book log 62) Dick Francis -- For Kicks

[julesjones]

Danny Roke has made a success out of running a stud farm in Australia. He's devoted to the stud, because he's devoted to the younger siblings he's raised since their parents died, and the stud brings money and stability. What it doesn't bring is a sense that this is what he wants the rest of his life to be. When the Earl of October arrives one day and offers him enough money to keep the stud running without him, he's intrigued enough to take the job offered -- going undercover as a stablehand to investigate a suspected racehorse doping racket in English racing.

Danny knows going in that the job could be dangerous. Fatal, even. But he finds enough to convince him that there *is* a racket, and he's determined to get to the bottom of it, if only to prove to himself that he can do the job.

It's a wonderful piece of writing, with solid characterisation and a well-plotted mystery. Highly enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

http://www.librarything.com/work/42762

Comments

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

I found a slim volume on the shelves of the SFSU library which was a short (about 80 pages) analysis of Dick Francis' work. I would assume that it was someone'e thesis, but it was way too short - and too comprehensible!

Anyways.

It made much the same point, that Francis creates the same character over and over again (single male, usually very talented in one specialized area, often (but not always) alienated from a significant chunk of his family) and then throws 'em into an entertainingly dangerous situation where, more often than not, their specialized knowledge helps solve the mystery and/or save their bacon. Absent fathers tend to feature in their history, but not always. At the end of the book, they have solved the mystery and (usually) resolved their estrangement from family and/or found their True Love as a karmic reward.

"By gum, they're right!" I thought, and that by no means stopped me from reading the books. Dick Francis (or perhaps I should say his wife and later his son) had a nicely deft way of presenting very likable characters - they were always what pulled me in. After all, I left the horsey phase behind me YEARS ago... ;)

It's like watching a favorite show. You know pretty much how the story is going to go, but the journey is as enjoyable as the destination.

I quite often recommend him to role-playing gamers who are just starting out and wondering how to make a character interesting and engaging without being *too* silly. ;)

[julesjones]

I never even had a horsey phase. :-) But Francis&Francis had a talent for making the racehorsing world interesting even if you've never been interested in horses.

I'm reading them for the pleasure of it, but I'm also finding it interesting from a writer's perspective to watch how Francis constructed the novels. I think romance writers would do well to study the books, because they're an excellent course in how to write a formulaic genre without feeling formulaic.