Customer Reviews

To the Hilt

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of the first Dick Francis novels I read, and it remains one of the best for me. If I read it in the larger context of his work, it does seem to be something of an anomaly--not first and foremost about horses, and not concentrating on action and the understated heroics that many Francis heros find themselves forced into. ...there is a depth to the character of Alexander--a sort of simultaneous self-undertanding and also a oneliness that he wishes he could get past--that is touchingly human. I actually think this book has much more depth than some of the more action-packed stories. I would recommend it.

Alexander Kinloch, the hero-narrator of Francis' 1996 thriller, is not a horseman. A painter, he enjoys a solitary life in a windswept hut on his aristocractic uncle's Scottish estate. But his solitude is disrupted first by news of his stepfather's heart attack and then by four thugs who attack him and ransack his hut.

Kinloch has never been close to his stepfather, Ivan, but quickly finds himself embroiled in his plight, up to his neck in bank officers and lawyers and entrusted with hiding a race horse and a jewel-encrusted trophy. All of which he accepts with stoic aplomb, despite the increasing risk to his own neck and the disruption of his life.

There's not much racing in this one, but Francis' hero does plenty of quick thinking and maneuvering and takes plenty of knocks as he defends the family's honor "to the hilt," ferreting out a murderer in the process.

Francis keeps things moving and invests his characters with complex and very British codes of honor. His fans will not be disappointed.

The main character of Dick Francis' "To the Hilt" is twenty-nine year old Alexander Kinloch whose only desire is to spend time alone painting. Unfortunately for him, Alexander is thrust into a plot involving the theft of million from his stepfather's, Ivan Westering's, brewery. Alexander is asked for his help in hiding Ivan's two treasures, the King Alfred cup and Golden Malt, a valuable racing thoroughbred. But soon Alexander realizes that not only will he have to protect these two items at the same trying to find out where the embezzled money went, he must also watch out for himself as things turn from worse to deadly...

My second Dick Francis novel to read, I found "To the Hilt" a totally enjoyable read. Very exciting and suspenseful, there's a lot of mystery. Alexander is a delightfully fun character, you can't help but feel sorry for him as he gets more and more involved in helping his stepfather although the only thing he wants to do is paint. Dick Francis must also be applauded for his array of interesting characters. There's the jealous stepsister Patty who would do anything to discredit Alexander, Alexander's uncle Robert the Earl, Oliver Grantchester the lawyer, and more. But probably my most favorite characters is 'Young and Uttley', who is really just one person. I love how he has so many disguises. I cracked up laughing at one part where Alexander tries not to reveal that his 'lady-friend' is actually his 'Young and Uttley' bodyguard!...

This is the first DF book I've read, and it won't be my last. I'm usually pretty good at figuring out who the villian is, but I ended up being wrong with this book, which was a pleasant surprise.

The characters were all very well developed, and likable. It was a quick read mainly because I had a hard time putting it down. I would highly recommend it.

When you look forward to sitting down of an evening and reading a book you know it's good. I am always in search of mysteries with an art angle and this fits the genre. Likeable characters, not a totally predictable ending and a large cast of characters that don't get muddled up in one's mind as some novels do.

Well written. I am a Dick Francis fan and this is one of the best even though the horses play second or third fiddle.

One of our favorite Dick Francis, TO THE HILT has both suspense and the British humor, which is sly and cunning. Alexander Kinlock is the odd ball of his family. But his uncle, the Earl, understands the reclusive personality of an artist who earns a decent living with renderings of the game of golf.

Summoned from his lair by his step-father, he is confronted by death, the necessity of hiding a horse and saving the brewery, which is the main stay of the family business. Hiding family treasures is Alex's forte along with his visionary paintings.

If you haven't read this one, find it and do, it is mystery, chaos and family at its best.

Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

Dick Francis, like George Szell, provides guaranteed quality. He writes literature that always has a plot where I can rarely put the book down until I've done. He has cost me many hours sleep, and I wish him eternal life but only if he'll continue to write.

Usually if one said that an author and his novels were dependable that would be synonymous with dull and boring. Not so with Dick Francis. He always manages to create stories and characters that grab the reader and hold on until the end.

In "To the Hilt," we have Alexander Kinloch, a painter whose specialty is golf and the places and people that involves. He lives in a bothy in the Scottish highlands where the solitude makes his work not only possible, but extraordinarily wonderful. However, the world intrudes in the shape of four burly men who beat the pulp out of him. They want to know where "it" is, and when they realize he has no idea what they mean they throw him down the mountain to his fate.

Over the next few weeks, he finds out what they were seeking and why. When Ivan, his step-father, has a heart attack, the authority to protect the older man's empire is given to him, a responsibility he is both willing and loath to accept. His step-sister, who resents his interference, begins intruding on his life and that of their parents. As she struggles to wrest power from him her father dies, leaving Alexander with total authority. Part of that responsibility is a string of race horses, bringing into the story the one absolute certainty of a Francis story.

However, he really shines in this tale when describing the artist's passion and obsession. Alexander meets an older woman, an antiquities expert, bent on "saving" a precious heirloom, and becomes haunted by her face, to the point that he feels compelled to paint her portrait. The reader gets the brush strokes and the feelings as the work forms under his hands. Even a non-artist has to say, "Yes, that's how it is." When she sees the finished work, she says, "You have made me immortal."

Anyone who likes mysteries will enjoy the clean writing in a Dick Francis novel. For the most part both story and characters are unambiguous. This is a quick read and totally enjoyable.

My Grandmother (of all people) turned me on to Dick Francis. I have never been to England, don't especially like horses, and have never seen a horse race in my life and I LOVE THIS AUTHOR! This book, in particular, is one of his very best. If you haven't tried Dick Francis, this is a great one to cut your teeth on.

Alexander Kinloch is the twenty-nine-year old son of the deceased fourth son of an earl. He lives alone in a hut on a windy mountainside in Scotland spending his time painting and playing the bagpipes. Alexander receives word from his mother in London that his stepfather is dying. His stepfather is Ivan George Westering, who owns a brewery and is a pillar of the British Jockey Club. Before leaving to see Ivan and his mother, Alexander is beaten by four thugs who ransack his hut. In London he learns that there is a discrepancy in the accounts of Ivan's brewery and a large sum of money is missing. Francis has created another likeable protagonist in Alexander Kinloch and a memorable supporting cast of helpers and villains. Horses are only a peripheral issue in this book which is the author's thirty-fifth novel. Some interesting touches of medieval history add spice to a fast-paced story.