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Review by Robert C. Jones
Since 1962, when "Dead Cert," chronicling the adventures of jockey Alan York hit the bookstores and wowed the critics, the name of Dick Francis on the book jacket has meant a sure winner. Francis' 36th novel continues that winning tradition.
Francis' novels, meticulously plotted and elegantly written, demonstrate his inventiveness and his effortless mastery of his subject. Whether the action involves high finance ("Banker"), painting ("In the Frame"), film-making ("Wild Horses"), or, as in the present case, the intricacies of parliamentary contests on the road to Downing Street, the reader is in for both an enjoyable ride and a memorable display of excellence.
"10 Lb. Penalty" is a complex tale of skullduggery in contemporary British politics interwoven with nuts-and-bolts insights into the world of British racing and an underplayed but moving parallel story line detailing the universal dilemma of father-son relationship.
Eighteen-year-old Benedict Juliard -- like most of Dick Francis' protagonists -- loves horses and speed. Shortly before Ben's nineteenth birthday, although he and his father have been virtual strangers since Benedict's birth, George Juliard peremptorily summons Ben to help at an upcoming by-election that -- if he wins -- will put George's feet on the "parliamentary escalator." Ben, with mixed feelings, abandons his hope of a career in racing and turns his energies not only to the task of helping his father win the election but also to the more difficult task of finally coming to terms with this distant -- but powerful -- figure from his past.
Over a period of five years, amid political backbiting and more murderous activities, the two Juliards run a perilous course toward achieving both tasks. Moments of explosive action are mixed with sharp vignettes of the British racing scene and sensitively written exchanges about the affection between father and son -- and the final stretch contains more dangerous threats than either father or son have imagined.
Francis has a marvelous ability to sketch, in a few telling lines, a character portrait in living color.
Orinda Nagle, George's party rival, is "an earnest-eyed thin woman" whose tan glows "spectacularly against a sleeveless white dress. Blonde streaked hair. Vitality plus."
The stocky figure of Alderney Wyvern, the behind-the-scenes parliamentary villain, on the verge of out-of-control anger, seems "heavier, the shoulders hunched, the face, even from a distance, visibly tense with menace."
Bobby Usher Rudd, prying photographer, snoop and reputation-ruiner, pursues Ben and George, "darting around and wheeling" in the running shoes he always wears to stand in their way. His voice is "thin, malicious and triumphant."
A 10 lb. penalty is the heaviest extra weight that a horse in a novice race can be assigned to carry as a handicap if it has won a hurdle race before the start of a season. In this novel, the 10 lb. penalty has a double meaning -- but you must ride with Dick Francis to the finish line to discover it. For a new Dick Francis novel, that is no handicap at all.
Robert Jones is a reviewer in Warrensburg, Missouri.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.
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