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1. Excellent Story
   I have always loved the novels of Dick Francis, and I am finding The novels of his son Felix to be just as thrilling and exciting! I loved his main character, and I enjoyed seeing how he got out of the various situations in which he found himself. My only criticism is that he used the Lord’s Name in vain, and that too many times. His stories and characters are so good that they simply don’t need those types of embellishments. I look very forward to reading more of Felix Francis’ stories!

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2. A fun thriller in the classic Francis style…
   I’ve long liked Dick Francis’ books, which always had some sort of tie-in to horses and horse racing. And that made for good, usually somewhat thriller-ish, mysteries. But I liked his books even more for their amazingly detailed backgrounds in a variety of businesses – and most of the time he had a different setting for each book. My mind simply boggles at the amount of research that takes. Sometimes the business was simply racing itself, but more often it was in some other area that was closely aligned to racing, such as transporting the horses to their races, or making the art glass sculptures used for race trophies, or providing the wine and spirits for racing parties. And while reading Francis’ books, I’ve painlessly learned about a lot of different industries, which was just plain fun, and has also helped me in more than one game of Trivial Pursuit!
   Syndicate is written by Dick’s son, Felix Francis, and not by Dick himself, who passed away a while back. But it has the same approach: it’s a thriller set in in the high-stakes world of the syndication of horses for racing and eventually, hopefully, if the horse races well, also for stud. Don’t worry if you don’t know exactly what that means going in – Felix explains it all without being boring in the least! And as usual with a Francis book, either father or son, I enjoyed the story, but enjoyed the background setting even more.
   Sadly, though, I did have one issue with Syndicate, which was that I found the protagonist, Chester Newton, to be rather unlikeable. (To be fair, he did get less annoying toward the end of the book.) I understand that in theory, main characters shouldn’t necessarily have to be likeable to still have a good book. But when I’m reading genre fiction, it’s usually for relaxation and enjoyment, and I DO want the protagonist to be someone I can empathize with. So Newton’s personality was an ongoing niggle. That was enough for me to take away a star, dropping Syndicate from five stars to four. But since I don’t give five stars easily anyway, four stars means Syndicate is still definitely worth reading. And finally, my thanks to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, and to Net Galley for the advance review copy.

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3. Still love the Francis style
   This is an entertaining novel about horse racing. I think Felix sounds more like his Dad in this book than in any of his others. That is meant as a compliment. It was very enjoyable and please keep up the good work. I am a fan.

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4. another fabulous racing thriller
   I loved this series from the start and I hope it continues for a long time! Always waiting for the next book.

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5. Too much racing information
   I did. Not like all the racing information the author tells a good story but he is not anywhere the author his father was

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6. Great read!!
   I have all his father’s books & now all of his. Always great reads.

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7. One drawback
   I’ve loved Dick Francis novels for decades and have been rooting for his son, Felix, and truly loved his last novel. Thought he’d really captured his father’s style, etc. However, this story has annoyed me because when trouble knocked on the main character’s door, instead of investigating, taking action, or even notifying the police about the threatening phone calls, notes, and letters, he does NOTHING except let the bad guy’s threats play out. I haven’t finished reading it yet, but the main character’s lack of action and investigative know-how is annoying me so much, I’m not sure I will finish it–a first for me when it comes to all books Francis.

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8. Pedantic writing
   More a history lesson of racing at various courses than a novel. Little development of characters. Mystery poorly developed. Nowhere near the caliber of his previous books. Had to force myself to finish it. Very disappointed as loved Dick Francis and several of Felix Frances’ previous books.

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9. Thrilling. Loved every page

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10. superb story. excellent fast paced plot without the earlier trademark violence. this was a first class book. can’t wait for the next one!

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11. Offers the reader a nice vignette of racing and married life, could make a neat 3 part BBC series. Could have done with a little more twistyness before the whodunnit.

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12. Another excellent book from this author.

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13. Not one of Felix’s best I did learn a lot (too much info on betting procedures also horse info).Not enough investigative thinking going on. I suspected the son and daughter fairly quickly and worked out the glass clue before the father twigged. Broke away slightly from the usual winning Francis formula. I read them because I like horses but I like the detection aspect intertwined within the story ,possibly more. It won’t put me off the next one I am an avid reader of the Francis collection of books this is the first disappointing one I have read I suppose they can’t all be winners ( pun intended )

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