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Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall and became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America’s Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain’s Crime Writers Association’s Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded the CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Ronald Britten the hero is an accountant who moonlights as a steeplechase jockey. This is one of the few books of Dick Francis which has an accountant as the star, as accountants are considered the nerd incarnates. But as it is foretold “nerds rule the world”, Ronald Britten with his penchant for number’s analyses and observes each and every situation and gets tailored made solutions for them. Any ways as he wins the Cheltham Open Championships, he is kidnapped and locked aboard a sail boat.
Ronald cannot make head or tail of his incarceration and gets no answers. He soon escapes to an island and is helped by the middle aged spinster Hillary Pillock to evade the criminals. Hillary has a very unusual request as a price for her help and she becomes very crucial for Roland later. Ronald reaches mainland and continues his investigations. He checks out whether he has any bad run ups with anyone while doing auditing and soon he pin points certain suspicious elements.
As the investigations go on, Ronald gets involved in the races and develops a romantic interest with a jockey’s daughter. But as he is riding to another race, he is again kidnapped, but let go. Soon he peels off the disguises of many of his so called friends and with the help of his fiancée and Hillary manages to bring his captors to the book.
A very engrossing tale complete with all the racing trivia which an insider like dick Francis can only provide. The language is simple and to the point, therefore there are no skip areas. This page turner does follow the formulaic thriller of Dick Francis, with an underdog hero coming up trumps against a violent world intent on killing him. But Francis manages to get the readers attention focused on the who done it plot. The unmasking of the villain is the masterpiece of this novel and I would suggest not to miss this one.
Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall and became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America’s Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain’s Crime Writers Association’s Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded a CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Yet another fabulous novel from the master mystery writer and its all about horse racing again. One of the enduring traits about the Dick Francis book is that there is an endless variety of jobs and passions related to the racing fraternity. In The Frame has a horse painter as the protagonist.
Yes Charles Todd is a painter or an artist who paints horses. During the course of his book Dick Francis gives you the trivia or the interesting facets of painting a horse picture. Many are an event frozen in time by the artist. It is said that Mary, his wife used to help him undertake extensive research to help him get through the book. So she learned photography, parachute gliding and for this book she learned to paint. As Felix, Dick Francis’s son put it “they were a team, a cottage industry with out a cottage”.
Charles Todd like all the Francis heroes, is an unassuming gentleman, albeit a cheeky one here. He comes down to Australia to check on a cousin. But as luck could have it he walks in to a crime scene. The cousin’s house is burglarized, and the wife is murdered seemingly intercepting the thieves. The house is completely burned down ruining all the expensive paintings and a cellar full of wine. Charles stays back to help his cousin to deal with the police and the insurance. The investigation appears to be stalled and his cousin sinks deeper in to depression. To help the stagnant situation to move Charles takes matter in his own hands follows up the clues.
He meets another middle aged women whose house has been similarly burnt down and the common thread running between the two being a purchase of a painting done by the master. Soon patterns evolve and Charles finds that all the paintings bought were fake and to cover the trail of the phony paintings the fraudsters were trying to destroy them as soon they were purchased. Charles detective work takes him all over Australia and New Zealand where he is battered, bruised and almost killed. But he soon manages to uncover the gang’s modus operandi and once again rescues the racing world.
Only Dick Francis can come up with a thriller like this and the simplicity is the major brownie point for this book. An incisive knowledge about the racing world and his vast experience helps Francis to mold a fantastic character like Charles Todd who may not be a jockey but paints horses. The language is engaging, simple and down to earth. Only jarring feature is the prevailing old British overtones through out and its still difficult to believe such chivalry exists in the real world.
Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall and became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America’s Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain’s Crime Writers Association’s Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded a CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Published in 1975, High Stakes is vintage Dick Francis, a thriller amidst the turmoil of the racing world. The star is Steven Scott who pays for his expensive hobby of horse breeding with his inventive toys. As a toymaker Steven is a novice with horses and relies on his trainer Jody Leeds whom he trusts implicitly. The duo nets winner after another and this makes Steven a successful horse owner. But as he goes through his stable finances, Steven realizes that he has been taken on a ride.
Jody Leeds had been pilfering large sums of money and Steven proceeds to sack him. Rudely awakened from his neat take aways Jody tries to hurt Steven where it matters most, by taking away his prized stallion, “Energise”. Jody tries to run over Steven while escaping with Energise and is stopped. But he tries again and succeeds in carting off the horse which makes Steven dig deeper.
Soon public opinion sympathize with Jody which further sends Steven’s quest to despair. He finds that the racket involves many small betting outfits which have been loosing money. Villains who soon loose money over this affair try to stop Steven and soon he is facing a game of life and death. But Steven is not the one to let things go. He soon acquires new friends which involve his romantic interest and puts in a great plan to get back his horse. All his mechanical inventive genius is put to use to get back Energise and neutralize the villains.
This book is a real page turner with its taut story telling. The ramblings of the horse racing scenario is absent with Dick Francis focusing on the inventive genius of the hero who succeeds to get the horse back. The plot is mesmerizing and I say that the book is a must read.
Surrogacy is a hot topic for a serious drawn out docudrama, but Baby Mama turns all that notions upside down. All the complications of surrogacy is not fully presented, but it is a romantic comedy which pulls out to your heart strings. In a male dominated story lines of Hollywood this movie gives the bonding between two women belonging to different worlds the premium space. Directed by Micheal McCullers, this 2008 movie stars Tina Fey, Amanda Poehler, Greg Kinnear and Steve Martin.
Kate Holbrook is a Wharton Grad and a hard nosed career women. In her late thirties she feels time slipping from her hands and wants to satisfy the urges of motherhood. But to her horror she comes to know that her uterus is T-shaped which makes her chances of pregnancy very remote. Kate approaches this problem in a true business sense and zeroes on the technique of surrogacy. She chooses a spoilt Angie to carry her baby to term.
Angie is a con on her own right with her head in the air and lands up at Kate’s door step with no place to live in. She plans to make a run with the compensation money and knows that the in-vitro fertilization has not succeeded.
A a driven Kate approaches impending motherhood in her own methodical way, she learns the hard knocks early by tending to a childish Angie. Slowly a bond develops between the two women and Angie begins to regret the lie she is forced to live. But she keeps putting off the confession. A routine ultra sound confirms her pregnancy, and to her shock Angie realizes the baby to be is her own with her husband Carl. Angie is forced to confess the lie at Kate’s baby shower. A horrified Kate insists that the baby could be hers as the pregnancy test could be done only after two weeks. A distance develops between the two women and the law steps in for the custody battle.
At the hearing Angie makes an heart felt apology and the DNA tests confirms that the baby is hers. A crest fallen Kate storms out to the courtroom and is confronted by Angie. Angie’s water breaks and Kate is forced to rush her to the hospital and assist in the delivery. Kate faints during the delivery and a routine examination confirms her pregnancy. An ecstatic Kate and her boyfriend Rob make preparation for their baby to come home. Angie gives birth to a daughter whom she names after Gwen Stefani and she tries to involve her common-law husband in the child rearing process.
As a year passes a great bond develops between the two women. They become like sisters and bring up their children together. Kate and Rob get married and Carl tries to get involved with his daughter and all ends well. This film might be a very simplistic take on surrogacy but one has to keep in mind that this is a romantic comedy meant to entertain. Do not rush in looking for answers to the strong emotional problems. This movie was like by critics and the audience and was one of the top grosser of 2008. A fast paced script and some splendid acting by the leading ladies like Tina Fey and Amanda Poehler makes this movie a good watch.
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