"'You have no idea how much we've saved,' Marina said. I was more worried about how much they'd spent."
Quick off the start and a fast pace all the way to the finish line! Dark Horse is another surefire winner from Felix Francis. I devoured Dick Francis books as a teenager, and Felix has expertly picked up the reins to continue his father’s legacy. Sorry — was that a bit corny?! 😂
Imogen is our protagonist, and although she can come across as a bit over-dramatic, she does have good reason. She ditches her controlling and abusive boyfriend and moves to another country for a fresh start. From there, with the occasional high point, it’s pretty much a downhill ride — and not in a good way!
There are also little touches of humour scattered throughout — the quote I used at the beginning made me laugh, and there are lots of little snippets like this throughout.
Dark Horse is a quick read, with lots going on and an ending I definitely didn’t see coming. If you’re not familiar with racing lingo, don’t worry — Felix weaves everything you need to know neatly into the story so you won’t get lost.
Thank you to Zaffre Books for the gifted copy of Dark Horse, for letting me read and review it, and for including me on the blog tour.
About the Book
Imogen Duffy is a young Irish jockey, whose fledgling career is given a huge boost when she wins a prestigious horse race at the Cheltenham Steeplechasing Festival. But all is not well in her life. She has a violent and controlling boyfriend, also a jockey, and he becomes increasingly jealous of her success. As a result, she tries to break off their relationship, but he won't take 'no' for an answer. He attacks her, and claims that he'd rather kill her than allow her to leave him.
Imogen flees her home in Ireland, coming to England to get away from him, and to continue her riding career at a racing stable in Lambourn, where she finds increasing success. But the abusive boyfriend follows her across the Irish Sea, stalks her, steals from her, attacks her again, and then tries to ruin both her career and her reputation.
About Felix
Felix Francis is Dick Francis’s younger son. Born in 1953, Felix studied Physics and Electronics at London University and then embarked upon a 17-year career teaching Advanced Level physics at three schools, the last seven as head of the science department at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire. After leaving teaching, Felix then became a businessman, spending 13 years as deputy chairman of World Challenge Expeditions Ltd, before starting his third career as an author.
As a child, Felix remembers that conversations around the Francis breakfast table were somewhat unconventional. “The production of a Dick Francis novel has always been a mixture of inspiration, perspiration and teamwork. The first one was published when I was nine, and I grew up in a house where talk would be about the damage a bullet might do to a man’s guts rather than the more mundane topics of everyday life”.
Over the next 40 years, Felix assisted Dick with both the research and the writing of many of his novels. They shared a love of racing and often worked together on plot and character details at Dick’s home in the Cayman Islands. This partnership allowed Dick to draw upon Felix’s knowledge and experience as a physics teacher and marksman in Twice Shy, and as an outdoorsman in Longshot.
With the publication of Under Orders in 2006, Felix took over the writing of the ‘Dick Francis’ novels from his father. This was followed by Dead Heat in 2007, Silks in 2008, and Even Money in 2009. Crossfire was the book Felix was working on when Dick died in February 2010, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in the Dick Francis brand.
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