Smokescreen (1972)

I've always been a bit put off picking up a book by this author as I have little interest in horseracing, but I bought it as part of a boxset of thrillers, and as it is only 265 pages thought I would give it a go.

Edward Lincoln (Linc to his friends) is a successful movie star. Surrounded by family and friends he is an intensely private person, rarely giving interviews and failing to provide the media with opportunities to scutinise him.

An elderly dying friend asks him to visit her recently bequeathed racing horses in South Africa and find out the reason why they have been doing so badly in the races. However when he gets there various attempts are made on his life, which make reality mirror the fiction of the movies.

A nice little read that made the pages fly by. Written in the 1st person we follow the protagonist’s thoughts and feeling not just on the plot but also opinions on the movie industry and media in general. There are a number of twists in the plot and enough to keep the reader interested without any confusion.

I will definitely check out some more books by Dick Francis. ( )

Excellent read. As always, the main character is somehow involved in racing. We learn about South Africa, its racing, gold mines and game reserves. It is all woven into a very believable story that keeps you turning pages. The end is never enough as you want it to go on. ( )

Another Dick Francis story, if you like his works this will fit in exactly with what you'd expect. This time set in South Africa in the early 70s, I was a little disappointed with the papering over of the political situation in that country. ( )

English actor visits South Africa to solve horsey problem, a smokescreen--neat plot ( )

Smokescreen is peripherally about racehorses in South Africa but features a movie star rather than a jockey and is really about the endurance of men with some info on diamond mines thrown in.