Customer Reviews

Shattered

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Gerald Logan and Martin Stuckey met in a jury room and became immediate friends although they share little in common. Martin is a horse jockey who races at the elite English tracks. Logan, who owns and operates Logan Glass, is a gifted glassblower, beginning to earn a well deserved reputation.

Even after the trouble began, Logan never blamed Stuckey nor regretted their friendship. On New Year's Eve, Logan watches Stuckey race at Chelthenham. However, one of the horses Stuckey rides stumbles and falls on top of the jockey, killing him instantly. Before a stunned Logan can leave the track, he receives a videotape from Stuckey's valet, who says the deceased planned to give it to him after the races.

Logan leaves the tape and his store's receipt on the store counter to go outside and enjoy the new millennium. When he returns, the tape and his money are gone. A couple of days later, thugs accost Logan demanding the tape. They do not believe him when he tells the he no longer possesses the tape. He also knows he is in trouble unless he recovers the tape and gives it to the proper authorities.

True genius is rare, but with his track record Dick Francis has to be considered one. Each book he writes is unique, fresh, and entertaining. SHATTERED is no different due to a wonderful hero thrust in a situation not of his making. He not only blames no one, but also seeks vengeance for his buddy. Mr. Francis provides his fans with another stirring, believable mystery starring an ordinary guy as a sleuth investigating an extraordinary scenario.

Harriet Klausner

Dick Francis doesn't change much, and thank goodness.

His hero, though never the same name, is always the same person. He is always mid - thirties, quiet, competent, moral, and full of steely resolve. Gerard Logan is all of these, and one thing more - he blows glass for a living.

Of course, as always, there is a race track tie in. This story includes what Hitchcock used to call "The McGuffin" - the thing that everyone in the story wants but the audience doesn't much care what it is. In this case the McGuffin is a video cassette given to Logan by the valet of jockey who has just been killed in a race. The tape is therafter stolen from Logan's shop, but several nasty types don't believe it and want Logan to give the tape to them.

The plot is simple, as it usually is with Francis, but the smooth writing, well etched characters, and wonderful inner voice of the protagonist always make Francis a pleasure to read, and this is one is no exception. And details about glass blowing make this one extra fun.

I have been a Francis fan for many years now, having read most of his books. While this one is not his best, it it still a far better effort than we see from other authors.

This book contains the familiar comforts we have come to expect from Francis-- a likeable accidental hero, a loathsome villan or two, a nice girl and the chance to learn something. Reading one of Francis' novels is like sitting down with an old, familiar friend. We know what to expect, and I think this lack of surprise is why so many reviewers have panned this book. It is exactly the reason I bought it. I knew what I would be in for and I didn't have to wonder if I had just wasted $20 and killed a few trees for nothing.

I have heard rumors that this may be Francis' last book. While I understand his desire to retire, I will miss the yearly visit with my old friend. But then, I have 40 other chances to become reacquainted with him.

Dick Francis at his worst is still better than other authors at their best!

Master glassblower/artisan Gerard Logan is at the Cheltenham races when his jockey friend Martin Stukely is killed in a riding accident. He discovers that Martin has left him a videotape for safekeeping, but the tape immediately disappears in a robbery. Various people appear demanding the tape, all disclaiming any knowledge of its whereabouts, and Gerard finds himself caught in the middle. He finds himself between an ugly man-hating woman who wants to physically hurt him, a widow who seems to have a romantic interest, and a woman police constable who ends up in his bed.

The plot provides considerable side information on the art of working with hot glass. The author, as usual, has done extensive research on a subject. The main character, Gerard, seems to have considerable financial resources as he has no hesitation about hiring cars and drivers, and seems to have only secondary concerns about money stolen from him. Gerard seems a bit careless about charging into danger, and does not seem to consider the possibility of collateral damage. He finds an assortment of allies ranging from young children to street smart toughs.

Overall, it is a good mystery with some surprises. It seems suitable for teenage readers.

To start, I should say that I've been reading Dick Francis for twenty-five years, give or take a couple. I think I've read each and every one of his forty or so books, and have read most two or three times.

Francis started out writing strictly horsey mysteries--jockeys, trainers, stablehands, owners, then moved out further and further into other professional and personal worlds, all the while maintaining some link to British horse racing. The clump of books in the sixties, including Nerve, Enquiry, Dead Cert, and Forfeit really pulse with that best of the writer's creations, a world, a walk of life, fully realized. Clearly, Francis was writing from his own knowledge of a world he'd known intimately as a jockey in the fifties, and of which he was still a part.

In the Seventies, Francis did a wise thing--with able research assistance from his wife (I apologize for blanking on her name at the moment--she has recently passed on, by the way), he linked other occupations (inventor, photographer, hostage negotiator, portrait painter, accountant) to racing in a seamless way that made us feel we were now walking through two worlds. By the time he wrote Reflex in the early eighties, he had added intricate plot twists (always a feature, actually) and strong, complex character development and interaction (a bit more than his classic stoic loner who stood the test through so many of the first two decades of novels) to his repertoire. The Eighties books--Reflex, Break-in, Bolt, The Danger, Hot Money, Banker, Twice Shy, etc., are the work of an author maintaining his peak for a surprising length of time.

But now we have seen the nineties and are into the two-thousands. Second Wind and Shattered represent the decline of a real craftsman. The villains have cruder, less plausible motivations-Francis was never one for subtle villains (except, maybe Risk), but now they are cartoon characters, full of obsession and menace. The technical writing skill is there but there are outlandish plots married to it (especially Second Wind!). The twists are less sophisticated, the romances too easy, the main character's inner conflict not as palpable. And the classic Francis ingredient, horses, is barely there.

Shattered is not worth your money--but go back to the sixties and seventies and eighties, and feast on a master. Or buy Field of Thirteen, his collection of short stories, which show a more subtle witty side of Dick Francis--a wonderful showcase for some other talents he held back in his more mainstream, blockbuster work.

For thirty-five years, Francis was a true craftsman, capable of real inspiration at times, and always a satisfying read. I'm afraid I can't say that any longer. Everyone slows down; I give him thanks for a wonderful body of work.

I first discovered Dick Francis's mysteries with "Reflex" (about halfway through his now extensive current series). One of the joys of discovering a mystery writer who already has an extensive backlist of books is being able to read all those older books immediately; I must have taken no more than two weeks to devour Francis's entire backlist. One of the even greater joys is when that writer keeps on creating and publishing a new book every year. The greatest joy of all is when the one published in 2000 is as exciting and strongly written as the ones he wrote in the 1960s.

I often joke to my friends that Dick Francis writes the same book year after year after year, but if you're reading this, Mr. Francis, I mean that as the highest compliment: there is no one as dependable and consistent to turn our a strong mystery adventure with every new book. As in previous books, "Shattered" features a likeable first-person male protagonist caught up in a mystery involving the horse racing world, a mystery that threatens him with physical danger but which is never a deterrent to our hero to see justice done and the mystery solved.

Francis continues to impress me as one of the best researchers in the mystery world: many of his novels shows off his detailed knowledge of not only the racing field but also an additional expertise. In "Shattered" hero Gerard Logan is a glass-blower; I've learned more about the intricacies of the craft from this book than I ever imagined. Better yet, Francis makes learned about it interesting and vital to the plot. In previous books he's focused on such diverse subjects as meteorology, wine and spirits, flying, filmmaking, diamonds, delivery trucking, and much more--all with a detailed expertise that's vital to the plot and a light touch that never hammers you over the head. The search for a valuable videotape leads Logan in conflict with a ruthless woman and a murderous doctor...threatening his livelihood, his friends, and his life. Still, my favorite aspect of a Dick Francis novel is that his heroes--from jockeys to breeders, investigators and painters, film stars and glassblowers--are likeable, immensely personable, and always determined to do what's right. They come off as ordinary men caught in extraordinary situations that would have most of us hiding behind the sofa. I've never had to face a band of murderous thugs or face physical threats, but if I did, I'd hope I'd be able to deal with it as forthrightly and matter-of-factly as Francis's regular-joe heroes. (Now, Mr. Francis, how about a novel about a guy who works for a publishing company, writes reviews for an online bookseller, and gets caught up in horse-racing mystery...?)

I have written every word Mr. Francis has ever written. I think that this book strays too far from the original concepts Mr. Francis used to write about. How long has it been now since there has been a novel about actual horse people, and not just "friends" of jockeys or trainers? I found the characters in this novel likable enough, but the plot was convoluted and difficult at times to really understand where Mr. Francis was coming from. I would like to see a return to the intrigue of books such as Risk or Twice Shy. Anyone agree with me?

As a mystery writer with my first novel in its initial release, I am literally amazed by every new mystery from Dick Francis. Even though SHATTERED may be his last book, Mr. Francis has not lost his touch in over forty full-length works. All of his standard elements are here. There is the horse racing backdrop. There is a decent man who finds himself forced into reluctant heroism. There is evil that must be defeated. In SHATTERED, Mr. Francis introduces us to glass-blowing. Gerard Logan is a close friend of Martin Stukely, a jockey who died in a bad fall a Cheltenham. Gerard is beaten terribly in his glass-blowing studio. A gang is responsible. The gang includes the daughter of the late Martin's valet, and they are convinced that Gerard has in his possession a video tape. The gang is willing to kill Gerard to get the tape. The story flows from there, and it features a fine romance between Gerard and a policewoman. SHATTERED is a winner. I hope Mr. Francis writes forty more novels, though we all doubt if he now will. If SHATTERED is the end of his career, he has ended on top.

Shattered returns Dick Francis readers a step closer to the horseracing world than his last book "Second Wind." Still, as the horseracing world is only a background image in Shattered, so is much of the storytelling passion. Francis is at his best when his characters feed off of their own equestrian experiences for strength, e.g. Sid Halley. In those stories the reader can connect the hero's inner resolve to their passion for riding. Its more difficult for Francis to project why the reader should feel the same about Shattered's protagonist, a mild mannered glass blower.

Die hard Dick Francis fans will find Shattered a nice diversion until his next book, but will rate it a second class addition to his collection. Those new to Francis will find it an easy read and may be intrigued enough to delve into some of his first class works. I suggest Decider, Hot Money, or Proof.

Gerard Logan is a glass artisan, more generally called a glass-blower. He has what you might call a normal life. But things are just about to get hot when his jockey friend, Martin Stukely, dies in steeplechase accident. From then on, Gerard finds himself involved in a deadly search for a valuable videotape. Martin was the last person who had the tape, now the bad guys think that Gerard have it. And they would do anything to get it. The thing is, Gerard has no idea what the videotape contains, let alone understand the priceless information it contains. Gerard must try to solve the mystery of the videotape, while at the same time trying to survive...

I was very surprised to see the low ratings this book was getting from other reviewers. For my part, I enjoyed this book immensely! It might have something to do with this being only my third book to read of Dick Francis' while others have read many of his books. But still, I just thoroughly enjoy the flavor of Dick Francis' books. Especially when you read the first line of his book:

"Four of us drove together to Cheltenham races on the day that Martin Stukely died there from a fall in a steeplechase."

Francis just cuts right to the point and begins the story right off, which for me, immediately grabs my attention. From then on, he plunges you into a story worth the read with intrigue, mystery, romance, action, and wit.

Gerard Logan is the usual Francis character; young, bright, likable, and clearly a very nice chap. He also is as curious as anyone can be. There is also the usual love interest, in this book the detective constable Catherine Dodd. Beautiful and also very smart, she too is incredibly likable. In "Shattered", there is one magical moment where Gerard is captivated and inspired by Catherine's beauty to make a dynamic glass sculpture. I thought that Francis wrote that part very well.

And of course there are the bad guys, whom I won't reveal except that 'beware of Blackmask 4'! But the few of the most enjoyable characters whom I liked were Gerard's bodyguards. There's Worthington a chauffeur who watches over Gerard, the actual 'bodyguard' Tom Pigeon with his three Dobermans, and Gerard's taxi driver, Jim.

My only complaint of the book is the bit disappointing ending, I wish it was a bit different. But "Shattered" is still satisfying. As usual, Dick Francis cleverly weaves into the tale a bit of horse racing, steeple chasing. And adding glass blowing into the plot was pretty cool. I must admit that I now find glass making a bit more interesting and fascinating than, I was at first skeptical as to whether you can actual put glass blowing into a mystery thriller.

So if you've never read any of Dick Francis' books, I suggest you to pick up "Shattered" if you get a chance. But if you've read any of Francis' other books, I can't honestly tell you how good it is compared to them. You'll just have to see. "Shattered" is mostly for older teenagers and adults, due to some violence, some language, and some innuendo.