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Second Wind
A hurricane-chasing trip to the Caribbean spells danger for English meteorologist Perry Stuart as a terrifying accident during his holiday excursion reveals deadly secrets that could get him killed. Reprint.
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 4, 1999
187 people are currently reading
767 people want to read
About the author
Dick Francis
542 books1,258 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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 273 reviews
March 17, 2021
Dick Francis is best known for his crime novels that are set in the world of British horse racing, and these books, I think, are his most successful, probably because this is the area that he knows best. He has, however, written a few other books that have little or nothing to do with horse racing and, for a variety of reasons, some of these books don't really measure up to the high standards of his others. Such is the case here, at least in my opinion.
The protagonist of this novel is Perry Stuart, a meteorologist for the BBC. As the book opens, Stuart has been floating alone for several long hours in the vast Caribbean Sea, supported only by a life jacket. He has become delusional and believes he is going to die. The reader understands, though, that Stuart cannot die because he to live to narrate the tale.
As we go back in time to begin the story, we learn that Stuart's best friend is another BBC meteorologist named Kris Ironside. Both men are thirty-one and Ironside is an amateur pilot. The two decide that they'd like nothing more than to go to the Caribbean and fly through the eye of a hurricane that is forming there. They meet up with some wealthy people in south Florida, one of whom offers to loan them a plane. So the setup is that these two, supposedly intelligent men (Stuart has a doctorate) are going to fly off into a major hurricane with an amateur pilot who has never flown into a hurricane before at the controls of a borrowed plane that the pilot has never flown before. What could possibly go wrong?
We know, of course, what's going to go wrong because we already know that Stuart has been left to die in the water. By opening the book as he does, though, Francis drains all of the tension out of what could have been a very compelling scene in which the two men fly into the hurricane. And, I'm sorry to say, there's precious little tension in this book to spare.
The setup of all this takes nearly a third of the book in which nothing much of consequence actually takes place. There's no apparent criminal activity, just a couple of guys plotting their flight plans. It eventually turns out that there's another aspect to this ill-fated flight that Ironside "accidentally" forgot to mention to Stuart, and so, after the first hundred pages or so, the plot such as it is, slowly begins to reveal itself.
It's a pretty convoluted story that makes little or no sense at all, at least to this reader. One significant problem with the story is that it lacks the malevolent, powerful, nasty villain that usually lurks at the heart of a Dick Francis novel. There's nobody very scary in this book at all.
The biggest problem with the book, though, lies in the fact that when he gets outside of his usual area of expertise, Francis apparently feels compelled to do hours upon hours of research into the subject he's writing about. There's certainly no problem with that, but as I've complained in a couple of earlier reviews, once having done all of this research Francis seems determined to get every last bit of it into the book, even if it's boring and even if it does nothing whatsoever to advance the plot.
In this case, we spend page after page after page learning about weather and about how tropical storms form. We also have to read a ton of material about radiation. If you're interested in that sort of thing, this book will be right up your alley, but if you're looking for a taut, fast-paced, scary, interesting thriller, this is not the book for you.
Were I not so ridiculously compulsive about this sort of thing, I would have abandoned this book after about fifty pages--something I never thought I would say about a Dick Francis novel. And given the average GR rating of this book, I'm clearly the exception to the rule. I'm not sure what other readers were seeing here that I missed, but sadly this one just didn't work for me at all. 2.5 stars rounded up, just because it's Dick Francis.
The protagonist of this novel is Perry Stuart, a meteorologist for the BBC. As the book opens, Stuart has been floating alone for several long hours in the vast Caribbean Sea, supported only by a life jacket. He has become delusional and believes he is going to die. The reader understands, though, that Stuart cannot die because he to live to narrate the tale.
As we go back in time to begin the story, we learn that Stuart's best friend is another BBC meteorologist named Kris Ironside. Both men are thirty-one and Ironside is an amateur pilot. The two decide that they'd like nothing more than to go to the Caribbean and fly through the eye of a hurricane that is forming there. They meet up with some wealthy people in south Florida, one of whom offers to loan them a plane. So the setup is that these two, supposedly intelligent men (Stuart has a doctorate) are going to fly off into a major hurricane with an amateur pilot who has never flown into a hurricane before at the controls of a borrowed plane that the pilot has never flown before. What could possibly go wrong?
We know, of course, what's going to go wrong because we already know that Stuart has been left to die in the water. By opening the book as he does, though, Francis drains all of the tension out of what could have been a very compelling scene in which the two men fly into the hurricane. And, I'm sorry to say, there's precious little tension in this book to spare.
The setup of all this takes nearly a third of the book in which nothing much of consequence actually takes place. There's no apparent criminal activity, just a couple of guys plotting their flight plans. It eventually turns out that there's another aspect to this ill-fated flight that Ironside "accidentally" forgot to mention to Stuart, and so, after the first hundred pages or so, the plot such as it is, slowly begins to reveal itself.
It's a pretty convoluted story that makes little or no sense at all, at least to this reader. One significant problem with the story is that it lacks the malevolent, powerful, nasty villain that usually lurks at the heart of a Dick Francis novel. There's nobody very scary in this book at all.
The biggest problem with the book, though, lies in the fact that when he gets outside of his usual area of expertise, Francis apparently feels compelled to do hours upon hours of research into the subject he's writing about. There's certainly no problem with that, but as I've complained in a couple of earlier reviews, once having done all of this research Francis seems determined to get every last bit of it into the book, even if it's boring and even if it does nothing whatsoever to advance the plot.
In this case, we spend page after page after page learning about weather and about how tropical storms form. We also have to read a ton of material about radiation. If you're interested in that sort of thing, this book will be right up your alley, but if you're looking for a taut, fast-paced, scary, interesting thriller, this is not the book for you.
Were I not so ridiculously compulsive about this sort of thing, I would have abandoned this book after about fifty pages--something I never thought I would say about a Dick Francis novel. And given the average GR rating of this book, I'm clearly the exception to the rule. I'm not sure what other readers were seeing here that I missed, but sadly this one just didn't work for me at all. 2.5 stars rounded up, just because it's Dick Francis.
June 15, 2011
I have read a lot of Dick Francis novels, although before I started putting reviews on here. Most were entertaining, well crafted and at least moderately believable. In general they follow the same pattern, boy meets girl, gets beaten up, falls of a horse, has broken ribs and is nursed back to health by his latest paramour whilst uncovering some dastardly plot. All well and fine, the Holiday Inn or Mc Donald's of reading, easy going, light and comfortable.
This one I picked up from a box of junk in a friends garage and fear that it had been placed there with good reason.
This wasn't up to the normal standard, easy reading, entertaining yes but the plot was weak and confused, weapons grade uranium, mysterious tubercular diseases and an (admittedly interesting) splash of meteorology thrown in for good measure. There was never any real sense as to why or how our villains were able to operate their "business", or how indeed they were going to make a fortune from revising the means of pasteurization for that matter. A good book to read whilst in traction, entertaining enough to avoid the boredom but not sufficiently rewarding that you wouldn't be keen to leap from your bed as soon as recovery neared.
This one I picked up from a box of junk in a friends garage and fear that it had been placed there with good reason.
This wasn't up to the normal standard, easy reading, entertaining yes but the plot was weak and confused, weapons grade uranium, mysterious tubercular diseases and an (admittedly interesting) splash of meteorology thrown in for good measure. There was never any real sense as to why or how our villains were able to operate their "business", or how indeed they were going to make a fortune from revising the means of pasteurization for that matter. A good book to read whilst in traction, entertaining enough to avoid the boredom but not sufficiently rewarding that you wouldn't be keen to leap from your bed as soon as recovery neared.
September 7, 2022
Not the best novel by Francis. I learnt a lot about hurricanes and radioactive materials. The plot is all over the place. Kris who is Perry’s friend has a history of depression and suicidal thoughts who also is a pilot. They decide to take up the offer of a plan to fly through the eye of a Caribbean and pick up some package from a remote island. Of course it all goes wrong.
I struggled with the baddies, inept espionage services relying on a BBC meteorologist weather reader and the extreme measures to hide a folder with a secret list. This is a late Francis with minimal horse involvement and while readable also mediocre.
I struggled with the baddies, inept espionage services relying on a BBC meteorologist weather reader and the extreme measures to hide a folder with a secret list. This is a late Francis with minimal horse involvement and while readable also mediocre.
November 21, 2021
If you were a weatherman, horse or cattle breeder, this will be of more interest to you than me. Still was entertaining with some plot changes that I did not see coming.
June 6, 2011
I have been a huge fan of Dick Francis for a long time; and have read most of his work; always enjoying the consistent quality of his work. Second Wind unfortunately, breaks the trend. The main characters are well fleshed-out as always - the mild Englishman central character; the love interest; the eccentrics etc are all there. The central plot with its horse racing link is tenuous at best. Surprisingly for a Dick Francis novel; most of the villains are revealed early on - leaving only one mystery to be solved - who is the boss behind the good guys? All in all, a disappointing outing. If you had to pick just one Dick Francis book to read this is not that book.
October 3, 2018
Not his best book, perhaps because it contains little horse racing, but a convoluted plot and an oddly constructed ending.
October 12, 2019
The start is good,a plane goes down in a hurricane,and the pilot gets stranded on a desolate Caribbean island.After that,it goes downhill.Not among his best.
September 12, 2018
6/10 not his best. Too far-fetched and not enough background.
July 23, 2021
I picked up this book because I found it on my parents' bookshelf and was looking for a quick and light read. It was quick and it was light, but wasn't a winner. There was very little character development; relationships were built and deep trust established for no apparent reason after very minimal interactions between people; the baddies, while bad, were perplexingly not bad enough to do away with the hero who figured out their plot; the baddies' plot itself was very confusing and seemed to consist of a whole bunch of random things strung together; and the dénoûment was unsatisfying and didn't answer questions or wrap things up at the end. Perry and Jett got engaged after knowing each other for... two weeks and a couple dates? (Did I somehow miss some huge swath of time?) Perry flew all the way to Florida and walked into a house where he very reasonably might have been shot on sight, because he felt an "instinct" to trust Robin... after having met him only a handful of times - and one of those times he was holding an assault rifle and almost killing him? What? These relationships were totally implausible and totally under-developed.
The novel was highly unsatisfying and even at the end, left me with many questions:
1. How was this isolated herd of cows going to make Amy millions? Why do you need special, hidden cows to develop a new pasteurization technique? Isn't that something you'd test in a lab on any raw milk?
2. What did the cows have to do with uranium? Or were those just two totally separate get-rich schemes that the baddies were engaged in on the same island?
3. What did the mushroom-growing have to do with anything?
4. Why were the baddies (Amy and Michael in particular) fine with letting Perry out and about even though it was clear he knew about their nuclear plans? Why weren't they concerned about this? Why didn't they kill him?
5. How did Robin make this undercover agent thing work in the long run? He was part of this group of nuclear middlemen with his friends, then they all went to prison at the end, and he just... infiltrated another group? How did that work? No one from the new group was concerned that his previous group all went to prison?
6. Why was Robin's password to his security guards the same as the password for Amy's safe (Hereford)?
7. How is it possible that all of the people in the nuclear ring were unable to read or understand the foreign-language orders? How did this business work if no one could read the papers? Or if only Loricroft could manage to understand the papers, what did the rest of them do in the ring?
...I could go on. If anyone knows or better understand any of these answers, please let me know!
The novel was highly unsatisfying and even at the end, left me with many questions:
1. How was this isolated herd of cows going to make Amy millions? Why do you need special, hidden cows to develop a new pasteurization technique? Isn't that something you'd test in a lab on any raw milk?
2. What did the cows have to do with uranium? Or were those just two totally separate get-rich schemes that the baddies were engaged in on the same island?
3. What did the mushroom-growing have to do with anything?
4. Why were the baddies (Amy and Michael in particular) fine with letting Perry out and about even though it was clear he knew about their nuclear plans? Why weren't they concerned about this? Why didn't they kill him?
5. How did Robin make this undercover agent thing work in the long run? He was part of this group of nuclear middlemen with his friends, then they all went to prison at the end, and he just... infiltrated another group? How did that work? No one from the new group was concerned that his previous group all went to prison?
6. Why was Robin's password to his security guards the same as the password for Amy's safe (Hereford)?
7. How is it possible that all of the people in the nuclear ring were unable to read or understand the foreign-language orders? How did this business work if no one could read the papers? Or if only Loricroft could manage to understand the papers, what did the rest of them do in the ring?
...I could go on. If anyone knows or better understand any of these answers, please let me know!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 14, 2017
"Second Wind" is an interesting read for us die-hard Francis fans. I keep thinking it's not as good as his absolute best works, and it's not, but I've still managed to read it several times, and there's lots that's good about it. So why isn't it as quite as good as some of the books that came a few years before?
There are lots of things that Francis fans will recognize and enjoy. There's lots about flying, and lots about meteorology, and a super-exciting action sequence in which the main characters fly into the teeth of a hurricane, and all kinds of shady doings, this time in Florida and the nearby islands. Basically it has all the action and adventure, and all the meticulously researched background that somehow manages to turn info dumps into fascinating lectures on obscure topics. There's also a suitably tortured hero, although he isn't the actual hero, he's the hero's best friend, which is an interesting twist, although that may be one of the reasons why "Second Wind" more of a pleasant read than a gut-wrenching nail-biter in the vein of "Longshot" or "Straight" (more about those later, I promise).
In fact, the real problem--if you want to call it that, since "Second Wind" is still a perfectly respectable thriller--is the way the book skips lightly over the emotional stuff, blithely allowing Perry to have casual relationships of all sorts and moving briskly through some pro forma romance and so on without really digging into them. This is something that Francis's books have a tendency to do at times, especially during his lighter periods; e.g., the mid-1970s, the late 1990s, and it's something he himself seems to have been aware of, since his artist characters all struggle with the tension between light entertainment and wrenching revelations of the terror of the human condition. Even the hero of "Longshot" (more about that later, no, seriously, I cannot leave it unreviewed, I just have to work up the strength) aims to write light reading, only to find himself plunged into life-and-death conflict. Perry of "Second Wind" does too, it just doesn't seem to affect him in quite the same way.
So if you're looking for a fun, light adventure story, "Second Wind" is probably for you. Just don't take it as the acme and omega of what Francis could produce.
There are lots of things that Francis fans will recognize and enjoy. There's lots about flying, and lots about meteorology, and a super-exciting action sequence in which the main characters fly into the teeth of a hurricane, and all kinds of shady doings, this time in Florida and the nearby islands. Basically it has all the action and adventure, and all the meticulously researched background that somehow manages to turn info dumps into fascinating lectures on obscure topics. There's also a suitably tortured hero, although he isn't the actual hero, he's the hero's best friend, which is an interesting twist, although that may be one of the reasons why "Second Wind" more of a pleasant read than a gut-wrenching nail-biter in the vein of "Longshot" or "Straight" (more about those later, I promise).
In fact, the real problem--if you want to call it that, since "Second Wind" is still a perfectly respectable thriller--is the way the book skips lightly over the emotional stuff, blithely allowing Perry to have casual relationships of all sorts and moving briskly through some pro forma romance and so on without really digging into them. This is something that Francis's books have a tendency to do at times, especially during his lighter periods; e.g., the mid-1970s, the late 1990s, and it's something he himself seems to have been aware of, since his artist characters all struggle with the tension between light entertainment and wrenching revelations of the terror of the human condition. Even the hero of "Longshot" (more about that later, no, seriously, I cannot leave it unreviewed, I just have to work up the strength) aims to write light reading, only to find himself plunged into life-and-death conflict. Perry of "Second Wind" does too, it just doesn't seem to affect him in quite the same way.
So if you're looking for a fun, light adventure story, "Second Wind" is probably for you. Just don't take it as the acme and omega of what Francis could produce.
May 16, 2013
It’s been a while since I read a book by Francis. This was not your typical Dick Francis book. Perry Stuart is a TV weather man. His passion for the weather takes him into the middle of hurricane Orin. Literally. It also throws him into the middle of a secretive plot within a group of traitors. This book peaked my interest and the pace moved along nicely. However, I felt a little bit disconnected from it. It was choppy in parts. The usual race horse theme did make an appearance but it seemed to be thrown in just to make an appearance however so slight. This was a decent Francis book but it wasn’t his best
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June 14, 2019If you’re expecting a “Castaway” or “Lord of the Flies” stranded-on-an-island type book, you’re not going to get it with this. That part is actually very short.
The book has complicated phrasing at times and, for me at least, the characters were confusing and it was difficult to tell them apart, even by the end of the book.
Also, the love interest is so forced, it’s almost not even worth having in the story to begin with.
I picked this up, on and off, for months because it was difficult to get into. I thoroughly enjoy the occasional Dick Francis novel but this is definitely not one of his better ones. At least it’s a fairly short read, though.
The book has complicated phrasing at times and, for me at least, the characters were confusing and it was difficult to tell them apart, even by the end of the book.
Also, the love interest is so forced, it’s almost not even worth having in the story to begin with.
I picked this up, on and off, for months because it was difficult to get into. I thoroughly enjoy the occasional Dick Francis novel but this is definitely not one of his better ones. At least it’s a fairly short read, though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2022
Gleich zu Beginn wird es spannend. Der Held, ein sympathischer TV-Wetterexperte, fliegt mit seinem Kumpel quer durch einen Hurrikan und macht eine Bruchlandung. Das Buch hat aber leider auch Längen und nicht alles, was geschieht, erscheint logisch.
Warum ich trotzdem ein ausgesprochener Fan von Dick Francis bin?
Die Facts sind aufwendig recherchiert.
Wie immer ist der Held sehr sympathisch, die Personen gut gezeichnet. Eine minimale Liebesgeschichte ist drin. Besonders schätze ich den dezenten britischen Humor. Wenn es auch nicht das beste Buch von Dick Francis ist, dann lese ich halt all die anderen noch mal.
Warum ich trotzdem ein ausgesprochener Fan von Dick Francis bin?
Die Facts sind aufwendig recherchiert.
Wie immer ist der Held sehr sympathisch, die Personen gut gezeichnet. Eine minimale Liebesgeschichte ist drin. Besonders schätze ich den dezenten britischen Humor. Wenn es auch nicht das beste Buch von Dick Francis ist, dann lese ich halt all die anderen noch mal.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2018
I am on a Dick Francis kick, probably because I am horse crazy and his mystery stories always involve horses and the business of racing. Plus the fact, he is a good writer. His descriptions of his characters as well as his ability to describe what's happening through dialogue make it hard to put his books down. In this book, the protagonist is a weather man who becomes involved in a plot to steal nuclear materials to make bombs with right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Dick Francis's research is so thorough you'd think he is speaking from his own experience.
December 18, 2019
Not one of Francis' best, though the scene with the hurricane is very effective. The hero is a weather-forecaster, which means, as so often with Francis, that you learn a good deal about what this sort of job entails...more than just reading the weather on the TV each night.
As always, the main character manages to survive all manner of beatings-up, though in this instance it's a bit of a mystery why the baddies don't just dispose of him completely, and be done with it.
As always, the main character manages to survive all manner of beatings-up, though in this instance it's a bit of a mystery why the baddies don't just dispose of him completely, and be done with it.
April 21, 2013
One of Francis' weakest novels since slayride.
If you've got a friend wanting to try Dick Francis books, don't recommend this one.
Weak writing, weak plot, and characters you couldn't care less about.
One for the completists only, I'm afraid.
If you've got a friend wanting to try Dick Francis books, don't recommend this one.
Weak writing, weak plot, and characters you couldn't care less about.
One for the completists only, I'm afraid.
June 4, 2019
Not the usual Dick Francis type of book nor story line.
I struggled to get into it and persevered for 200 pages before speed reading the rest.
Not worth the effort.... very disappointing novel
I struggled to get into it and persevered for 200 pages before speed reading the rest.
Not worth the effort.... very disappointing novel
February 10, 2017
September 22, 2016
Jan 1, 2000
Jan 1, 2000
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September 17, 2020Fly into the eye of a hurricane with a suicidal pilot who doesn't even want to use maps.
What could possibly go wrong?
I think this one is in the category of "protagonist does stupid things to make the plot work."
That both guys survive the ditching at sea in the middle of the hurricane, highly improbable.
As a BBC meteorologist the story's protagonist surely could have arranged such a flight with the U.S.'s professional services, in a robust plane flow by pros rather than a Cessna flown by a rank amateur. (Incidentally it looks as if this is the rank amateur's first flight in a twin engine plane, a big no-no given the tricky nature of such vehicles.)
The story does not long delay in taking a James Bondian twist, something that might have seemed up-to-date at the time but that in retrospect also seems just dumb.
Sure, it's a thriller, but how far from credibility can Dick Francis reasonably take us?
What could possibly go wrong?
I think this one is in the category of "protagonist does stupid things to make the plot work."
That both guys survive the ditching at sea in the middle of the hurricane, highly improbable.
As a BBC meteorologist the story's protagonist surely could have arranged such a flight with the U.S.'s professional services, in a robust plane flow by pros rather than a Cessna flown by a rank amateur. (Incidentally it looks as if this is the rank amateur's first flight in a twin engine plane, a big no-no given the tricky nature of such vehicles.)
The story does not long delay in taking a James Bondian twist, something that might have seemed up-to-date at the time but that in retrospect also seems just dumb.
Sure, it's a thriller, but how far from credibility can Dick Francis reasonably take us?
March 11, 2020
Not the usual Francis protagonist, a horse trainer, owner, jockey etc., but a meteorologist who wants to fly through a hurricane. And does, with disastrous, nearly fatal results, and a mystery to solve
Of course there are horses in the story because, after all, it’s Dick Francis. 😊 And also of course, a thoroughly satisfactory read!
Of course there are horses in the story because, after all, it’s Dick Francis. 😊 And also of course, a thoroughly satisfactory read!
September 7, 2017
It is unimaginable to me that a writer can pen this many books and come up with fresh and intriguing plots that are seemingly never-ending. This is another fantastic Dick Francis work, and I'll keep reading them until I'm finished with the last one.
January 5, 2025
After years of the book sale, I decided to try a Dick Francis book as we always have so many. I enjoyed the book - I would give it a solid 3.5. Lots of interesting information on meteorology as hurricanes play a prominent role in the story.
July 28, 2024
A fun romp but tried to do a little bit too much. It was at its best when it was a cast away story.
March 4, 2022
Without doubt the worst Dick Francis novel I've ever read with only very tenuous links to horse racing (which is the main reason I enjoy them) and a dry plot mainly about weather.
The story follows two meteorologists as they attempt to fly through the eye of a Caribbean hurricane. However, unbeknownst to one of them, the loan of the aircraft and equipment is subject to stipulations including that the plane has to land on a deserted island in order to carry out a suspicious activity. A range of problems with some pretty severe consequences follow which the main character has to sort out in order to find out just what is going on.
I found, without the horse racing background, the story didn't really go anywhere. The plot was tame and the characters were flat and unengaging. Not one of the author's best in my opinion.
The story follows two meteorologists as they attempt to fly through the eye of a Caribbean hurricane. However, unbeknownst to one of them, the loan of the aircraft and equipment is subject to stipulations including that the plane has to land on a deserted island in order to carry out a suspicious activity. A range of problems with some pretty severe consequences follow which the main character has to sort out in order to find out just what is going on.
I found, without the horse racing background, the story didn't really go anywhere. The plot was tame and the characters were flat and unengaging. Not one of the author's best in my opinion.
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.
August 26, 2008
More beach reading.
The hero this time is a meteorologist, so there is plenty of info on tropical depressions and barometer readings. The hurricane sequence is well done, but there were too many "players" in the multiple bad guys to really create that palpable sense of menace that Francis' best mysteries create.
Really, I do think this one suffered a bit from an overambitious scope. It didn't work all that well as a minor transformation into espionage novel. At least the love interest in this one is less annoying than the usual Francis hero's inamorata.
I found myself worrying about the fate of a herd of cows that are central to the plot, and have to tip my hat to Francis, as of course he understood that the animals' welfare would need to be successfully resolved to reassure the animal lovers among his readers. Nice touch. (But I must say some of the cows had more individuality for me than some of the confusing array of minor characters!)
The hero this time is a meteorologist, so there is plenty of info on tropical depressions and barometer readings. The hurricane sequence is well done, but there were too many "players" in the multiple bad guys to really create that palpable sense of menace that Francis' best mysteries create.
Really, I do think this one suffered a bit from an overambitious scope. It didn't work all that well as a minor transformation into espionage novel. At least the love interest in this one is less annoying than the usual Francis hero's inamorata.
I found myself worrying about the fate of a herd of cows that are central to the plot, and have to tip my hat to Francis, as of course he understood that the animals' welfare would need to be successfully resolved to reassure the animal lovers among his readers. Nice touch. (But I must say some of the cows had more individuality for me than some of the confusing array of minor characters!)
February 18, 2009
After my November shoulder surgery, I re-read about 20 Dick Francis mystery novels. This was maybe my least favorite, but still made for a pleasant diversion during recovery. Some of the Francis novels I like much better and they are all good vacation (or recovery) reading, in my opinion. Francis is a former champion steeplechase jockey, turned sports columnist, turned mystery writer. Every book a bestseller, Francis uses the racing world as a context for his inductive heroes (mild-mannered, non-aggressive, but like tempered steel) to solve the mystery, deal with villains, and get justice (not always the same thing as legal resolution). My favorites are NERVE, BREAK IN, ENQUIRY, REFLEX, BOLT, BANKER, PROOF, and there are many more that I really like. To call them "horse stories" is absurd, but I must say Francis' books hit the spot in this reader that caused me to read every horse story I could find as a young girl :).
October 9, 2007
Every prolific author must have a worst book, and this one is it for Dick Francis. Like all of Francis' books, this one has nice prose, reads quickly, and requires very little from the reader. However, unlike his other books, everything in this book is a little bit too much. The bad guys are over-the-top bad, and we have hurricanes, nuclear bombs, and food poisoning, all in one novel. If you just read everything that Francis writes (as I do), then you should read this. If you've never read Francis before, do not start with this one.
October 29, 2017
A modern twist: accidentally encountering a ring of go-betweens of bomb-making materials. Two BBC weathermen with a desire to fly through the eye of a hurricane (this just after Harvey wreaked havoc on the Texas gulf two months ago). Only one of the weathermen has a Ph.D in physics and recognized the papers for what they were. And what did this have to do with horse-racing? A perfect place to meet was amid a crowd at the races.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2020
4.5 stars. I really liked it. This was my first foray into Dick Francis's works, although I've certainly seen them everywhere over the years. While the mystery itself had a couple of weaker areas, I really liked the character portraits, the overall story line, and the depth of knowledge Francis managed to convey on everything from meteorology to flying planes without once sounding like an encyclopedia. I will definitely read more of his books!
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