Dick Francis Reading Group discussion

Anyone read it yet . Hope he doesn't mess up Sid Halley cos he ain't a patch on his dad!

I've seen mixed reviews on both Audible and Amazon. Personally, I'm putting off reading it because I'm not sure I want to read another Halley--and for so many reasons.

I\m still re-reading the original books in publication order (I think i'm up to 1976). I got a long way to go before I get to Refusal

I will read it eventually, but Sid Halley has always been my least-favorite character (and I really don't know why) in the Dick Francis books. I have a lot of the Dick Francis books on my 'keep to re-read' shelves, but none of them are Halley books.

Used to watch a series based on the Sid Halley books in the uk in 1979 called the racing game that I loved . This got me hooked on the dick Francis books as much as anything

Suze wrote: "...My favorites are still the same (Longshot, Straight, Banker) but I enjoyed The Danger which for some reason I didn't really like the 1st time around. Who'da thunk horse racing, PTSD, covert ops and kidnapping with blips of philosophy thrown in could be so much fun? ..."

I like The Danger too. I'm in the middle of re-reading it and I think one of the attractions is that it covers a topic about which one is likely to know very little. Also, Andrew and Alessia are attractive characters.

Suze wrote: "Hi HJ! Dick and Mary did really well with Italians (Bonecrack, Flying Finish :)."

Yes, they did! Am I dreaming it, or do Andrew and Alessia feature in another book?

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I really enjoyed Refusal. It didn't hurt that I was in the mood for just that type of book. I've read mixed reviews from fans here on Goodreads. I'll read it again sometime and see if I still feel the same.

I've just finished Refusal and I quite liked it, even though Halley has never been a favourite character of mine. I will read anything that is a reminder of the best of Dick Francis! Refusal wasn't bad, it had a really evil bad guy, and I enjoyed seeing Chico again and Sid's father in law Charles. But there were some massive plot holes where I kept saying to myself, "why doesn't Sid do THIS or THAT!" And the ending was a bit of a cop out, I missed the usual cliffhanger that Dick always gave us.

Sharon wrote: "I will read it eventually, but Sid Halley has always been my least-favorite character (and I really don't know why) in the Dick Francis books. I have a lot of the Dick Francis books on my 'keep to ..."

I wonder if SH is your least favorite because the SH stories are among the most brutal and most graphically violent. No DF hero suffers as much deliberately inflicted physical pain as SH and for that reason they are among my least favorite. I may like the plot line and how it unravels but I find the violence a real turn off--and on an audiobook, it is very hard to skim over the parts you don't like.

I just read Refusal, and really enjoyed it. I feel that Felix is certainly not as good a writer as his father but it still felt like a Dick Francis novel.