Risk

• Publisher:   Berkley
• Number Of Pages:   272
• Publication Date:   2006-08-01
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0425211037
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780425211038

"Few match Francis for dangerous flights of fancy and pure, inventive menace."
BOSTON HERALD
Roland Britten, accountant and champion steeplechase jockey, wakes in darkness with his hands tied. He has no idea where he is or what is happening, and still he manages an escape -- until he is recaptured, and the deadly cat and mouse game proceeds....

An accountant who is an amateur jockey finds himself being a target.
The usual good writing and interesting characters we have come to expect from Dick Francis.

Hard to dislike anything Dick Francis writes. He writes so well.
Risk, like all his books, is definitely worth a read and probably a re-read, but it is not one of his best.
The story line is about an accountant who is an amateur jockey. Enjoy it and get another one by him to enjoy even more.

Dick Francis never disappoints. He never writes the same story twice, though his protagonists all have in common some sort of inner battle. If you don't like to fly and need something to completely absorb your attention, you can always count on Dick Francis to provide a page-turner. Do another flier a favor when you finish and leave the book on a seat in the waiting area when you get off the plane. Great rainy-day reading. Francis always researches his topics carefully and even if you're not particularly enamoured of horses, you'll still enjoy a GOOD READ.

Much, much better than I'd hoped :)
Young accountant Roland Britten is kidnapped (twice!) and has no clue as to why this should've happened to him - a non-descript, normal, guy. But as old enemies and friends seem suddenly to change their behaviour towards him, he begins to suspect foul play. The only problem is - he doesn't know how best to avoid the traps that await him, before something really terminal happens...
I didn't know I'd enjoy this book so much - from the reviews it was supposed to be more average than it proved. Even if I'm a fan of Mr. Francis', I am trying to be objective - and I think this one stands on the same row as "The Danger", "Rat Race" and "Proof".
A very enjoyable mystery.

Most Dick Francis novels begin with a strange happenstance stumbled onto by an intrepid hero who soon finds himself beat up and bound, fighting to survive, before he solves the crime and gets away with the girl. This one began with a hero who wakes to find himself locked up, without knowing why. The hero, Roland Britten, is an accountant who rides racehorses as an amateur. During his incarceration, he goes over his entire life trying to figure out who locked him up. He finds he's been put in a sail locker on a boat, and manages a daring escape onto the island of Minorca, where a spinster named Hilary Pinlock helps him evade his captors. Hilary proves to be a valuable ally later in the story, as well. Upon returning to England, Roland begins an investigation into a few embezzlers his testimony had sent to prison, as well as returning to work and trying to work out some puzzling discrepancies in the accounts of some clients. After riding in another weekend race, Roland is kidnapped again for several days, and then mysteriously let go. The location of his prison provides a few more clues to his captors, and Roland keeps digging. He meets a trainer's daughter who catches his fancy, and spends time romancing her while unraveling the mystery. When he finally figures out who kidnapped him and why, he stages a meeting with the culprits, who have friends he hadn't counted on. Roland finds himself bound again while the villains escape. He is eventually rescued by his love interest and Hilary Pinlock, and explains the whole scenario, wrapping up the story. Like most Dick Francis novels, this one is peopled with colorful, English characters that liven up the darker violence and mystery. This one didn't disappoint at any turn.

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