Reader's Digest Select Editions, Volume 236, 1998 #2: 10 lb. Penalty / Plum Island / The Starlite Drive-in / Homecoming

by Dick Francis, Nelson DeMille, Marjorie Reynolds

"Plum Island" by Nelson DeMille
Two Scientists from a supersecret government research lab are found dead at their beach house, victims of foul play.
An isolated incident?
Or the beginning of something far worse?
Someone better find some answers.
And fast.

"Homecoming" by Belva Plain
The pleasure of your company is cordially requested at a family reunion.
Feuding is to be expected - but so is reconciliation.
At least, that's the plan.

"10 LB. Penalty" by Dick Francis
They're father and son.
And they're both in the race to win.
But in this race, winning is one thing.
Surviving is quite another.

"The Starlite Drive-in" by Marjorie Reynolds
She remembered it all so well.
It was the summer of 1956. Tension shimmered in the hot, dry Indiana air.
And Callie Anne Benton was in love for the first time in her young life.
It happened at the Starlite Drive-in, all those years ago...

574 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Dick Francis was a British jockey and crime novelist whose life and work were closely connected with the world of horse racing. Raised in Berkshire in a family involved with horses, he left school at fifteen with the ambition of becoming a jockey and began training horses as a teenager. During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Air Force as a pilot, flying fighters and bombers before returning to racing after the war. He became one of Britain's leading National Hunt jockeys, winning more than 350 races and becoming champion jockey in the 1953–54 season. From 1953 to 1957, he was jockey to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and his most famous race came in the 1956 Grand National, when her horse Devon Loch fell suddenly while apparently heading toward victory. After retiring from racing following another serious fall, Francis turned to journalism and writing. His autobiography, The Sport of Queens, led to sixteen years as racing correspondent for the Sunday Express, while his first thriller, Dead Cert, established the formula that would make him an international bestseller. He went on to write more than forty novels, most set against the backdrop of British horse racing but featuring protagonists from a wide range of professions. His stories combine detailed knowledge of racing with tightly constructed mysteries, dangerous investigations and protagonists forced to overcome serious physical and personal obstacles. Among his best-known recurring characters is Sid Halley, a former jockey turned private investigator who appears in Odds Against, Whip Hand, Come to Grief and Under Orders. Francis's wife, Mary, was an important collaborator throughout his writing career, conducting research, editing manuscripts and contributing to plot and character development. Their son Felix later became his father's collaborator and continued the Francis tradition after his father's death. A three-time winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel, Francis also received the Gold Dagger, the Cartier Diamond Dagger and the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award. His novels brought the specialized world of horse racing to an international readership and established him as one of the most influential writers of the racing thriller.

Reviews

[Laurie D'ghent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plum Island gets 1 star--if my house had burned down while I was reading it, I wouldn't have bothered to find another copy so I knew what happened.
0 stars to both Homecoming and 10 Lb. Penalty. Homecoming had too much premarital sex to abide, and 10 Lb. Penalty, sadly, was just plain boring.
I really enjoyed The Starlite Dive-In and would give it 3 stars. It would have gotten a higher score, but it's main conflict is the adultery/spousal abuse that's going on.