Dick Francis Novel
46 total works
Then Nick finds a threatening note in the dead man’s coat, and he begins to doubt how well he really knew his friend. And on discovering that Herb named him beneficiary in his will, Nick wonders why he’s been entrusted with the legacy. Is this a generous gift from a friend, or is it, in fact, a poisoned chalice?
Malcolm Pembroke never expected to make a million pounds without making enemies. Nor did he expect his latest wife to be brutally murdered. All the clues suggest the killer comes from close to home - but after five marriages and nine children, that still leaves the field wide open.
When he finds his own life in danger, Pembroke entrusts his safety to his estranged son, Ian, an amateur jockey; and through him discovers a compulsive new outlet for his financial expertise.
Soon he's playing the international bloodstock market for incredible stakes. Not the safest bet for a man on the run from avaricious relatives. Particularly when one of them's got a bomb...
BEWARE THE EYE OF A HURRICANE...
For a few precious seconds, the shrieking wind dies down and the colossal waves lie flat. Airbourne in the heart of the storm, TV weather forecaster Perry Stuart braces himself for impact. Then suddenly all is blackness as the small aircraft plunges out of control.
It takes a truly frightening accident for Stuart to discover the secret of Trox Island - and plenty of things about the human race that he would rather he didn't know. He came as a half-drowned hurricane victim lucky to be spared from the ocean. He left with information that would bring down an evil worldwide conspiracy - if they didn't kill him first...
'Excitement and sheer readability' Daily Telegraph
It's the third death that really troubles former champion jump-jockey Sid Halley. He knows the perils of racing all too well - but in his day, jockeys didn't usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds Huw Walker - the new winner of the Triumph Hurdle and Halley's friend. Now former friend.
Walker was riding one of Lord Enstone's horses in the Hurdle and it was the inimitable owner who invited Halley in the first place. His brief: to make discrete enquiries into alleged race fixing. Are results being rigged? Are bookies taking a cut? And if so, are trainers and jockeys playing a dangerous game with stakes far higher than they realise ...
Halley's quest for answers draws him ever deeper into the darker side of the race game, in a life-or-death power-play that will push him to his very limits - both professionally and personally.
`I wondered if I was dying. I wasn't afraid to die but, such was the pain in my gut, I wished it would happen soon.'
The night before the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket sees the great and the good of the horse-racing community gathered for a prestigious black-tie Gala dinner. It is a fitting testament to the glamour of the occasion that top chef Max Moreton is cooking the evening's meal.
Max is something of a celebrity in Newmarket circles. He is founder of the racing town's favourite Michelin-starred restaurant, the Hay Net. However, spending the night retching in the throes of agony is the last thing Max expects. But much worse is to come...his food is suspected of putting twenty-four of the dinner guests in hospital. Max's pride and professionalism tells him all is not as it seems.
Within hours, Max's restaurant is forcibly closed, his reputation teeters on the brink of ruin, and a court case looms. But the day is far from over, and soon Max Moreton finds himself desperately fighting for more than just his livelihood...
Dead Heat is the latest searing, intrigue-filled blockbuster from the Grand Master of thriller writing.
Jefferson Hinkley is back.
Operating as an undercover investigator for the British Horseracing Authority, Jeff is approached by the multiple-champion jockey, Dave Swinton, to discuss the delicate matter of his losing races on purpose. Little does Jeff realise that his visit to Swinton's house will result in a brutal attempt on his life.
Shortly after Jeff narrowly escapes a certain and grisly death, the charred body Dave Swinton is found in his burnt out car at a deserted beauty spot in Oxfordshire. The police seem think it's a suicide but Jeff is not so sure. He starts to investigate those races that Swinton could have intentionally lost, but soon discovers instead that there are those who would prevent him from doing so, at any cost.
Praise for Dick Francis and Felix Francis:
'From winning post to top of the bestseller list, time after time' Sunday Times
'The Francis flair is clear for all to see' Daily Mail
'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life
Crossfire is the new thriller from father son team Dick Francis and Felix Francis.
Captain Thomas Forsyth's tour of Afghanistan is cut brutally short when he is badly wounded by a roadside bomb.
Returning home, to his mother - a racehorse trainer and the 'First Lady' of racing - Tom discovers the training business is on the edge, and facing a threat far more dangerous than a run of bad form.
Tom finds himself on a very different, but just as deadly, battlefield where his military skills are tested . . . kill or be killed?
From Felix Francis and Dick Francis, the bestselling co-authors of Dead Heat and Even Money comes Crossfire, the latest Dick Francis novel. Packed with all the hair-raising suspense and excitement readers know and love from Dick Francis, Crossfire is the most dazzling yet.
Praise for the Dick Francis novels:
'The Francis flair is clear for all to see' Daily Mail
'Spare, efficient and unflashy . . . inexorably draws you in' Daily Telegraph
'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life
'Still the master' Racing Post
Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories and the biography of Lester Piggott.
Dick Francis died in February, 2010, at the age of 89, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.
Felix Francis is the younger of Dick's two sons. Since 2006, Felix has taken a more significant role in the writing, first with Dead Heat and then increasingly with the bestsellers, Silks and Even Money. Crossfire is the fourth novel of this father-and-son collaboration.
Undercover investigator Jeff Hinkley is assigned by the British Horseracing Authority to look into the activities of a suspicious racehorse trainer, but as he’s tailing his quarry, Jeff bears witness to a bloody murder. Could it have something to do with the reason the trainer was banned in the first place—the administration of illegal drugs to his horses?
Soon it’s discovered that many more horses have tested positive for stimulants—and an unknown person starts making demands, threatening to completely destroy the integrity of the racing industry. To protect the sport itself, Jeff must uncover the perpetrator. But he’s up against someone who will stop at nothing to prevail.
Some titles in the series are available with an accompanying audio cassette, or in a book and cassette pack. Additionally, selected titles have free accompanying "Penguin Readers Factsheets" which provide stimulating exercise material for students, as well as suggestions for teachers on how to exploit the Readers in class.
