Here's the opening of "Straight":
I inherited my brother's life. Inherited his desk, his business, his gadgets, his enemies, his horses and his mistress. I inherited my brother's life, and it nearly killed me.
Here's the opening sentence from "Nerve":
Art Mathews shot himself, loudly and messily, in the center of the parade ring at Dunstable races.
Here's the opening from "Reflex":
Winded and coughing, I lay on one elbow and spat out a mouthful of grass and mud. The horse I'd been riding raised its weight off my ankle, scrambled untidily to its feet and departed at an unfeeling gallop.
Here's the opening sentence from "Risk":
Thursday, March 17, I spent the morning in anxiety, the afternoon in ecstasy, and the evening unconscious.
Nothing like reaching out, grabbing you by the throat, and dragging right into the middle of the story! I have my favorites among his works, but a bad Dick Francis is still better than most reads. The last few works were collaborations with his son Felix. A lot of people criticized them, but I still enjoyed them.
For years now, I have gotten my required dose of his books from audio recordings. Tony Britton is my favorite, but the other readers (Simon Prebble, David Case, Martin Jarvis) aren't bad. Our library system has all of them, either cassette or CD, and I just keep taking them out whenever I need a fix.
If you've never read Dick Francis, any of the above books would be a great place to start. I also especially like "Bonecrack" and "For Kicks".
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