Decider

Following closely to his usual formula (likeable, 30ish hero facing dangers undreamed of in his prior life but facing them with courage and humor), Francis has crafted another extremely readable suspense novel. This time, his hero is an architect who specializes in restored crumbling buildings, who also happens to have 6 sons who tag along with him through many of his adventures.
When our hero is forced to become involved in the affairs of a racecourse that he owns 8% of, and thus is ensnared in the VERY unpleasant lives of the Stratton family, who own most of the rest of the course, he finds himself in repeated mortal danger.
The book is a bit more "cinematic" than most, with big explosions and some fires, rather than Francis' usual knock on the back of the head into unconsciousness. The book has further charm because this hero is the parent of young children, something Francis has seldom offered us before, and never in such generous quantities. As always, his character is well-versed in his chosen profession, showing that Francis has done his homework well.
The plot is a humdinger, but I find that the Stratton family is SO full of truly VILE people that they become too 1 dimensional, like villains in an old-fashioned melodrama. Their actions are often so violent and hate-riddled that they are a bit difficult to believe.
But that being said, this is another fine, quick, enjoyable read in the amazingly large and outstanding body of work produced by Dick Francis. I recommend it to fans and newbies alike!

I really enjoy Dick Francis' novels, but this one left me with some concerns. There are, first of all, some really nice things here--the hero is pleasant and smart,as are all of Frnacis' engaging male characters, and the hero's house and children are great. It is an interesting twist to have children as fairly major characters.
However, I was concerned with a couple things here. First of all, the villains here are so nasty and one-dimensionable that they end up being cartoonish, and I think that detracts from the strength of the rest of the plt, which is pretty good. Also, I am concerned with the hero's wife, who apparently is rather consistently unhappy and does not appreciate him as a husband and father, both of which he seems to be pretty admirable at. She is a frustrating character. I also found it rather frustrating and somewhat demeaning that Francis felt the need to come up with another romantic interest here, when I think his main character has quite enough issues to resolve already with wife and family. The romantic interest here, in apperance a younger version of the wife, is superfluous.
Please don't get me all wrong here--I genuinely love Dick Francis, and this read well and is fun, but I expect and usually get more from him!

This is Dick Francis at his very best. You have excitement, but in addition you have funny and appealing characters. This is the first book that the character development is complete. I laughed out loud frequently during this book.

Slow, yucky in more ways than one, unbelievable, but unpredictable.

Architect Lee Morris has six sons, a disaffected wife, and an eight percent ownership in Stratton Park Racecourse. Seems his late mother was once married to the recently deceased Lord Stratton's handsome but violent second son, Keith, and when she divorced him after an episode of marital rape, the shares were given to her by Lord Stratton. With the old lord dead, the family is feuding over the racecourse, and Lee is asked to intervene. But the aging but still choleric Keith is not the only foe he will have to face . . .
An ambitious book. With eight Strattons, six Morris kids, and a host of other characters, Francis is generally successful in creating individual characters (though some of the younger Strattons tend to blend as hostile faces in your mind)
A few quibbles. To a certain extent, Francis stuck to his formula in this book. In almost all of Francis later books, Francis's hero (always a pleasant fellow in his thirties whom people just love to talk to) gets beat up about halfway through the book, and, in the climactic scene, would do credit to the hero of an action movie.
Quite good, but not as good as his early books.

For my money, this is one of Francis' best ever. A study of character and relationships that beautifully combines Francis' trademark action with movingly realistic glimpses into the human spirit.
Enjoy a few hours: read it.