Dick Francis's Damage

By: Felix Francis

Narrated by: Michael Neilson

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Felix Francis is back with another edge-of-your-seat thriller, in the classic Dick Francis tradition.Undercover investigator Jeff Hinkley is assigned by the British Horseracing Authority to look into the activities of a suspicious racehorse trainer, but as he’s tailing his quarry through the Cheltenham Racing Festival, the last thing he expects to witness is a gruesome murder. Could it have something to do with the reason the trainer was banned in the first place - the administration of illegal drugs to his horses? Then many more horses test positive for prohibited stimulants, and someone starts making demands, threatening to completely destroy the integrity of the racing industry. In order to limit the damage to the sport, it’s critical that Jeff find the perpetrator - but he’ll soon learn he’s up against someone who will stop at nothing to prevail.

©2014 Felix Francis (P)2014 Recorded Books

Great Book

I really enjoyed this book and listened to it practically non stop today. It was very suspenseful, especially at the part about the Grand National, and had an interesting ending which I didn't see coming. I would have liked to hear Tony Briton or Martin Jarvis narrate it, but this guy was good.

suspense to the last word.

Lot of moving parts. completely believable. slow roasting unfolding of the drama. subtle connecting of the dots

Great book Great reader

Felix has managed to become the great author that his father was (and is)... The new character has depth and I look forward to reading the next story about Jeff the BHA investigator

Great, but lacking pace, intensity and suspense

For me Dick Francis' signature has always been the relentless pace of the main plot, intensity and suspense, which are all sorely lacking in Damage. Lackluster (tired) narration does not help either.

There are too many distractions (subplots that don't supplement the main plot) to the main plot. At times it appears the story is rushed... hence not well rounded and polished.

I'm a Dick / Felix Francis fan, so I'm hopeful of better work in the future. I'll be back for more.

Getting better

Felix Francis's writing has improved to the point where his books probably deserve better narration. He is never going to compare to his father, I'm afraid, but you can see the changes in both characterization and style. His male characters are no longer whiny, self-doubters whose inability to do anything without constant self-examination was beginning to be really irritating. His descriptions of people and their motives still lack the perceptions of Francis Senior. But it is improving, and I'm glad he is no longer saddled with Martin Jarvis, whose overblown, nearly sarcastic, rendition brought out all the worst points of the early books. It's a bit ironic to see Francis' 'kinder, gentler' man still refer to adult women as 'girls.' But he is at least moving in the right direct. He will probably never attract the likes of Tony Britton and Simon Prebble. But the good progress he has made is disguised by the mediocre narration of Michael Nielson. Overall, worth buying only for the continuation of the racing universe so vividly depicted by Dick Francis.

I was on Tenderhooks

I believe this is Felix Francis’s first book of a series about Jefferson Roosevelt Hinkley. Hinkley is an investigator for the British Horse Racing Authority. He is investigating a banned horse trainer, Mathew Unwin.

The book is well written. The plot twists and turns. The characters are interesting. The book was hard to put down. The suspense kept me reading even when I should have gone to bed. I was a big fan of Dick Francis and enjoyed Felix’s return to the horse racing story line. I shall be looking for more Felix Francis books to read.

The book is almost ten and a half hours. Michael Neilson does a good job narrating the book. Neilson is an actor, singer, voice-over artist and audiobook narrator.

Predictable

This has to be one of the first Dick Francis books I have not really enjoyed. The story grabbed you in parts but seems jumpy and disjointed. I also found the narrator a bit dreary making it hard to stay focused. I expected more.

Good story

I enjoyed it the story had a slightly different feel than his father's but was in the same style.

Excellent for listening —driving/bedtime

Absolutely wonderful to listen to when driving, resting or just “winding f do own” to go to sleep.
Very enjoyable.

Not bad

Overall, this was not bad. The story was interesting, but not compelling. The characters were interesting and believable, but remained distant characters, rather than real people. The narrator was intelligible, but the character voices were occasionally a bit odd. So - overall it was good, glad I read it, but not something I couldn't put down.