Longshot

Rating:
Summary: Branaugh Brings Book To Life
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Solid, intelligent thriller
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: 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.