Silks (Francis Thriller)

I enjoyed reading this book, as with all Dick/Felix Francis books but this one I found a little more formulaic and predictable than the all others I have read. I can’t comment on the accuracy of the horse racing details but some extra research into court and police procedures may have been needed. Some inaccuracies I can forgive under ‘poetic licence’, needed to help the story along but I found the frequent referrals to the judge’s use of his gavel in court irritating and distracting - English judges never use gavels, only judges in the USA, and this book was clearly set in England.

Silks I bought this book as a Christmas present for my wife. She is a keen Dick Francis fan, and owns almost every book that he has written. This is the second book written in collaboration with his son Felix. Dick's effort had been flagging slightly in his later books, I thought: they had become a little formulaic, and I was slightly worried that Felix might be simply trying bolster up his father's image: the mixture of law and horses could be a little boring ... However when I read this book, I was most pleasantly surprised. This is definitely back to the top Francis form, and runs at a cracking pace from beginning to end. I completed the second half at one sitting and could not put it down: the case has a real Perry Mason style finish, but in an English court. The final pages of the book also contain another interesting legal twist. Definitely not to be missed!

I love listening to this book on audio

A different theme for Dick Francis enjoyable too

Hard work. Unlike previous Dick Francis novels, Silks spends too much time indulging in the intricacies and workings of the law system. I Put the book down and as yet I have not felt the urge to pick it up again. I, and many others loved the 200 to 300 page action packed novels of the past. These 400 pagers full of legal technicalities are not for us. Sorry

Good to read or listen too. Usual intelligent hero and lively female lead with some really nastiest of nasties.Don't even consider D.F and his son copying another's plot as one reviewer accused.Earlier Francis thrillers have broached "that" subject and I wouldn't accuse Francome of getting ideas from Francis. There's sure to be similarities in racing books just as there are in detective stories and so on. Anyway I enjoyed Silks and the Francome book.SAB

One of Mr Francis' efforts together with son Felix I believe. It's a bit formulaic but a cracking good read as ever with some procedural level stuff on Chambers & being a barrister as well as racing. Not the neatest or cleverest of story lines but I still burned through it as a good holiday read!

I have been an avid Dick Francis reader since the beginning - I enjoyed this but not quite as much as I expected! Is it a case of 1 author too many? I felt that the conclusion perhaps lacked a bit of a punch? though I enjoyed as usual, the interwoven details of another profession.