Third Race at the LT Racetrack: Book 3, Bonecrack

Dick Francis Shared Read 2021 – May - June

Bonecrack, Published in 1971



Synopsis: In the middle of the night, two masked men break into Neil Griffon’s home and abduct him. He quickly discovers that unless he agrees to their unreasonable demands, they will destroy his father’s precious horse and racing stable, and ultimately Neil himself.
Returned to his father’s stables, he must find a way to bring down these criminals, because having to choose between his integrity and his life is no choice at all... (Amazon)
Any and all comments, questions, or quotes that come to mind as you read are welcome. Please use spoiler tags for anything that might be a spoiler.



Here’s to another great read!

Added this one to the Group Wiki!

My ebook's cover is the last one in your row, Karen, but I have a paperback with an entirely different cover:


For some reason, I often get this one mixed up with one of the books in the Kit Fielding mini-series, even though the plots are not at all similar. Maybe when I read it this time around, it will finally stick in my brain!

No cover yet from my edition, I'll have to scan the cover when it gets here.

Although nothing to do with Dick Francis, I thought I'd post this for the horse lovers here.

I just found out that Chloe Zhao, the woman who won the Best Director award for Nomadland, was also the director of the movie The Rider which was one of my favorite films the year it came out.

Although it's fictional, all the characters are Lakota Sioux from the Pine Ridge Reservation. The main character, a bronc rider played by Brady Jandreau is a heck of a hand with horses.

She incorporated a bull rider who had a brain injury as well as a sister with Down Syndrome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rider_(film)

My copy arrived today, and this is the cover:

I finished Bonecrack, anyone else yet?
It was a good read, with a sympathetic main character.

>7 FAMeulstee: Haven't started but stopped by to see if others had and make sure I had the right book. Going to read it this weekend, I think.

>7 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! I have literally just started it this morning, having finished up a trio of Nero Wolfe novellas yesterday.

So far it's intriguing. I found the Introduction to my edition Dick Francis fascinating. Here's the first paragraph:

Unsatisfactory father-son relationships interest me to such an extent that book reviewers have speculated in their columns about my own personal experiences, opining that I must have suffered badly at home. For the record, I actually had a loving, amusing, faithfully married father who enjoyed female company, and with my mother, brought up my brother and myself with an appropriate amount of no-nonsense strictness and an absolute absence of punishment. There were never any unresolvable hang-ups at any stage between my father and myself. I had a good childhood, and in due course tried to give the same upbringing to my own two now adult and rewarding sons.

>8 witchyrichy: Hi Karen! Have you had a chance to start it?

I finished Bonecrack yesterday. It wasn't my favorite, and I never really warmed up to Neil, but it was still hard to put down once I'd started it.

I must admit that I've set it aside temporarily - the horse with the broken leg at the beginning is preventing me from turning the pages because they're going to have to put it down....

>11 karenmarie: Yes, that was rough. I had a hard time starting it for that reason, too.

I've just posted my review of Bonecrack on my ROOTs Challenge thread. I liked it but it's not one of my favorites, mostly because I didn't find the relationship between Neil and his father to be particularly convincing, and the villain seemed almost cartoonish. But I did like how Francis portrayed the gradual evolution of Alessandro's personality and outlook through the book, under Neil's subtle manipulation. So far from bad, just not in my Top 10.

I really enjoyed that one.

I finished it a while ago. Here's what I've got in my June Lightning Round post:

Bonecrack by Dick Francis 6/14/21 6/20/21

Interesting riff on fathers and sons and their problems. Neil Griffon takes over for his father when his father breaks his leg and can’t manage his stable. Another father forces Neil to take his son in to become a jockey. The beginning was a bit rough with a horse having to be put down. Adequate, not sensational.

..
edited to add: The July-August Thread is up, for Hot Money.

Third Race at the LT Racetrack: Book 4, Hot Money

I'm late to the party, but I just reread Bonecrack, and contrary to popular opinion, it is one of my favorites. I like the developing relationship between Neil and Alessandro, and that fueled my push to finish.

>16 LizzieD: I agree that the relationship between Neil and Alessandro was the best part for me, too.