Bolt

A good solid Dick Francis, just not one of my favorites, partly because of the romance subplot, and partly because of the how much the protagonist is able to control so completely, and partly because of the use of an unpleasant character required by the plot.

Although jockey Kit Fielding rides for a number of owners, Princess Casilia is clearly his favorite. When a menacing stranger threatens the princess and her invalid husband, Kit steps in to help. He’ll have to be on high alert to prevent injury to the princess’s loved ones while he comes up with a plan to put and end to the threat once and for all. It seems there is nothing that the evil man won’t do to terrorize the princess and her family, even to the point of killing her beloved racehorses (which are also very much loved by their rider, Kit). Kit also has to mind his P’s and Q’s around steward Maynard Allardeck, who can’t let go of the ancient blood feud between the Fieldings and the Allardecks. Meanwhile, Kit fears that show more he is losing the affection of his fiancee, the princess’s niece by marriage, Danielle, to a sophisticated rival, who is also the princess’s nephew.

This is a rare sequel in Dick Francis’s body of work. It reads as the page-turner I’ve come to expect from Francis. Although it was lovely to visit Kit’s world one more time, this book wasn’t quite as satisfactory as its predecessor. The villain’s cartoonish speech and actions stretches the bounds of credibility. I like the fact that Kit suffers less from injuries and physical violence than many of Francis’s heroes. While all of the Francis heroes I’ve met so far have been clever, Kit manages to prevail solely on the basis of his wit. show less

I am always pleased after I finish a Dick Francis novel. Kit Fielding is the leading man Francis loves to give us. He’s charming, unflappable, and a little out of place in his profession, yet isn’t invincible, and isn’t the luckiest in love. We have three storylines here that are woven together expertly and in unexpected ways. Kit is asked by his friend that he rides for, Princess Casilia, to help them fend off an over-exuberant business partner who says he’ll do anything to get what he wants. As if that weren’t enough, a racing rival is out to get him, and he’s pretty sure his fiancé is going to leave him for the Princess’s nephew. Just when we are sure the story is going one way, everything takes a left turn. This is an show more author that will always be on my to-read list. show less

I enjoyed the continuation of Kit Fielding from Break In. It is never enjoyable to read how cruel humans can be, specially to animals. How a man could be so driven, by hate, to willful kill beautiful creatures such as horses. All because of a feud, between two families, that goes back centuries.

Stuck without a book at Dad's and turned to this old favorite. It's as engaging as any of Francis's older reads, perhaps because the hero is once again a jockey rather than someone on the periphery of racing. This time champion jockey Kit Fielding, first seen in the equally good Break In, holds off a ruthless French businessman determined to pressure Princess Casilia's husband into unethical business practices and investigates who is killing the Princess's horses while struggling with the possibility of losing his fiance to a prince and dodging the hostility of lifelong enemy Maynard Allerdeck. Action-packed, with Francis's classic stoic, laconic, but sensitive hero.

Another very enjoyable read by Dick Francis. I am definitely a fan of this author and I really like his heroes who are always intelligent and resourceful. However, I was disturbed by the cruel, cold-blooded murders of four beautiful race horses as a means for revenge.

Otherwise, "Bolt "was my favourite so far although I didn't realise Kit Fielding has his own series.

Late '80s novel in which our telepathic steeplechase jockey hero (Kit Fielding) comes back for more. Again he's laconic, again he's amazingly tough. This time he is slightly less inhumanly forgiving than he was in Break In. The antagonists are just crazy. The technological 1980s detail is fun. England is small, he seems to be able to drive everywhere in just about an hour.