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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780425210253
ISBN number: 0425210251
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: May 02, 2006
Publishing house: Berkley
Sale Popularity Level: 55718
Studio: Berkley
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
In Francis's 'best thriller' (Evening Standard), a movie star must give the performance of his life when he crosses paths with killers while investigating race-horse tampering in South Africa.
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Rated by buyers 
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Dick Francis consistently writes books that people love to read -- again and again! I own all of his books and have had to replace some due to wear! I started in 1988 with The Edge and was hooked! Try any of his books and you will feel the same. Thank you, Dick Francis!
Rated by buyers 
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Smokescreen is set mostly in South Africa, where horse exercise boy turned film actor Edward Lincoln goes at the request of a dying friend. Her horses aren't winning races, and she'd like him to investigate. Despite Lincoln's protests that while he may play a detective in the movies, but he's just an actor in real life, she persuades him to go.
Dick Francis novels give the reader an immersion in some specialty, and Smokescreen is no exception. We learn about moviemaking, South Africa during apartheid, and gold mining. Edward Lincoln is happily married, so there's no love interest going on, but it's a good story, not grisly, with a mystery to be solved.
Smokescreen was written in 1972, and although the plot and characters hold up well, what the characters wear can be something out of Austin Powers: "He was wearing another pair of pasted-on trousers, and a blue ruffled close-fitting shirt with lacing instead of buttons...the rugged male in his sexual finery...She arrived...wearing an eye-stunning orange catsuit, which flared widely from the knees in black-edged ruffles. She looked like a flamenco dancer split up the middle...". Somehow clothes seem timeless in Agatha Christie, but this period is too close for comfort.
I recommend Smokescreen to all who like a classic mystery thriller without a lot of psychopathology. It keeps the reader's interest without keeping her up at night.
Rated by buyers -
Francis, in the Introduction to this book, tells the reader that he had recently been to South Africa when the idea to write this book came to him. Furthermore, once he decided his main character was going to be a celebrity - an actor - he decided to gain background by visiting the British film studios at Pinewood to see how movies are made. Apparently his wife used to work behind the scenes in the movie business, so they have a number of friends who are actors, giving him a good, solid understanding of the acting business.
All this preparation and knowledge paid off in a particularly solid book, where you really feel like you are there while reading the story. Edward Lincoln is a well-known actor who has just finished filming a movie called "Man in a Car" (or something similar) where the basic story is that he has been handcuffed in a car and left to die. After this particularly draining experience, he is looking forward to some time with his family, but when his godmother, Nerissa, calls he immediately goes to see her. Startled by her appearance - she had always been very robust - he discovers she is very ill with lymphoma and is probably not going to last very much longer. She asks him to go to South Africa and look into her horses there as they have been performing badly in the races; she wants to leave them to her nephew, but she doesn't want him to end up with duds. Link is happy to comply.
However, once he arrives in South Africa, the attempts on his life almost immediately begin and he is soon drawn into a desperate struggle to both understand the problem with Nerissa's horses, and to protect himself from harm.
Beautifully detailed descriptions of the African vistas visited by Link bring us into the book fully - Francis seems to be particularly good at this sort of thing. I have definitely enjoyed reading books by this author and I believe I'll look into getting a few more.
Rated by buyers -
The book came within a week and was like brand new, binding was not cracked, very pleased, still have to read it.
Rated by buyers -
Another one of Dick Francis' fine stories. I've always enjoyed his novels, and this is another one of his finest. I had lost (lent) my original, so it was time to replace it. The protagonist struggles but gets there in the end. If you've never read any of his novels, you should start immediately! There are a few "Britishisms" that American readers might find a little strange (but interesting). Enjoy...
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