Under Orders by Dick Francis Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Under Orders
Book Review: Déjà vu
Summary: 4 Stars
Crippled ex-jockey Sid Halley is back for his third go, a record for a Francis hero. Back, too, are all the familiar Francis plot elements befalling his reticent middle-aged heroes, and a sharper focus on the horse-racing industry than in his recent books. Except that now Sid is actually in the business of sleuthing, and has to expect the abuse the villains typically mete out. However, vulnerable with a new girlfriend, someone else takes the worst of the punishment this time around. Luckily, she is as tough as he is.
I find Francis's novels to be fast reads, so smoothly written and tightly plotted that they truly are hard to put down when you know you really should. Francis is a concise, matter of fact writer--much like his heroes (although Sid is awfully emotive compared to most others). Whenever I come across a new Francis novel, I know I am in for pleasurable hours of reading at the first opportunity. It is wonderful how this story spins out into a broad conspiracy from such small or disconnected beginnings. There is no reason to stop and ponder, and not much reason to think deep thoughts. As nasty are the events depicted, these are sunny, optimistic books.
One thing I would like in his novels is more "atmosphere," more mention of place, landscape, light--just to be able better to visualize what are exotic places to me.
Book Review: Far from his best
Summary: 3 Stars
I started reading Francis' books as a young teenager, and I was enthralled. However, Francis' early books are far superior to the later ones, which seem to have been churned out without much thought to content. Disappointing, because Francis can be so very good. This is a fine book to kill time, and I might have rated it higher if it had been written by a different author, but I have high standards for Francis.