Like many of Britain's noble families, Henry's has fallen on hard times financially. The massive family home is ancient and falling into disrepair. His parents and elder sisters expect Henry to do the right thing and marry some wealthy heiress who will bail out the family, but Henry wants no part of it and constantly avoids the young women that his mother keeps throwing at him. I liked the way Henry matures and learns to open himself up to others; by the end he is a changed man. The plot is overly complicated and almost doesn't work, but the final chapters were so believably terrifying that I found my heart pounding right up to the Flying Finish. a b Cantwell, Robert (25 March 1968). "Mystery Makes A Writer". Sports Illustrated Vault. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012 . Retrieved 12 September 2012.

Blind Chance" (first appeared as "Twenty-one Good Men and True" in Verdict of Thirteen: A Detection Club Anthology, 1979) Philip, Robert (5 April 2002). "Grand National: Devon Loch's place in history". The Telegraph . Retrieved 18 October 2009. His first novel, Dead Cert, was adapted as a film under the same title in 1974. Directed by Tony Richardson, it starred Scott Antony, Judi Dench and Michael Williams. [35] It was adapted again as Favorit (a Soviet made-for-television movie) in 1976. [36] During the Second World War, Francis volunteered, hoping to join the cavalry. Instead, he served in the Royal Air Force, initially as a member of ground crew and later piloting fighter and bomber aircraft, including the Spitfire and Hurricane fighters, [8] and the Wellington and Lancaster bombers. [18] He received an emergency commission as a pilot officer on 29 July 1944, [19] and was promoted war-substantive flying officer on 29 January 1945. [20] Much of his six-year service career was spent in Africa. [2] Horse racing career [ edit ] According to a columnist for the Houston Chronicle, Francis "writes believable fairy tales for adults—ones in which the actors are better than we are but are believable enough to make us wonder if indeed we could not one day manage to emulate them." [28] Writing routine [ edit ]We generally try to read at least one chapter per Book Day, and that is what we did this time too. Except that Thursday we read chapters 15 and 16 both, because they were fairly short. And then today we decided we just had to finish both chapters 17 and 18 and get to the end of the story, because let me tell you, these last four chapters were un-put-downable. Definitely the most dramatic and exciting of the whole book! I got carried away: I was reading way too fast. I would never be able to read professionally, I get too caught up in the story! In January, he sits down to write, staring down the barrel of a deadline. "My publisher comes over in mid-May to collect the manuscript," he says, "and it's got to be done." It takes a little while for the plot to get going, but soon Henry clues in: there's something Yardman Transport is doing that isn't on the up-and-up. And there's the fact that his predecessors and coworkers keep going missing... Three TV films of 1989 were adaptations of Bloodsport, In the Frame, and Twice Shy, all starring Ian McShane as protagonist David Cleveland, a character used only once by Francis, in the novel Slay-Ride.

Or, as independently wealthy Tor Kelsey says in The Edge, explaining why he works for a minuscule salary: "I work... because I like it, I'm not all that bad at what I do, really, and it's useful, and I'm not terribly good at twiddling my thumbs." [29] Collaboration [ edit ] There are several series woven into the fabric of Francis's work: notably the Sid Halley and Kit Fielding series. Neil Griffon, formerly antique dealer, then business consultant, acting as temporary trainer whilst his father is hospitalised Mott, Sue (20 November 2004). "It was terrible to be told that the Queen Mother wanted me to retire". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 12 September 2012. The book's publication takes place in England in September. American publication in past years has been in February, although his next book, Straight, is set to be published in November. Once the manuscript is out of his hands, he takes the summer off, while percolating the plot of his next book. Research on the next book begins in late summer and continues through the autumn, while he's gearing up for his promotional tour for the just-published book. Come January, he sits down to write again.Francis collaborated extensively in his fiction with his wife, Mary, until her death. Learning this was a surprise to some readers and reviewers. [30] [31] He credited her with being a great researcher for the novels. In 1981, Don Clippinger interviewed the Francises for The Philadelphia Inquirer and wrote,

But he soon discovers that something else is going on in the guise of transporting horses,in his new job.He confronts the culprit,who confesses,but is unfazed. Royal Society of Literature All Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010 . Retrieved 8 August 2010.

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Much to his snobbish family's horror, Henry Grey takes on the dirty and demanding job of transporting racehorses by air (He had worked initially in the office of a company handling the paperwork and agents for transporting). And when he discovers that he is transporting something altogether different, he has to fight to land with his life intact. In 1983, the Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in England "stood at the brink of extinction," according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. News reporter Don Clippinger wrote,