Wild Horses (Paperback)

by Dick Francis (Author) "DYING SLOWLY OF bone cancer the old man, shriveled now, sat as ever in his great armchair, tears of lonely pain sliding down crepuscular cheeks..." (more)
Key Phrases: parade ring, weighing room, body protectors, Dick Francis, Jackson Wells, Robbie Gill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
For his 33rd-and quite splendid-novel, Francis (Decider) adds to his usual horse-racing setting a backdrop involving feature filmmaking. As usual, though, it's murder most foul and mayhem most brilliant for this English master. In the Suffolk city of Newmarket, Thomas Lyon is for the first time directing a film featuring an American megastar. Based on a bestselling book, the movie concerns a still unexplained, 26-year-old death by hanging of a young horse trainer's wife. The wife's sister, niece and nephew are vehemently opposed to the film, while the book's author, who's also the screenwriter, is opposed to any changes in his plot. The megastar's double is attacked, a murder occurs, Thomas gets death threats and finds himself in great peril. How Francis has him solve the assorted mysteries and achieve a satisfactory ending for his film is nothing short of dazzling. Francis puts his novel together in the same way a movie is constructed, with out-of-sequence scenes, dissolves and brilliant images. He offers wonderful set pieces and moves his large and colorful cast with the aplomb of a seasoned director. Even better, in Thomas Lyon he has created a representative of a vanishing, even endangered, fictional species: the thoroughly decent chap we care about. A tip-top thriller, this could make the best movie about movies since The Stunt Man. BOMC main selection; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
YA?Francis's fans will not be disappointed with his latest offering. Thomas Lyon is making a movie based on an event that occurred almost 20 years earlier?the hanging death of a horse trainer's young wife. Valentine Clark, Thomas's long-time friend and a prominent figure in the racing world, is dying, and while Thomas is reading to him he makes a death-bed confession. His whispered confidences relate too directly to Thomas's film to be ignored, especially as the movie set is plagued with suspicious problems and attempted murders. Despite being stabbed himself, Thomas tries to solve the past and present mysteries, produce his movie, and save his own life. Besides providing a many-faceted mystery and the author's trademark insights into the horse world, this novel offers an in-depth, fascinating behind-the-scenes view of filmmaking.?Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Jove; Other Printing edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515117234
• ISBN-13: 978-0515117233
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,653,650 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Francis' best., February 21, 2002

By	Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Wild Horses (Paperback)

Dick Francis, Wild Horses (Jove, 1994)

Wild Horses is Dick Francis on top of his game. It stands as one of the highlights of the long and somewhat distinguished career of one of Britain's best-known mystery novelists.

The tale is that of Thomas Lyon, ex-jumps jockey and presently filmmaker. He's been signed on to make a movie based on a novel based on a twenty-six- year-old police case regarding the alleged suicide of a trainer's wife. In the small British racing world, Lyon and the trainer are connected through various channels, and Lyon, along with the film's reluctant producer O'Hara, idly speculate that maybe, in the making of the film, they might actually solve the case. As all this is going on, an old friend of Lyon's dies, leaving Lyon all of his racing-related books and ephemera. A number of others want to get their hands on this material, and will stop at nothing to do so, including viciously beating the man's elderly sister. Lyon realizes that everything's tied in a lot closer than it seems, and the chase is on.

Wild Horses has a readability factor that some of Francis' less consistent books lack. He puts everything in front of the reader in a non-nonsense fashion, adding enough deception to keep the reader wondering what's a clue and what's a falsity, throws in suspects by the score, and lets Lyon go on about making his movie. (Perhaps the fact that the sleuth not only has another job, but actually pays attention to it as the mystery is going on, is one of the book's strongest points; too often it seems amateur detectives suddenly find themselves with more than enough hours in the day when things get underway.) Them's good reads, folks!

A must for any fan of Francis (or any other writer of racing mysteries), and a good intro to him for other mystery readers who haven't yet discovered his work. ****

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dick Francis Remains Excellent 30 Years On, December 27, 2004

By	James G. Greenhill "Jim Greenhill" (Durango, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Wild Horses (Paperback)

Great nostalgia for me here as I recall hearing Dick Francis novels serialized on BBC Radio 4 back in the 1970s. Evidently he remains master of his unique genre of mysteries set to a horse-racing background. And what a career--this is his 33rd novel!
"Wild Horses" satisfyingly has no loose ends. The pacing is excellent. At no point was I bored. The characters of Thomas Lyon, the director; O'Hara, the producer; Nash, the star, and Valentine, Lyon's old friend are all nicely developed (one gets a good feel for Valentine even though he dies early in the book as we continue to see him through Lyon's memory). The movie-making is well done. The one race scene is great.
Thoroughly entertaining. Good, clean fun.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Movie in the Making, November 17, 2007

By	Nash Black "Troubadour" (Jamestown, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Horses (Paperback)

WILD HORSES is one of Dick Frances most complex and intriguing mysteries. The beginning is slow, but picks up speed as ex-jockey, now filmmaker Thomas Lyon gets a chance to make a film based on an unsolved crime.
What did happen in the barn when Sonia died by hanging? No one knows, but the past intrudes on the present as Thomas searches for answers when an elderly friend is attached.
The routes to the truth lead Thomas around England and along the way are some very vivid descriptions of film making in action. A gem among many great stories.
Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.