Second Wind - Softcover

Francis, Dick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330391933 ISBN 13: 9780330391931

Publisher: Pan Books, 2000

Synopsis

BEWARE THE EYE OF A HURRICANE... For a few precious seconds, the shrieking wind dies down and the colossal waves lie flat. Airbourne in the heart of the storm, TV weather forecaster Perry Stuart braces himself for impact. Then suddenly all is blackness as the small aircraft plunges out of control. It takes a truly frightening accident for Stuart to discover the secret of Trox Island - and plenty of things about the human race that he would rather he didn't know. He came as a half-drowned hurricane victim lucky to be spared from the ocean. He left with information that would bring down an evil worldwide conspiracy - if they didn't kill him first... 'Excitement and sheer readability' Daily Telegraph

About this title

Review:

Dick Francis's legion of admirers can relax: his year off from writing is over and a new vigour has entered his style. Longtime readers will be happy to find the customary racetrack skulduggery, galvanised by some fascinating new elements. The very opening of Second Wind signals something new, with Francis's protagonist fighting for his life in a Caribbean storm at sea: "But now, as near dead as dammit, I tumbled like a rag-doll piece of flotsam in towering gale-driven seas that sucked unimaginable tons of water from the deeps ..."

In flashback, we are catapulted into the world of meteorologist Perry Stuart who agrees to fly through the eye of storm on Trox Island, a blighted place steeped in guano and harbouring a nasty secret. When the reader encounters details of the racing world in Francis's earlier thrillers, it had the satisfying ring of authenticity. The same is true in Second Wind, as Stuart's character was developed with the help of BBC weatherman John Kettley. Although a new venue for Francis, he still has the knack of quickening the readers' pulse with a few carefully chosen words: "Despair was too strong a word for it. Perhaps despondency was better. When they came for me, they came with guns." --Barry Forshaw

Review:

'Fast-moving action.' (The Washington Post)

'Francis is a genius.' (The New York Times)

About this edition

• Publisher: Pan Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0330391933
• ISBN 13: 9780330391931
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 320