Longshot [Paperback]

Dick Francis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1999

His agent has always known that John Kendall, writer of travel guides to harsh terrains, is impulsive. But taking an assignment because he needs money hardly seems a rash act, as Kendall ventures to rural England to interview a successful racehorse trainer. But the perils described in his survival manuals pale next to the dangers in the English countryside. "Impulse will kill you one of these days," his agent had warned. Kendall should have listened, but he didn't--not by a longshot. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The reliable Francis ( Straight ) delivers again, this time in a thriller featuring young author John Kendall. Kendall writes survival manuals for an adventure-travel agency, but has taken time off to pen a novel. When money runs thin, he agrees to write the biography of famed horse trainer Tremayne Vickers. Leaving London for Vickers's Berkshire home, Kendall arrives as one of Vickers's two principal riders is acquitted of murdering a young woman with whom he'd quarreled. However, members of Vickers's entourage, including sons Gareth and Perkin and Perkin's wife, Mackie, suggest the hot-tempered jockey had some part in the death. Kendall fits easily into the household, conducting research, taking notes, even cooking and working horses; then the body of a missing stablegirl is found in the woods. As Kendall's research continues, his riding skills improve and he is taken into Vickers's confidence, the intrepid writer finds himself under attack. Horses, danger, betrayal and doing the right thing--expected components of a vintage Francis yarn--permeate a plot presented with authority and verve. Paperback rights to Fawcett.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Hired to write the biography of a famous racehorse trainer, John Kendall soon finds himself racing to solve a murder before the killer catches up with him. His continued survival, it seems, would be considered a longshot. "The best thriller writer going."--The Atlantic Monthly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett Books (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449458253
• ISBN-13: 978-0449458259
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,588,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dick Francis was the author of more than forty acclaimed books. Among his numerous awards were three Edgar Awards, the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger, and the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. He died in February 2010.

Felix Francis has assisted with the research of many of the Dick Francis novels and is the coauthor of Dead Heat, Silks, and Even Money. He lives in England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner by Francis, March 4, 2006

By 

Jeanne Tassotto (Trapped in the Midwest) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Longshot (Mass Market Paperback)

This 1990 novel by former jockey Dick Francis features John Kendall, a young man who has written a novel while working as an adventure guide writer. When his novel was accepted by a publisher Kendall took his advance, quit his job and began his second novel. As the story opens he has discovered two things, the first is that writing full time was not as easy as he had thought, and secondly that his advance was not lasting nearly as long as he had hoped. An opportunity to ghost write a horse trainer's memoirs came up, complete with room and board just as Kendall found himself homeless.

While living in the trainer's home Kendall is introduced to the world of racing and some of its intrigues and scandals. As always in a Francis' novel, the hero is stoic and persisent, the family is dysfunctional, the first crime leads to a second, and in the end it is the villian's lack of character that caused all the misfortune.

Francis' work has been criticized as being formulistic, that any one is very like any other. This is true but since they are well written, the characters are interesting, the plots are clever, and the action exciting this means only that the reader is guaranteed an enjoyable read with each new one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Branaugh Brings Book To Life, July 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Longshot (Audio Cassette)

I enjoyed this book enormously when I first read it and bought the audio version just for fun. Kenneth Branaugh really made this book a treat to listen to - fantastic voices and range without over doing it. Dick Francis fans - anyone really - will be thoroughly entertained with Longshot.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A classical murder narrative unfolds..., May 8, 2006

By 

Semioticghost "Semioticghost" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Longshot (Paperback)

"Longshot" centres on events in an old racing family, observed through the eyes of a writer of survival handbooks who has been invited to work on the biography of the patriarch, a successful trainer of racing horses. For the first time in a a few of its ilk, this novel left me wanting to hear more about how the characters went on to live their lives, partly because the resolution left some interesting tensions to work with. Due to the nature of the plot, Francis's characterisations go into more depth than he normally offers, and I wish he'd added another volume.