Racing Reviews

One of Francis's novels from the days when he just wrote great books about people involved in horses. Neal Griffon, who broke with his racing-stable owner father many years previously and made a success of his life, is forced to take over the stable when his father is injured and the business threatened. The threat--a Swiss mobster wants his son, Alessandro, a novice jockey, to ride to success in the biggest race of the year. With that, we watch with fascination as both Neal and Alessandro try to resolve their relationships with their father without blood being spilled. It doesn't help matters that both fathers are among the most indomitable individuals I've ever read of . . . a good read, and with lessons for all of us.

This is a story of two father-son couples; the hero who is temporary in charge of a training stable and his cold-hearted father, and a spoiled son who wants to be a champion jockey and his fanatic, ruthless father. Their unhappy relationship is lightly and smoothly described in the fast-paced, thrilling story, yet I am strongly impressed by the relationship. Francis is really a good writer. And it is also interesting that a daily life of a training stable is vividly described.

I will not give any of the plot away -- but after you have read this book ask yourself this question: Is there anyone high in the political world who matches the specifics of any major character in this mystery? The question is not sterile.

I rank Dick Francis in the top 5 fiction authors writing. He consistently puts out great mysteries with characters devoted to their values and plots interesting enough to keep me coming back for more.
"Hot Money" is not one of his best. I found his main character in this novel too willing to compromise on issues that I wouldn't have expected Francis to compromise on. I still recommend this book but with some minor reservations.

For whatever reason this novel has gone out of print. One can hope that the publisher will reprint. The main character, Malcomb Pembroke, has a knack for making money, particularly in investments in gold, and has become very wealthy (by 1987 standards, when the novel was written). The problem is the fact that he doesn't get along with his ex-wives and children. He won't increase allowances set when he was merely rich rather than filthy rich. His first three ex-wives and their seven children seem to hover about like greedy vultures waiting for him to die so they can inherit the estate. This is compounded by sibling rivalries, ex-wives poisoning their childrens' minds, and various mental attitudes. The children are furious when Malcomb starts donating money to charities and spending millions on racehorses.

The novel is an interesting whodunit as first Malcomb's fifth wife is murdered, and then attempts are made on his life. There are many people with motives, mainly in the family. His son Ian, the only child he trusts, helps unravel the mystery. The story illustrates how money can corrupt a family. While the reader can make some guesses, the ending is not obvious.

A rich patriarch and his estranged son rebuild their relationship while trying to find out which of the family asssortment of ex-wives and offspring is trying to kill them. One of his best books (and they are all good), with the smooth flow, wry wit, sustained tension, and consummate storytelling which are the hallmarks of Dick Francis. Most highly recommended.

Longshot features travel writer turned novelist John Kendall who, to make ends meet, accepts a commission to produce the biography of a race horse trainer. Kendall soon discovers, however, that a recent murder at the trainer's home is far from resolved, and unwittingly becomes ensnared in a web of deceit and danger. Kendall is forced to draw on survival skills honed in exotic locations in order to navigate these home-grown perils.

The book's strength, like most Dick Francis mysteries, lies in solid pacing and engaging characters. Francis juggles well a fairly large cast, all with realistic motivations and personal quirks; the only person who does not ring true, perhaps, is the police inspector who obligingly spills facts to Kendall as needed. Kendall himself is another well-crafted Francis everyman, at loose ends emotionally and personally while he tries to pursue a new professional calling. He stands out from other Francis heroes with his specialized knowledge of living off the land, rather hazardous traps, and survival against the elements. And who as a child didn't dream once or twice of surviving in the wild in such a manner? Francis offers, once again, a chance to experience someone else's livelihood and to puzzle together a mystery along the way.

I enjoyed this book enormously when I first read it and bought the audio version just for fun. Kenneth Branaugh really made this book a treat to listen to - fantastic voices and range without over doing it. Dick Francis fans - anyone really - will be thoroughly entertained with Longshot.

This is the first Dick Francis novel I've read. I originally purchased this novel because of my love of horses, and how he incorporates them into his writing. However, when reading, I realized that Mr. Francis' books stand on their own. This story was incredibly exhilerating, and well written. I had a hard time putting it down once I got into it. All the characters are interesting, and developed very well. I'm looking forward to reading another one of Mr. Francis' novels in the near future. I highly recommend this book.

This biography fills a significant gap in the historical record: behind the incredible scientific and engineering triumph of the Manhattan Project, there was a master administrator. Leslie Groves is that administrator, the take-charge guy who knew how to inspire, find competent people to whom he delegated tasks, cajole and bully his way into the historical achievement of the first working atomic bomb. In this bio, you get to know who he was, how he operated, and what he did. There is no doubt he was a great and talented, if somewhat unsung, man.

Nonetheless, Groves' life and methods are not exactly something that would inspire a lay reader about the epoch. There are far better books for that, such as Rhodes' Making of the Atomic Bomb, which is the most readable and best reported and researched of the whole shelf of books on the subject in my opinion. No, this is a book of value principally for specialists in scientific and military history and for atom-bomb buffs. There was info I needed in it and could only find there, so it was most useful for a scholarly purpose. But it was not a fun read about a rich time.

Afterall, when contrasted to great politicians or scientists or adventurers, there is a reason why very, very few bureaucrats find a narrative niche: they are simply not as interesting or as comprehensible. Norris even says as much, when he admits there were not many layers to Grove: he was a competent and arrogant man, who when given extraordinary authority during the war was capable of achieving extraordinary things. At the end of the war, he refused to change along with the army and instead retired to a corporate position and as a curmugeon who corrected in excruciating detail the innumerable accounts that kept appearing.

I do not mean to diminish Norris' achievement here, only to put it into perspective for prospective readers. The prose is clear, if a bit lackluster. But this is very good scholarship and a useful addition.

Recommended for specialists only.

As biographer Robert Norris himself concedes, there have been many accounts of the Manhattan Project since World War II, several biographies of Leslie Groves, and even Paul Newman's memorable depiction of Groves in the film "Fat Man and Little Boy." Norris hoped to achieve the academically definitive biography, and no one can accuse him of failing at that. He is thorough. In fact, there is unintended humor in the "racing" title: as late as page 214 the search for real estate for Hanford and Oak Ridge is just getting underway. Groves's bomb has a long fuse.

Leslie R. Groves entered West Point on the eve of World War I. When the United States entered the war, the Academy's curriculum was compressed into a two year matriculation in the belief that many new officers would be needed quickly on the European front. As timing would have it, neither Groves nor many of his fellow cadets saw action. What resulted, however, was a glut of peacetime officers, an undesirable situation for ambitious career officers like Groves. Eventually Groves's accomplishments would outrun his rank, a major political liability. In the end, however, Groves himself was his own worst enemy. Intelligent and self-motivated, Groves became an accomplished engineer at the Academy, though it would seem that as a cadet he acquired the skills without the polish. As an officer in the Corps of Engineers he was brusque and dogged, except with those who could advance his career. Superiors tolerated his rudeness and obesity because he could kick behinds and deliver the goods. In peacetime he might have been shuffled out; but as the Nazi shadow extended closer to home, a man of Groves's productivity would be annually disciplined for his interpersonal shortcomings and "punished" with greater responsibilities. It was thus that Groves became a major force in the construction of the Pentagon, and ultimately a secret weapons project based in the New York District of the Army Corps of Engineers, the so-called Manhattan Project.

To the uninformed, Groves's contribution to the production of the atomic bomb was as scoutmaster for a collection of scientific mad monk geniuses in the desert of New Mexico. In fact, Norris leaves the impression that Groves was more of an absentee landlord at Los Alamos. The real action was going on elsewhere, primarily in massive industrial complexes at Hanford, Washington, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In some respects the building of these two industrial facilities was as impressive as the making of the bomb. That Groves was able to build not one but two mammoth atomic factories in roughly eighteen months is staggering.

As Norris tells the story, Groves enjoyed a decent relationship with Robert Oppenheimer and most of the scientists working for him. He did not totally understand the intricacies of atomic physics; in truth, the entire project was a foray into the unknown. Where he excelled was in translating theoretical problems into practical management components which he executed against incredible odds: shortages of rare substances and wartime civilian labor, secrecy and security, political and military infighting, and concern over the German nuclear program, to cite a few. When his scientists were divided over opposing theories and techniques, Groves's favorite stratagem was simply to test both possibilities in laboratory situations and select the one that worked.

Which raises the question of costs and accountability. The funding of this massive secret project is probably a good subject for a separate work. Suffice to say that Groves drew his funding from an extraordinarily large but innocuously named account, and that funding was one problem he did not have to face, at least until after the war. Conveniently, there was in fact no one-certainly not his [many] senior officers-who could question the wisdom of Groves's expenditures and management techniques. He answered, nominally at least, to a civilian board appointed by Roosevelt, which included James Conant, President of Harvard. But from this narrative the board's primary relationship with Groves appeared to be running interference.

After Japan's surrender, Groves exercised a proprietorship over the newly confirmed nuclear technology, and he would parcel it out sparingly and reluctantly. He advocated an American hegemony of nuclear weaponry-no international control of atomic bombs, no sharing of technology with allies-and even within America he embargoed information to most government agencies, including the White House. Groves protected the stockpile, and since the weapons were stored as component parts, Groves could obfuscate the true strategic strength of the American arsenal as political needs dictated. Norris contends that Groves forged much of this nation's current nuclear philosophy during and immediately after the Manhattan Project.

New technology notwithstanding, the old politics would eventually derail Groves. In 1948, during his annual fitness review, Groves was told by Dwight Eisenhower to his face that his maverick days were over and that he would not be appointed chief of engineers. Eisenhower, who regarded Groves as a loose cannon, made it clear that too many officers had been rubbed the wrong way by his arrogance. No fool, Groves submitted his resignation and spent several years with Remington Rand in the early years of computer development.

Norris depicts Groves's role in the atomic espionage trials of the 1950's in a benign light, [Gregg Herken's new work depicts the General's involvement in a darker light] and I suspect that the author's closeness to his subject made him somewhat less critical of Groves's tactics and style. Overall, this is an extremely valuable work for several reasons. "Racing for the Bomb" is a commentary on the pros and cons of national crisis management, the dilemma of giving someone enough power to get the job done without creating a dictator. There is also a message here about contemporary nuclear proliferation. Have India, Pakistan, Iraq, and North Korea mastered their own Manhattan Projects, or is nuclear proliferation simply a matter of espionage and horse-trading? One can almost hear Groves saying, "I told you so."

The book is definitive, scholarly, yet dramatic and exciting. Indispensable for understanding how the atomic bomb came about. A necessary counterpoise to the prevailing scientist-based story of the development. Additionally Norris's description (meticulously documented by a vast quantity of letters and interviews) of Grove's childhood and professional years before WWII recreates a lost era when society's leaders and doers were on a higher plane than they are today.

A great sailing adventure and well told. I was interested in the design of the 24 ft sailboat, the cabin layout, and the supplies taken on the voyage, as well as a few photographs. All of this information was missing! It still was a great book. Arthur B. Campbell

Frank Guernsey and Cy Zoerner's book is not only an exciting account of a nearly impossible voyage, but a love story and a psychological portrait as well. Have you ever wondered what drives a person to strike out alone in a tiny boat on a voyage some might call suicidal? "Racing The Ice To Cape Horn" gives a rare glimpse into the psyche of one of those rare adventurers who choose to go it alone against nature. I absolutely couldn't put it down!

This book held my interest from beginning to end. I am not an expert sailor, but Guernsey and Zoerner made all the technical terminology very clear. My friend, who is an expert sailor, enjoyed both the adventure and the technical accuracy of the book. I can warmly recommend this book to sailors and non-sailors alike--it's exciting!

As a general rule, I am a Sci-Fi person first, Fantasy second, Political Thrillers third, and the rest rarely makes my reading list. But someone handed me a Dick Francis mystery a year ago and I couldn't put it down. Since then I've read (or listened to) more than a dozen, and they're all fabulous. As was mentioned by another reviewer, these are definately formula books: he writes essentially the same character every time, and all the plots involve horse racing at least peripherally. And of course our hero (a blindlingly inteligent, 30-something, self-assured, and intensely private male) nearly always starts lonely and ends with the prospect of happy permanent female companionship. Nevertheless, they're still very much worth reading, probably for the same reason Tom Clancy is worth reading: the effort and research Francis puts into the details. In Whip Hand one gets to learn not only about the mechanics of false hands but also some nuts and bolts about vaccination and horse disease, some high points of hot-air balloon racing, and how a horse ownership syndicate works.

Even more importantly for Whip Hand, Francis really threw his heart and soul into Sid Haley, who is hands down (no pun intended) his best character ever. There's a depth to him - his strengths, weaknesses, the double-edged sword of his pride, and his vulnerability that is thought provoking and ultimately endearing - I ended the book more than 1/2 in love with him. :)

To sum up, Whip Hand is Well worth the read, whatever your typical genre and whatever your feelings about horses.

Last year, someone gave me my first Dick Francis to read, 10 LB. Penalty, which can best be described as horrid. I couldn't believe that someone as prolific as Dick Francis could sell so many books if they were of this caliber. This summer, my same friend gave me a big bag of mysteries to read, and I planned to skip Whip Hand. But as luck would have it, I ran out of books before I ran out of summer and Whip Hand was the only one left. Was I pleasantly surprised! In fact, this turned out to be the best mystery I have read all summer. The main character is Sid Halley, an ex-jockey turned PI whose small stature belies all the hidden baggage beneath. He also brings the same passion to win that he had as a jockey to his investigations. Halley has three separate mysteries dumped on him: a mail fraud, a syndicate fixing and racehorse tampering. The racehorse tampering was especially timely after spending some time in Versailles Kentucky this summer, site of the tragic and still unsolved horse tampering case. Not to give the story away, but this book is filled with action, drama, suspense, believable characters, just a little romance, and a plot that will have you guessing until the very end. Next time I receive a Dick Francis book, I will be a little more anxious to begin reading!

Most of Francis's books are stand-alones, but this is one of the few that is a second book about the same character. Francis has a winning formula: he writes books about a young man of around 30, in a career most people might think is boring, but which turns out to be exciting. His hero is usually taken for granted and under-appreciated by his family, and under-employed, but in the course of the book proves he is far smarter, cleverer, and more observant than anyone supposed.

Usually, there's a highly intelligent middle-aged career woman who recognizes his worth and helps him along. It's a formula, but the details that Francis provides makes it work every time.

In this second book about Sid Halley, Sid has gotten the artificial hand replacement that was talked about at the end of the previous book, Odds Against. As ever, Francis has done his research, and we find out a great deal about the science and engineering that goes into a working mechanical hand.

The biggest part of this story is not the mystery, although of course that's there, but the story of Sid coming to terms with his own courage in the face of what he fears is cowardice. One of our villians threatens to destroy Sid's remaining hand, and Sid is at first afraid that he is going to give in to that threat. But living with himself after giving in to such threats would be a problem; Sid almost accidentally decides to stand up and against evil instead, and wins out in the end.

A chance meeting in a subway launches Ruby Murphy into the behind-the-scenes world of horse racing as she investigates a wandering boyfriend for a mysterious blond. Ruby is a likeable character and she wanders a part of New York City not often depicted in fiction. In between her adventures, she takes yoga and piano lessons and neglects her real job at a Coney Island museum near her home. The story is told in several different voices, a technique that adds richness to the story. I hope there are more books starring Ruby Murphy.

A lively foray into the life of the stubborn and irrepresible Ruby Murphy. Her peculiar outlook on this bittersweet dumbshow, her wide-armed acceptance of all that is mean-spirited and foul is inspirational. I will gambol with Ms Estep's maniacs anytime.

There's plenty of things about this book that set it apart from other works in the mystery genre, but if I had to sum it up into one thing it would be this: humanity. Ruby Murphy is endearingly, refreshingly HUMAN, as are the rest of the cast of this story, and we're allowed to get more than one perspective of what is going on, thanks to the creative use of different narrators, all of whom are wonderfully - and believably - eccentric. Maggie Estep breathes fresh life into the genre and leaves me wishing that some of her characters lived in my neighborhood, which is not something I can say for any other mystery I've read. Usually in a mystery you can't wait to get to the end to find out what happens, and while this one is definitely a page-turner, I was so in love with the characters and the world they inhabit, I didn't want it to end. The prose is direct yet very poetic and vivid. This book is a breath of fresh air - and an especially tasty read for horse lovers, as the author lovingly illustrates via Joe the racehorse what makes these graceful creatures so appealing. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

This book belongs right there on your coffee table for every one to see. The photos are crisp, clear and in color, bringing all of the triumphs and tradgedies that NASCAR has to offer. You will find yourself refering to it many times over.

Need a fix during the offseaon? This book will take care of that. AWSOME Pictures to go with great stories. A must for any race fan.

Really great pictures of the Nascar scene over the last 50 years. The lithography is out of this world!!

I'm sorry, I've read wonderful reviews of this book, and I'm not sure why. I kept reading it just because of the racing/horse subject matter, but the plot was so weak. There was more tragedy than I could keep up with and I was never able to like a character. I think in effort to keep the book dramatic, it just became overblown and exaggerated. I would not recommend it if you like an intelligent plot.

I purchased this book a long time ago.....about little Annie Grebauer. From the moment I picked it up, I couldn't close it. I would take long bathroom breaks at work just to complete a new chapter. I am so glad I kept this book, I will never part with my copy!

This was the best book I've ever read! It's one of those where you can't put it down and at the end of every chapter you want to keep reading to find out what happens next. This book is excellent for students in highschool or even college. When called upon to write an essay on books, Bred to Win will fit into just about any situation!

I am happy to report that the writer for this book is in the same league as the horse he's writing about. The result? A thoroughly enjoyable story of how Cigar, the charismatic son of Palace Music and Solar Slew, carved a name for himself in racing history and in the process became the sweetheart of the sports world.

Author Jay Hovdey did his homework for the book, tracking down and interviewing all the major players in Cigar's life from the folks who foaled him to those who tended to his needs as he raced. He also took the time to get to know and probe beneath the surface of the public exteriors of the people who surrounded Cigar. This means that the reader has a feeling for how things unfolded behind the scenes as Hovdey relates Cigars meteroic rise to stardom. What makes it even sweeter is that Cigar was a late bloomer with delicate legs that resulted in all but one of his initial 11 races being run on grass. As it turns out, Cigar didn't like grass, and it wasn't until his bones had a chance to strengthen and someone in the stables lobbbied strongly for giving him a try on the dirt that Cigar came into his own. And what a show it was! Not only did he win 16 times in succession, equally Citation's record, but he beat out the best in international competition after being shipped to Arabia where he ran in unfamiliar surroundings on a less than ideal track.

If this book lacks anything, it's a personal connection with the horse by the author. Although Hovdey does a great job of relating what others have to say about Cigar, you never have the feeling that he himself has connected with the spirit of the colt. He talks about Cigar from a distance, removed by time and reporting from the immediate physical presence of the animal. Time and again you read that Cigar's exercise jockeys thought he was smart, how he loved peppermints, that his trainer always knew when he was in a playful mood, that he always carried himself with dignity, but in the end these are all second hand accounts. You never get the feeling that you are actually in the presence of Cigar, running your hand down the muscled neck, smelling his sweat as he cools out, seeinig his one, white-ringed eye roll in your direction as he listens to what you're saying, the feel of his lips as he plucks one of the peppermint candies he was so fond of from your hand, smelling that sweet mix of straw, manure, linament and sweat that is so much a part of all stables. Perhaps because I've spent time around horses I missed these very personal touches which would have brought the horse alive for me.

In the end this is a very competent, well-written book, but it lacks the spark that would have made it a 5-star recommendation for me.

I really enjoyed reading this book, although I feel that it doesn't really say all that much about the great big bay, it mainly talks about his owner, trainer, and jockey; although Cigar is also mentioned quite alot. In the middle of the book, it contains some wonderful photographs of Cigar and his connections.

I certainly enjoyed this book. It was well written, easy to understand, and had funny and enjoyable parts often. I don't think I sat down and didn't smile after ten minutes of reading. I loved the pictures, they were simply magnificent and portrayed the beauty, power, and grace of Cigar wonderfully. The writer really went into the emotions of the horse, not just the people associated with Cigar. The writer really told the story well, and I would read anymore of the books he wrote. I would definatly reccomend this to anyone, even if they don't know squat about horse racing, they would have a much better understanding of it after they read this book!