Shattered

Rating:
Summary: Brantley's not so super review
Review: This is, said to be, the last in a long line of thrillers from author Dick Francis. This story centers around a middle-aged glassblower in England. He is, early in the book, troubled by the death of his friend Martin. The jockey dies in a freak accident right in the middle of a race he was shore to win. Martin leaves behind family, friends, and an entire community of race-goers. But to Gerard Logan's surprise he is left a mysterious package that is quickly stolen from him along with a large sum of money.
Francis offers us an array of multidimensional characters. Most fit into the typical "thriller" genre mold. Throw in a couple of nice, seemingly innocent people, with a love interest and a gang of criminals and you have a story by Dick Francis.
Most of the characters are not without their faults, even the main character Gerard Logan has an air of confidence that can easily come off as arrogance. Let's just say some of them wouldn't make it through the final cut of a Walt Disney rendition.

Gerard Logan: main character, has a nack for doing a little investigating on his own.

Martin Stuckley: A jockey who dies leaving behind a mysterious videotape that a lot of people want.

Catherine Dodd: A rugged street cop who quickly becomes Gerard's love intrest.

Rose: A petty bitter women out for only her own good. Watch out for this one.

All in all the book was an exciting escape, but I would only recommend it to those who find themselves with too much time on the weekends. Other than that I'd leave this one on the shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Dick Francis did it again!
Review: Shattered is the return of another wonderful adventure by Dick Francis. I was concerned after his last book, where it didn't seem to be as good as the many others. But, he did it again. Shattered is a true Francis gem....enjoy it as you have the many before this one.

Rating:
Summary: A Rollicking Good Thriller
Review: I must admit that I used to be a big Dick Francis fan, but the last few books have been not up to what my usual expectations were. It was nice to see that this book seems to get Mr. Francis back into familiar form. It's a really good thriller, and you learn a whole lot about glass blowing while enjoying the story. I was very sorry to hear that Dick's wife has passed away since they co-wrote this book. I do hope that he doesn't quit writing. I understand that his wife did all the research for his books, and she did a fabulous job with this her last effort.

Rating:
Summary: Better than his last few
Review: I've been a Dick Francis fan for nearly 30 years - so much so that in the mid-70's I began buying his books in hardback, something I do for very few authors. For years I was not disappointed, but eventually the quality of the books began to go seriously downhill. I still bought them in hardback, but began to hate myself for doing so.

Finally, after Second Wind, I said "no more" I won't subject myself to this pain again. However I couldn't stay completely away, however, and bought Shattered when it came out in paperback.

The good news: It is far better than the last few books Francis has written, several steps above Second Wind, and a completely different category from the truly dreadful 10-Lb. Penalty. It has much more of a ring of his earlier novels, and has a nice love interest, an interesting profession for the hero (glassblower), typical scenes from all Francis novels - the obligatory hero being beaten up scene, the obligatory hero keeping a stiff upper lip and refusing help from police, doctors or anyone even though bleeding on the floor scene.

The bad news: The villians don't seem fully fleshed-out, their motives never truly understood. The object of their goal seems a bit peculiar.

But all in all, if this is to be the last Francis novel I'd much rather have him go out with this one, than the last two awful ones before this. This is closer to the Francis roots. But for a a better read go back to the older Francis novels. Anything from the early 1990's and earlier should be pretty safe, though of course some are better than others.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I'm a Francis fan of long standing, and picked up _Shattered_ with hopes of reading his usual, well-crafted story and characters. Unfortunately, while the book has its good moments (the glassblowing background is well done, and the main character is a great, though "typical" Francis hero), the plot was simply dreadful. Things didn't hang together, but instead meandered all over the place, and I found myself skipping pages (I've never done that in one of his books before). If you're looking for the good stuff, go back to Hot Money, Bolt, The Danger, or other earlier books, because unfortunatly this book isn't worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Shattered
Review: Gerard Logan is a glassblower who has befriended a jockey named Martin Stukely. Gerard accompanies Martin to a race, where the jockey falls to his death. Logan is given a videotape which soon disappears, and several thugs accost him thinking he still has it. Logan is motivated to recover the tape before the thugs do, although at first he doesn't know what the tape contains. He travels around the countryside accompanied by a rag-tag group of "bodyguards" and slowly begins to solve the puzzle of the tape and where it came from. There are interesting details about glassblowing and dependable Dick Francis spins another interesting tale.

Rating:
Summary: better than lately
Review: The last two were slightly disappointing, (10 LB Penalty and Storm Warning), but "He's Baaaack"! thank Goodness! Yes, his stories are similar--yes, they involve types of work other than horse racing--yes, his main characters are vastly alike--WHO CARES?!?! It's SO pleasant to still read about Nice Guys who are Not Boring and still trying to Do Right. I invariably learn something from his novels, about all sorts of occupations. I only hope that, should I be fortunate to attain his age, AND after the loss of my primary (uncredited) collaborator (spouse) I can do half as well! Mr Francis, thanks for all the fun, suspense, and honest emotion for all these years!

Rating:
Summary: Weirdly Connected Story on the Familiar Francis Turf
Review: Review Summary: Only the most dedicated Dick Francis fans will find the story in Shattered to be one they enjoy. Weird juxtapositions of bumbling baddies create one of the most far-fetched mystery stories you or I have ever read. Steeplechase racing is dragged into the main mystery kicking and neighing in a most unsatisfying way. Those who always wanted to learn more about creating artistic glass will feel most rewarded by the book. They will probably grade the book a three or four star effort. On the positive side, Shattered offers one of Mr. Francis's best romances. Those who like love stories in their mysteries will also like this better than most.

Review: Gerald Logan is the friend of a steeplechase jockey, Martin Stukely, who dies in a fall while racing. After the race, Stukely's valet hands Logan something that the jockey had told the valet to convey. In the midst of feeling sad for his lost friend and trying to cheer up his dead friend's bereaved family, Logan doesn't pay much attention to the package . . . until it is taken in an unexpected robbery. Suddenly, looming goons are threatening Logan with many varieties of mayhem. What's it all about? Logan doesn't know, and he would prefer to get back to his business of making and selling fine crystal objects.

Most of the book's plot complications revolve around Logan's having lost his driver's license from speeding once too often. As a result, it's not easy for him to get from place to place. His connections to the plot are made through these travel arrangements. That device is the story's strength.

The background on making fine glass will interest many who have admired such artistic pieces. Mr. Francis did a good job on his research, and explains what he learned well.

The mystery itself will leave most people scratching their heads due to its many far-fetched elements. I simply didn't find many elements of it believable. Perhaps you have a better imagination than I do. If you do, you will like this book better than I did.

I also like to read about horse racing in Mr. Francis's books. This one could have used more of that element, or he could have eliminated it altogether. The connection is does make was unsatisfying to me. Logan could have gotten the package in an airport from a porter, and the mystery would have been about the same.

Mr. Francis's prose itself was clear, friendly, and direct . . . as usual. If he wasn't such a smooth writer, a book like this would be a painful experience.

After you finish enjoying this book (if you do), I hope you will think about how we can each make our work more relevant to those who use it. What are our readers (or customers) looking for? What's the best way to provide that benefit? What should we avoid doing?

Race to overcome obstacles for all those you serve!

Rating:
Summary: Bringing up the rear
Review: Let's be honest, Dick Francis writes candy for the literary brain. You pick up one of his novels on the eve of a vacation and then suck it down between naps and walks on the beach. Even with these lowered expectations, Shattered fails to deliver the goods.

The plot is standard Francis fare, a resourceful young man, tangentially related to horse racing, finds himself in the center of a perplexing mystery due to the sudden death of a close friend. In 240 pages, the protagonist will use his wits, perserverence and high moral standards to solve the mystery and get the girl. Sound familiar?

The central character, Gerard Logan, is a glass blower. The best bits of the novel center on the interesting revelations about this rather obscure art. Unfortunately, the rest of the novel is populated with cardboard characters and silly plot twists. "Such as?" you ask.

1- The central villian, Rose, is motivated by a singular hatred of men. Why? It's never really explained. But her dialogue is so irrational that it's difficult not to be perplexed and even slightly offended.

2- Despite bedding a policewoman in Bond-like fashion, Logan seems absurdly reluctant to go to the authorities despite a brutal beating at the hands of some known!! assailants.

3- There is a poor attempt to introduce the Internet and e-mail into the plot that painfully proves Francis is about a decade behind the whole WWW revolution.

4- The final scene is so contrived, I have to believe Francis conceived of it first, the wrote the rest of the novel to get there.

There are more offences but I think the point has been made. If you're new to Francis, there are plenty of fine reads in his library of works. Try Nerve or Longshot. If you're a longtime Francis fan, don't bother laying out the cash, there's sure to be a copy left behind at a beach-house in your future.

Rating:
Summary: Win, place, show?......Show!
Review: While I have always enjoyed Dick Francis novels, this one included, I felt that this one was not one of his winning tales. Shattered was a good read, and if you have any interest in glass-blowing, don't miss this. Gerard Logan is a great character, very interesting and likable. His friendship with a jockey, Martin Stukely, brings about a series of events involving some video tapes that change hands frequently and that someone will go to any length to obtain. What ensues is the pursuit of clues to find out what is on the vidoetape that everyone thinks Gerard possesses or at least possesses the knowledge of. The actual content of the tapes was interesting, but not stunning. The "bad guys"(should I say "bad girl") in the story are definitely not nice people, but they are not fully flushed out characters, and lack the well rounded evil characters that Francis has always written about so well. Rose, the main antagonist is just plain nasty-mean, but you never really get why. Maybe you don't need to? Rose surrounds herself with men whom she intimidates, mentally and physically, and gets them to back her up, as if this woman needs back-up! The family of the deceased jockey, the Stukelys, were a kick, especially the mother-in-law, Marigold!! Gerard's romantic interest was good. The people he surrounds himself with to protect him were very unusual and quirky, even if not always successful. The final scene is unexpected and full of danger! If I were not comparing this to other Dick Francis novels this would have ranked higher. I enjoyed this, but in comparison to his other works this was just not as wonderfully done. Not a winner, but definitely a fun, good read.