Driving Force

Rating:
Summary: HorseTrucky
Review: Before the advance into my daily life of computers, my two favourite subjects were trucking and horses, so when I picked up a copy of Driving Force, I was instantly absorbed. This had everything.. even, to my surprise, computers!

I'm usually more of a Science Fiction/Fantasy buff, but I do enjoy a good mystery now and again, so long as: 1) I don't know who the culprit is in the first five pages; 2) It doesn't start out with "It was a dark and stormy night." 3) When the solution finally comes it doesn't present something implausible, impossible, or downright silly; and 4) It doesn't leave too many loose ends.

This book satisfies all of the above.

Rating:
Summary: HorseTrucky
Review: Before the advance into my daily life of computers, my two favourite subjects were trucking and horses, so when I picked up a copy of Driving Force, I was instantly absorbed. This had everything.. even, to my surprise, computers!

I'm usually more of a Science Fiction/Fantasy buff, but I do enjoy a good mystery now and again, so long as: 1) I don't know who the culprit is in the first five pages; 2) It doesn't start out with "It was a dark and stormy night." 3) When the solution finally comes it doesn't present something implausible, impossible, or downright silly; and 4) It doesn't leave too many loose ends.

This book satisfies all of the above.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book : )
Review: Dick Francis is one of the best writers ever! i have read many of books and this is one of my favorite. He is wonderful. I wish that I had his talent. The end of his books is always a surprise. I love his work.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting Thriller
Review: Francis at his best. This time, our hero owns a horse transport company, and there's lots of details and intrigue about the horse community and the competitiveness of racing

Rating:
Summary: Driving Force Delivers!
Review: I've read approximately 90% of Mr. Francis' books and I must say that this is by personal favorite; with plenty of twists and turns all experienced by the reader through the eyes of the morally stalwart hero. It's non-stop interest from beginning to end. A must-read for any Dick Francis fan. Definitely my pick for Francis' best work.

Rating:
Summary: Viruses and fleas are scarier than lions and bears oh my
Review: OK, let me say first that I like pet rabbits, and in a way, a pet rabbit is one of the heros of this story. I like a lot of Francis's books, but this one had that something extra for me.

Dick 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.

Our heros in this book include not only Freddie Croft, who owns the horse transport business, but a veterinary epidemiology researcher who is quite a character. We learn more, perhaps, about viruses, parasite-born diseases, and other related things than some people might want to know; if you're squeamish, you might not want all the details of some of the illnesses we hear about along the way.

The stock middle-aged woman character this time is a rather unusual woman truck driver; Francis has always been in the forefront of having women in interesting careers; even back in the 60's, many of the women in his books held jobs. One doesn't tend to think of mystery writers/racing writers as being on the leading edge of trends, but Francis has shown himself to be so, in having career women, gays, and the disabled as important and strong characters in his books, even in the midst of the old-fashioned and conservative racing world.