Flying Finish

A little slow to start, but once it got going, it was really good. The last third or so of the book was non-stop. Henry seemed like a very buttoned down, milquetoast kind of guy, but he ended up surprising everyone, including himself. Good plot, great action, nice characterizations of minor characters. I really liked this one and I really like Dick Francis. I'm sorry I didn't start reading him sooner!

One of my favorite Dick Francis novels, Flying Finish is the story of Henry Grey, a reluctant earl's son who is forced to do a job he hates to justify his few moments of freedom on horses and in the air. An argument with his sister forces him to acknowledge his own bitterness and he starts on the road to independence by quitting and asking a friend for a job on an air horse transport. On his flights all over the world he puts into practice all that he had learned at his desk job, meets a curvy Italian shopgirl, and learns to be wary of the requisite psychopath with whom he must work. He starts to think life isn't all that bad which is of course the moment everything goes wrong. He finds himself flying for his life, desperate to save his show more pilot friend and get back to his near-dying girl. show less

Flying Finish is one of Francis' odder books as the main character is the son of an Earl who seems to be drifting through life. At the beginning of the book, he takes a job helping to transport horses by plane which no one who knows him can understand. During this job he learns about a smuggling ring and falls in love before being pulled into an incredibly dangerous situation. As this is an older book of Francis', some of the language used can be harsh in terms of class and race perspectives. The main character's growth as he figures out what he wants to make of his life adds to the story because the plot is a good gripping thriller with some Cold War overtones.

Classic Dick Francis, short taught and thrilling all the way. Horses are again only nominally involved.

A Lord's son Henry Grey is distant and self controlled, but also not interested in the social conventions of being aristocracy, and prefers to hold a proper job, earning enough money to indulge in his secret passion of flying. Fed up with being stuck behind a desk he takes a new job with a horse transport company, and quicky discovers there are some shady characters in the transport business. However he also meets an Italien girl Gabrielle and experiences true love at first sight. You can guess the rest of the predictable plot, but it is well written and interesting to find out just how he manages.

Very enjoyable thriller, nothing show more special though. The description of the falling love scene is unusally accuate for Francis, even if the characters are otehrwise a bit sketchy. show less

Thoroughly enjoyed the narrator's interpretation of this Dick Francis (one of my all-time favorite authors) books. And I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the story as much if I've read it so long ago, since I'm not one too into airplanes, which could even be why I hadn't read it in the first place. I won't hesitate to say that's why I so appreciate audiobooks, on account of the listening experience being so dependent on the voice and acting abilities of their narrators.

It's been many years since I first read Dick Francis and proceeded to devour his writing. His writing has held up very well for me. I enjoyed the characters, the settings, and the fast paced story line immensely and I will be revisiting his other works again.

Lord Henry Grey holds down an ordinary office job, to the horror of his family who think that he should solve the family financial problems by the traditional method of marrying an heiress in search of a title -- or as he calls it, prostituting himself. He hasn't told his family about his other activities -- amateur jockey, and semi-amateur pilot. When he shifts jobs into working for a bloodstock shipping agent, nobody thinks he'll stick to it. But Grey not only sticks with the job, he inconveniences other people by doing so, and by being bright enough to notice that there's something very odd going on.

Another solid suspense novel from Francis, as ever tied into the world of horse-racing, and with a good romance sub-plot.