Rat Race

First Sentence: I picked four of them up at Whit Waltham in the new Cherokee Six 300 that never got a chance to grow old. Matt Shore's life and career as a pilot have been on a downward spiral. His latest job is with a flying taxi service for racecourses and his first flight ends with the plane exploding after he lands from sensing a problem with the aircraft. Although all the passengers are safe, it's another black mark on Matt's career and he wants to know why. Although I've not read this particular book since January 1977, it reminds me why I became such of fan of Dick Francis' writing. The protagonist, Matt Shore, is so appealing and one of a style I appreciate--the "common" man caught up in an uncommon situation. He is not perfect. He is intelligent without being egotistical, attractive without being overbearing, and heroic without being macho. And, he gets the girl, but you know there are painful incidences along the way. In spite of the opening portent, the story captivates you from the very first page and never lets you go. The pacing between suspense and respite is every effective. The writing is masterful--not a term I use lightly--and imminently readable. I was surprised how much of the plot I remembered after all these years, and that's a real tribute to the author. Whether Dick or Mary Francis was the primary author of this, and the other books by Dick Francis, I frankly don't care. All I know is that it was a great read when I read it the first time, and it is a great read now. RAT RACE (Ama Sleu-Matt Shore-England-Cont) - VG+ Francis, Dick - 10th in series Harper & Row, ©1971, US Hardcover - ISBN: 978-0060113223

The Dick Francis stories are slower moving than modern mystery/thrillers, and I rather enjoy that. It's not a constant shoot-'em-up action and as a result there's more time to get to know the characters. In this book, Matt Shore has been hired on to replace an air taxi pilot who is leaving the country. It's just his good luck to have for his first major taxi job several people who appear to be at one another's throats, a terribly moody jockey and - from a stop along the way - one of the most famous jockeys in England. Things just go from bad to worse when, on the flight back he notices a problem with steering the plane and puts down to check it out - only to have the plane explode. Soon Matt finds himself in the middle of a complex web of schemes and secrets - with people who aren't afraid to kill to keep the schemes secret. An excellent read - highly recommended!

For readers like me who find most of Dick Francis's books a little chilling, this early (1971) entry to his collection is delightfully different from the others. As pilot Matt Shore investigates a series of bombings apparently aimed at one of his passengers, famous jockey Colin Ross, the points of similarity to Francis's later race-course thrillers will be obvious: a manly, laconic hero; race-course settings; a good dose of violence towards the end. But the characters here are drawn with a warmth and humanity too often missing in Francis's later works, and the writer seems truly interested in their relationships. I love the moment when the hard-as-nails trainer suddenly turns on one of the other passengers in Matt's small plane and tells him off for his lamentable self-absorption--only to find that the slightly-crooked jockey she's been at odds with throughout the story is cheering her on; the scene in the attic of a stately ducal mansion, where Matt finds the gentle and kindly, if somewhat befuddled, Duke of Wessex absorbed in playing with his ten-year-old nephew and the model trains they both love; the picnic Matt shares on a riverbank with the famous jockey and his sisters, who generously open their family to include a near-stranger even while they deal with their grief at knowing that one of the young women is fatally ill--all those and any number of other moments lift this from the deadliness of the standard contemporary crime thriller into something more meaningful, and make this a book worth reading, or even reading again.

This 1971 entry into the Francis string of thrillers introduces us to Matt Shore, formerly of BOAC and currently an air taxi pilot. His passengers are often involved in the racing world, and through them Matt finds himself involved in fraud, both on and off the race course, and murder. Along the way Matt also discovers a family, new friends and romance. Dick Francis' books are often dismissed as being formulistic. They are. The hero is always connected to the racing world, is alone and/or lonely, has a tragedy in his past, is thrust into some sort of crime conspiracy and always perserves against great odds through his fortitude. Within these limitations though Francis always manages to spin an exciting story, the mysteries are challenging, and the clues are all fairly laid out for the reader to follow. If you have read one of his books before and enjoyed it then you will probably like this one, if you did not like his work before then you will probably not like this one either. Obviously I enjoy his books.

I accidentally came accross this book in my living room when I was in a frantic search for a book for school. Without really looking at it I stuck it in my backpack. I could tell from the cover and be reading the back that the book would be about horses so I was a little bummed because I don't really like horses(bad childhood memory). But as the day went on I was hooked. I was pleased to find that there wasn't a lot of confusing jockey terms (like military terms in Tom Clany novels) and although a racetrack was the setting, it wasn't what the book was about. I couldn't put the book down! I would recommend this book to anyone!! Actually- any Dick Francis for that matter!