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A review by yi_shun_lai
Rat Race by Dick Francis
Like all of Dick Francis' novels, this one was a quick read, and engaging. But I think it's one of his earlier novels, which accounts for his choosing someone who's totally unrelated to racing as the protagonist. And while I didn't find the distance as engaging (mostly because I cracked the thing on an incredibly lazy day and apparently couldn't be bothered to feel anything), I did, by the end of the book, find it refreshing, if not downright moving.
Why 3 stars, then? Lack of backstory. Most of the Francis heroes have clear backgrounds that allow you really get in deep with them; give a flying f*** about where they're going and why. But this guy is a self-avowed iceberg, although simultaneously fighting that and his nature, which is apparently a caring sort of guy.
So--a chink in the Francis armor, maybe: the narrator, through most of the book, feels too distant for me to get alongside of. And by the time I'm thoroughly with him, the book's over. Meh.
Still--onward, to the next mystery!
Update: I just read this book again. And I think I may have been reading the ending wrong all along. Meh!
Why 3 stars, then? Lack of backstory. Most of the Francis heroes have clear backgrounds that allow you really get in deep with them; give a flying f*** about where they're going and why. But this guy is a self-avowed iceberg, although simultaneously fighting that and his nature, which is apparently a caring sort of guy.
So--a chink in the Francis armor, maybe: the narrator, through most of the book, feels too distant for me to get alongside of. And by the time I'm thoroughly with him, the book's over. Meh.
Still--onward, to the next mystery!
Update: I just read this book again. And I think I may have been reading the ending wrong all along. Meh!