The gunshot Grand Prix

Tim Ryder #1

by Douglas Rutherford

Eighteen-year-old Tim Ryder, one of the youngest drivers in Grand Prix racing, becomes involved, against his will, in the power struggle between the despotic Prince of Sanmaro and a revolutionary movement.

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Pseudonym of James Douglas Rutherford McConnell. He was born in Kilkenny, Ireland. He studied at Clare College, Cambridge. In the Second World War, he served in the British Intelligence Corps in North Africa and Italy. After the war, he worked as a teacher at Eton College. Apart from writing crime fiction, he also wrote books of language instruction and collaborated on two novels with Francis Durbridge.

Reviews

[DJNana · Rating 2 out of 5]

How do you make a Grand Prix more exciting? Throw in some terrorists, sniper rifles, kidnappings and bombings, of course.

When I saw this book in a second hand book store, and being a huge Formula 1 fan, I knew I had to buy, regardless of quality.

It's clear the author is a big fan of F1 - the racing sections are the only really believable sections, properly researched and written. Even if there's a little bit of wish fulfilment for the main character. It's also set in the 70's - F1 was just wild back then. A much more chaotic sport.

Anything outside of the paddock and circuit - the political intrigue, the terrorists - was just so badly written and unbelievable, in a perfectly consistent way. I can't even hate on it too much.

Would I re-read: probably not.