Gamble

Dick Francis's Gamble:  by Felix Francis and Dick Francis.  I believe this is the fifth book written by Felix Francis in the style created by his father.  (I think he wrote the first one or two when his father was alive, but now his father has passed.  (Yes, I know I have the Internet in front of me, but I'm too lazy to fact check). In the first of them (Dead Heat) it was obvious that while he may have had a pack of his father's notes, tons of help and loads of previous stories for guidance, he just wasn't the story teller that his father was.  But that has definitely changed.  Any lack in quality or tone is completely gone and this one fits nicely in with the dozens produced by his father.  Which isn't to say that you can't find differences.  For instance, there is definitely a more modern feel to Gamble than the older stories.  This is evidenced in small ways like the references and comparisons made by the main character.  But this doesn't harm the Francis feel, instead just bumps it up to the twenty-first century.  Also, if you haven't figured it out already, I guess I should state (relatively) up front, that I love Dick Francis books.  I've read them all multiple times and will (hopefully) read them all multiple times again.  The story, which (despite this being a review) I won't go into any specifics of now, twists and moves in the predictably unpredictable Francis style and ends as Francis stories often do, leaving you wanting to know more.  In fact, if I have any criticism about the book (and Francis books in general) it's that I do so often end the book wishing there was a more specific wrapping up of what happens to the characters.  But perhaps that is also why I like them so well.  Hard to say.

Gamble: A