Run of the mill DF, but worth it. The second novel in the can't be beaten Kit Fielding whose plans always succeed... ( )

Another very enjoyable read by Dick Francis. I am definitely a fan of this author and I really like his heroes who are always intelligent and resourceful. However, I was disturbed by the cruel, cold-blooded murders of four beautiful race horses as a means for revenge.

Otherwise, "Bolt "was my favourite so far although I didn't realise Kit Fielding has his own series. ( )

A very good novel. explains a lot about racing. I had no idea a bolt was the older version of a human gun to kill horses... It had me guessing until the end. ( )

not as good as earlier but pretty interesting continuation of Kit Fielding

Although jockey Kit Fielding rides for a number of owners, Princess Casilia is clearly his favorite. When a menacing stranger threatens the princess and her invalid husband, Kit steps in to help. He’ll have to be on high alert to prevent injury to the princess’s loved ones while he comes up with a plan to put and end to the threat once and for all. It seems there is nothing that the evil man won’t do to terrorize the princess and her family, even to the point of killing her beloved racehorses (which are also very much loved by their rider, Kit). Kit also has to mind his P’s and Q’s around steward Maynard Allardeck, who can’t let go of the ancient blood feud between the Fieldings and the Allardecks. Meanwhile, Kit fears that he is losing the affection of his fiancee, the princess’s niece by marriage, Danielle, to a sophisticated rival, who is also the princess’s nephew.

This is a rare sequel in Dick Francis’s body of work. It reads as the page-turner I’ve come to expect from Francis. Although it was lovely to visit Kit’s world one more time, this book wasn’t quite as satisfactory as its predecessor. The villain’s cartoonish speech and actions stretches the bounds of credibility. I like the fact that Kit suffers less from injuries and physical violence than many of Francis’s heroes. While all of the Francis heroes I’ve met so far have been clever, Kit manages to prevail solely on the basis of his wit. ( )