Wild Horses

by Dick Francis

Overview

The New York Times Bestseller. A New York Times Notable Book.

From the acclaimed master of mystery and suspense comes a thrilling novel about the illusion of film--and the reality of murder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440639517
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/06/2008
Series:	A Dick Francis Novel
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	133,691
File size:	498 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dick Francis was born in South Wales in 1920. He was a young rider of distinction winning awards and trophies at horse shows throughout the United Kingdom. At the outbreak of World War II he joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot, flying fighter and bomber aircraft including the Spitfire and Lancaster. He became one of the most successful postwar steeplechase jockeys, winning more than 350 races and riding for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. After his retirement from the saddle in 1957, he published an autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write more than forty acclaimed books. A three-time Edgar Award winner, he also received the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association’s Cartier Diamond Dagger, was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2000. He died in February 2010, at age eighty-nine, and remains among the greatest thriller writers of all time.

Hometown:

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies

Date of Birth:

October 31, 1920

Date of Death:

February 14, 2010

Place of Birth:

Tenby, Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales

Place of Death:

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies

Education:

Dropped out of Maidenhead County School at age 15.

Editorial Reviews

Another winner.

San Diego Union-Tribune

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. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

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

School Library Journal

After producing 34 popular novels in 32 years, it's not surprising that Francis has the formula for success down pat. He's a dependably good writer who can churn out one mystery after another and still keep them interesting. His heroes are decent, likable chaps who generally remain untarnished by the evil around them, and his writing is as unobtrusively smooth and classy as a single-malt scotch. His latest book promises to be another hit. Filmmaker Thomas Lyon is making a movie--based on a best-selling book--of a real-life tragedy in the horse-racing world. Twenty-some years ago, the young, attractive wife of a horse trainer was found hanged. Although her death was ruled a suicide at the time, Thomas' film reopens questions about what really happened. When Thomas' old friend Valentine Clark, a famous racing writer, whispers a puzzling deathbed confession about the years-old mystery, Thomas feels compelled to investigate. Problems begin to plague his film, and his life is threatened, but the mystery is too tantalizing for him to give up his quest for the truth. Another winner from this popular writer, so buy multiple copies and expect lots of reserve requests.

Emily Melton

Praise for Wild Horses

“Nothing short of dazzling...a tip-top thriller.”—Publishers Weekly

“The book's pages seem to turn by themselves.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“As compulsive as ever.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Another true-blue Dick Francis—a fast read, intelligent, and a few horrific scenes described with a British reserve that makes them all the more horrifying.”—The Seattle Times

More Praise for Dick Francis

“[The] master of crime fiction and equine thrills.”—Newsday

“It’s either hard or impossible to read Mr. Francis without growing pleased with yourself: not only the thrill of vicarious competence imparted by the company of his hero's, but also the lore you collect as you go, feel like a field trip with the perfect guide.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“[Francis] has the uncanny ability to turn out simply plotted yet charmingly addictive mysteries.”—The Wall Street Journal 
 
“A rare and magical talent...who never writes the same story twice...Few writers have maintained such a high standard of excellence for as long as Dick Francis.”—TheSan Diego Union-Tribune
 
“Few things are more convincing than Dick Francis at a full gallop.”—Chicago Tribune

From the Publisher