long term confinement in a small space (this would be a substitute for the usual man v. nature portion of Francis' novels), and you have yourself a decent little mystery. Also, the villain's motives are largely normal, and they themselves are fairly run-of-the-mill. Francis is at his best when he avoids the "insanely psychopathic villain" trope. All in all, not a bad book.
September 12, 2008
RISK - Ex
Francis, Dick - 16th book
This thriller involves the kidnapping aboard a ship of an amateur jockey and accountant Roland Britten. Schoolmistress Miss Hilary Roland helps him out, asking an unusual favor in return.
Wonderful book but I'm grateful I don't get seasick. Loved Hilary.
Francis, Dick - 16th book
This thriller involves the kidnapping aboard a ship of an amateur jockey and accountant Roland Britten. Schoolmistress Miss Hilary Roland helps him out, asking an unusual favor in return.
Wonderful book but I'm grateful I don't get seasick. Loved Hilary.
November 18, 2008
Why I love Dick Francis books...all of them.
Learn about some profession, lovely men as heroes, who can take a lickin' and keep on tickin', plot twists galore, genuine good guys among some real villains, who get what they deserve in the end.
Sadly, I have now read all of them.
Learn about some profession, lovely men as heroes, who can take a lickin' and keep on tickin', plot twists galore, genuine good guys among some real villains, who get what they deserve in the end.
Sadly, I have now read all of them.
November 10, 2012
Roland Britton is an accountant and part-time jockey. After winning a race he is kidnapped. When Roland escapes and resumes his audits, he is kidnapped a second time. He has to find out who is responsible to protect himself.
September 16, 2012
Hilary Pinlock was the best part of the book.
April 3, 2025
Risk starts off memorably, with the main character awaking to find himself imprisoned and in the dark, with no idea why, but sadly it runs out of steam as it goes on. I'd actually been looking forward to re-reading this one because I recalled enjoying the first few chapters of our hero struggling to free himself from his prison and then try to find out why it had happened but it turned out I'd blanked on a lot of issues.
One of the problems is that none of the characters feel particularly strong. Even our hero is a bit of a nothing man, which suits the stereotype of 'account' that he seems to want to buck against. After his first escape we have an awkward and far too extended platonic sexual encounter with a school mistress and later he hooks up with a fairly young (although her age is left vague) woman romantically. Both of these characters lack depth too and even conversations between all them lack spice, making much of the book simply unengaging.
There's also some big IDEOLOGY popping up: Dick and Mary liked to write a book based on what they were into that year and it seems that in 1977 they were chiefly into NOT PAYING TAX. Apparently the sob story that started our character on his path to Accountancy Exams was his mother committing suicide due to financial woe from not having claimed back what she could have done in her taxes. Really?! It's just utterly farcical it really is.
On top of that, our hero is intensely law abiding, a man who'd shop his best friend to the cops for a financial irregularity, which leads to a vague feeling of contradiction when he's laying out how the government is terrible for not turning the UK into a tax haven and generally railing against taxes.
Overall, then, a good start followed by a gradual downhill slide into, "oh right, I guess that's over, then".
One of the problems is that none of the characters feel particularly strong. Even our hero is a bit of a nothing man, which suits the stereotype of 'account' that he seems to want to buck against. After his first escape we have an awkward and far too extended platonic sexual encounter with a school mistress and later he hooks up with a fairly young (although her age is left vague) woman romantically. Both of these characters lack depth too and even conversations between all them lack spice, making much of the book simply unengaging.
There's also some big IDEOLOGY popping up: Dick and Mary liked to write a book based on what they were into that year and it seems that in 1977 they were chiefly into NOT PAYING TAX. Apparently the sob story that started our character on his path to Accountancy Exams was his mother committing suicide due to financial woe from not having claimed back what she could have done in her taxes. Really?! It's just utterly farcical it really is.
On top of that, our hero is intensely law abiding, a man who'd shop his best friend to the cops for a financial irregularity, which leads to a vague feeling of contradiction when he's laying out how the government is terrible for not turning the UK into a tax haven and generally railing against taxes.
Overall, then, a good start followed by a gradual downhill slide into, "oh right, I guess that's over, then".
July 15, 2025
Found beginning and ending both unsatisfying
This was one of my least favorite Dick Francis novels to this point. The early situation that the protagonist is in seems to go on forever and then the end resolves in a way that I found most unsatisfactory. It was otherwise a typically easy Francis read, but if someone was just picking one at random to read, I wouldn't recommend this one.
This was one of my least favorite Dick Francis novels to this point. The early situation that the protagonist is in seems to go on forever and then the end resolves in a way that I found most unsatisfactory. It was otherwise a typically easy Francis read, but if someone was just picking one at random to read, I wouldn't recommend this one.
December 12, 2021
A solid, if unremarkable, work by Francis, marred by an abrupt, unsatisfying ending. The characters are entertaining, if a bit thin, and the pace is enthralling. If there's a little too much coincidence to be convincing, it didn't detract too much from my enjoyment. More a pleasant diversion than a major accomplishment, unlikely to win new readers over despite entertaining existing fans.
September 14, 2018
Good quick, interesting read!
September 19, 2024
3.5⭐️
January 1, 2021
Dick Francis at his best. Well plotted out and gripping. A fun experience if you like kidnapping and escape, criminals you did see coming and criminals you never thought of, and just enough romantic tension to raise an eyebrow.
A fulfilling way to end the year (and my 2020 reading challenge!).
A fulfilling way to end the year (and my 2020 reading challenge!).
January 21, 2024
Ralph Cosham is the narrator for the audiobook version of this novel.
3.5 stars, rounded up.
3.5 stars, rounded up.
April 14, 2024
This was not one of Mr Francis's better stories - I found the narrative repetitive and some of the characters hard to believe.
July 1, 2018
Another wonderful Dick Francis mystery. I listened to it on Audible while I was packing up to move and it was hard to push stop when I had too.
July 1, 2018
Rehomed
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2011
Most Dick Francis novels begin with a strange happenstance stumbled onto by an intrepid hero who soon finds himself beat up and bound, fighting to survive, before he solves the crime and gets away with the girl. This one began with a hero who wakes to find himself locked up, without knowing why. The hero, Roland Britten, is an accountant who rides racehorses as an amateur. During his incarceration, he goes over his entire life trying to figure out who locked him up. He finds he’s been put in a sail locker on a boat, and manages a daring escape onto the island of Minorca, where a spinster named Hilary Pinlock helps him evade his captors. Hilary proves to be a valuable ally later in the story, as well. Upon returning to England, Roland begins an investigation into a few embezzlers his testimony had sent to prison, as well as returning to work and trying to work out some puzzling discrepancies in the accounts of some clients. After riding in another weekend race, Roland is kidnapped again for several days, and then mysteriously let go. The location of his prison provides a few more clues to his captors, and Roland keeps digging. He meets a trainer’s daughter who catches his fancy, and spends time romancing her while unraveling the mystery. When he finally figures out who kidnapped him and why, he stages a meeting with the culprits, who have friends he hadn’t counted on. Roland finds himself bound again while the villains escape. He is eventually rescued by his love interest and Hilary Pinlock, and explains the whole scenario, wrapping up the story. Like most Dick Francis novels, this one is peopled with colorful, English characters that liven up the darker violence and mystery. This one didn’t disappoint at any turn.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews