Allreaders.com
Author Dick Francis booklist (click here)

Book Review By Amanda Campbell
Straight by Dick Francis

Derek Franklin is a steeplechase jockey nearing the end of his career. He broke his left ankle in a fall from a horse during a steeplechase at Cheltenham a few days before and talked his doctor into putting him in a soft cast so his muscles would not atrophy. After returning from the doctors, he received a telephone call in which he was told that his brother Greville was in intensive care at St. Catherine's Hospital at Ipswich close to 2 hours away. Not being able to drive himself, he gets his neighbor Brad to drive him. His brother has been in a horrible accident in which scaffolding fell on him as he was walking down the sidewalk. Hours after Derek's arrival his brother passes away leaving Derek all his possessions: his house, his horses (Dozen Roses & Gemstones) and his business (Greville is a gem merchant).

Derek is in for a wild ride; not only must he learn his brother's business, he must acquaint himself with his brother's employees, Greville's girlfriend Clarissa, and a certain jeweler named Prospero Jenks. Then there is the case of the missing diamonds that his brother took a 1.5 million-dollar loan out to buy and his brother's ransacked office and house. Moreover, to make matters worse there is a racing scandal dealing with Greville's horse Dozen Roses, a trainer named Nicholas Loder and a drug kingpin named Rollway.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - depressing/sad
Time/era of story:
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Crime plotlets:
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - drug dealers
If story PRIMARILY about main chr. being hunted... - hunted by killer/stalker

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
Motive of antagonist - revenge
The antagonists are: - Drug kingpins
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Dumb

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
City? Yes
City: - London
Farm/Ranch? Yes
Farm/Ranch: - farm

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Back To Main Menu