Rat Race

This is a fairly typical Dick Francis novel. In this case, the loner, withdrawn protagonist is a pilot, Matt Shore, who once flew for BOAC but who is now reduced to flying puddle-jumper charters. It's not initially clear why this is the case. Like a lot of Francis's heros, Shore has also recently be......more

Francis’ fans expect horse-racing action from him and this is often from the perspective of a jockey. Here that isn’t the case. For those who have read much of Francis’ stories there is a general pattern: • Our main character is usually a lonely guy, often damaged physically or otherwise. • There is a......more

A great rollicking yarn. Matt Shore a loner, divorced and a pilot working as a taxi pilot for wealthy people between race courses in England. He gets in embroiled in a thriller with first a near miss with a bomb and then a rescue of a sabotaged plane. Which the lovely Nancy is flying. Easy to read a......more

In this novel, Dick Francis combines his experience as a racehorse jockey and a pilot (who successfully ran an air taxi service, mostly for clientele involved in horse racing), to present an exciting thriller. His practical knowledge of planes and horses becomes apparent, and it is clear that he doe......more

I would have sworn that the reader for this audio book was Cary Grant, but it was Simon Jones. Whoever he is, I thank him for reading without emoting or trying to do voices and accents, just reading clearly and well and letting the story carry us along. This is an oddity in the Francis canon--a myste......more