10lb Penalty [Mass Market Paperback]

One of the most impressive aspects of Dick Francis's long and celebrated career (he's won three Edgar Awards, the Silver Dagger, the Gold Dagger, a Cartier Diamond Dagger, and was named the 1996 Mystery Writers of America Grand Master) is the freshness that he brings to each of his novels. Though every one of his 30-plus works of fiction has drawn from some aspect of the world of horses, Francis turns this constraint into a powerful source of inspiration. In 10 Lb. Penalty Francis adds several new arrows to his quiver. His protagonist, Ben Juliard, narrates the tale in a vivid first person that begins in his insecure late teens instead of the settled middle age of the usual Francis hero. Also, Ben's relationship with horses is more of a fading dream than an active reality. The book begins with Ben's expulsion from Vivian Durridge's stables; he's removed with a false accusation of glue sniffing. But as Ben soon discovers, it is, in fact, his powerful father's machinations that are behind his ill fortunes. The elder Juliard is "standing for Parliament," and the bachelor candidate needs his son by his side for a year of campaigning if he hopes to win. Ben accedes to his father's wishes. He almost always has, but he soon finds that his "gap year"--his year before entering college--is going to be a nightmare. Orinda Nagle, the widow of the recently deceased Hoopwestern MP, and her companion, Alderney Wyvern, resist George's campaign from the start. Then, Usher Rudd, a muckraking journalist, turns his vitriol to George. When an attempt is made on George's life, he and his son find themselves inside a vigorous tale of suspense that takes several narrative years to sort out.

Francis's lucid prose is the driving force in this political mystery, and the realistic rendering of the complicated father-son relationship between George and Ben adds a sophistication and weight that marks the author's best fiction. --Patrick O'Kelley --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Francis is in top form with his latest novel. Seventeen-year-old Benedict Juliard is an amateur jockey whose life is changed abruptly when he is accused of taking drugs. A waiting limousine whisks Ben away to a different life, a life that will prove to be more hazardous than that of a jump jockey. Ben's father, George, is running for Parliament, and he wants his son to spend a month working with him in the preelection campaign. Ben is quickly introduced to the dangers of the political arena. Narrated by Martin Jarvis, who does the different voices and accents with skill, this is a guaranteed winner for mystery fans.?Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Pleasing lesser Francis (To the Hilt, 1996, etc., etc.) that takes its young hero from horse racing to the far rougher world of British politics. Benedict Juliard may be just a boy--he's only 18 when his father arranges for him to be fired from his job as an amateur jockey so Ben can campaign at his side in a Parliamentary by- election--but his talent for listening to people and drawing them out is such a complement to George Juliard's mastery of big- picture rhetoric that he's an unexpected asset on the campaign trail. Unexpected and unwelcome, not only to Paul Bethune, the opposition candidate, and his hapless wife Isobel, but to Orinda Nagle, vitriolic widow of the late MP for Hoopwestern, who can't understand how the nominating committee for her own party could have made the ghastly mistake, darling, of passing her over for Dennis Nagle's vacant seat--and to Alderney Wyvern, once Dennis's close friend, now Orinda's constant, and rather sinister, companion. As George's campaign gathers steam, and Ben basks in the glow of his father's approval--best here is Francis's sharp portrait of instinctive sympathy between the very different father and son--predictable obstacles emerge. Usher Rudd, a muckraker who's been slinging mud against Paul Bethune, turns his attention to George; somebody tries to kill George; and you find yourself settling in happily to a treat of customary Francis thrills and spills. But the campaign turns out to be only Act One; George's victory and Ben's return to racing merely set the stage for anticlimactic Act Two, five years later, when Wyvern and Rudd come blustering back in search of the revenge they're sure they're owed. Though the toothless villains deprive the story of any strong sense of direction--a surprising disappointment from reliable Francis--the tale is fleetly and unassumingly told, without any of the excess baggage that has often given the distinguished ex-jockey trouble making weight. (Book-of-the-Month Club main selection) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"Few things are more convincing than Dick Francis at full gallop."

A wanna-be jockey accepts a job in his father's campaign for Parliament--and realizes that politics can be the most perilous horse race of all.

Dick Francis has written forty-one international bestsellers and is widely acclaimed as one of the world's finest thriller writers. His awards include the Crime Writer's Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the crime genre, and an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Tufts University of Boston. In 1996 Dick Francis was made a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement and in 2000 he recieved a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

One of the great joys of Dick Francis's English horse racing novels is each story's array of characters. In 10 LB. Penalty the focus is George Julian, a rising political star, whose son, Benedict, passionately wants to pursue his career as an amateur jockey. Martin Jarvis has won acclaim for his recordings of Dick Francis's novels for British listeners, but this is the first American release. He treats the trainers, race officials and horse owners as old friends, and the addition of a political twist gives Jarvis more characters on which to work his magic. Jarvis delivers such a diversity of accents and voices that each character is imaginatively and distinctively identified. The dynamics between father and son, and among political rivals, are astutely balanced. A longer abridgment not only would have allowed more time spent with Francis's appealing characters, but also would have made the nearly instantaneous rise of George Julian from his first election to his arrival at 10 Downing St. more believable. R.F.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.