Flying Finish (Francis Thriller)

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Causing the reader to deeply care about the characters in a novel is a difficult thing to do. No such worries in a Francis novel. The point of view is first person, you are the main character as you read the story (usually the character of Mr. Douglas). The hero is personable, like able, non-violent but delivering swift justice with his mind rather than through physical means. This is not to say that violence is a stranger to our hero. Some of it staggering and often delivered by what we would think of normal persons living in British society.

He says, "Each one, you think to yourself, 'This is the last one,' but then, by September, you're starting again. If you've got money, and you're just having fun, people think you're a useless character." Or, as independently wealthy Tor Kelsey says in The Edge, explaining why he works for a minuscule salary: "I work... because I like it, I'm not all that bad at what I do, really, and it's useful, and I'm not terribly good at twiddling my thumbs." [29] Collaboration [ edit ] Three TV films of 1989 were adaptations of Bloodsport, In the Frame, and Twice Shy, all starring Ian McShane as protagonist David Cleveland, a character used only once by Francis, in the novel Slay-Ride. The book's publication takes place in England in September. American publication in past years has been in February, although his next book, Straight, is set to be published in November. Once the manuscript is out of his hands, he takes the summer off, while percolating the plot of his next book. Research on the next book begins in late summer and continues through the autumn, while he's gearing up for his promotional tour for the just-published book. Come January, he sits down to write again. Francis collaborated extensively in his fiction with his wife, Mary, until her death. Learning this was a surprise to some readers and reviewers. [30] [31] He credited her with being a great researcher for the novels. In 1981, Don Clippinger interviewed the Francises for The Philadelphia Inquirer and wrote,

Much to his snobbish family's horror, Henry Grey takes on the dirty and demanding job of transporting racehorses by air (He had worked initially in the office of a company handling the paperwork and agents for transporting). And when he discovers that he is transporting something altogether different, he has to fight to land with his life intact. Francis suffered racing injuries, being first hospitalized from riding at the age of 12 when a pony fell on him and broke his jaw and nose. [21] He drew from this career resulting in broken bones and damaged organs for his novels, in which his characters suffer the same. In 1957, after Francis suffered another serious fall, the Queen Mother's adviser, Lord Abergavenny, advised him that she wanted him to retire from racing for her. I liked the way Henry matures and learns to open himself up to others; by the end he is a changed man. The plot is overly complicated and almost doesn't work, but the final chapters were so believably terrifying that I found my heart pounding right up to the Flying Finish.

Francis combines his passions for horses and flying in this book (he was a flyer in World War II).Grey manages to fly and land a DC 4,with which he is not familiar.Scarcely believable,but makes for good entertainment.

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Neil Griffon, formerly antique dealer, then business consultant, acting as temporary trainer whilst his father is hospitalised