Wild Horses
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4.2 • 46 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
Discover the classic mystery from Dick Francis, one of the greatest thriller writers of all time
'A truly wonderful thriller. Well researched and plotted, I could not put it down' 5***** Reader Review
'Superbly drawn characters . . . The story builds and ends in explosive manner' 5***** Reader Review
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Valentine, a blind, confused and dying old man, makes his final confession to a visiting friend, Thomas Lyon, mistaking him for a priest.
Thomas, in Newmarket to research for a new film, is placed in a moral dilemma. Wild horses wouldn't drag from a priest the secrets of the confessional - but then again, Thomas is not a priest.
Should he tell what he knows from the confession, or not?
The answer could mean the difference between life and death . . .
Wild Horses is a masterly mix of convincing characters, fine writing and an inscrutable and ingenious plot, from legendary crime writer Dick Francis.
Praise for Dick Francis:
'The narrative is brisk and gripping and the background researched with care . . . the entire story is a pleasure to relish' Scotsman
'Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph
'Still the master' Racing Post
'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
For his 33rd-and quite splendid-novel, Francis 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.
