Iced

by Felix Francis

In the tradition of Clive Cussler and James Lee Burke, Iced, the latest in Francis’s fictional world, is a heart-pounding thriller that will keep you racing to the next page.

Seven years ago, Miles Pussett was a steeplechase jockey, loving the rush of the race. But after an unfortunate event, he left horseracing behind and swore he would never return. Now he gets his adrenaline rush from riding headfirst down the Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile Swiss ice chute, reaching speeds of up to eighty miles per hour.

Finding himself in St Moritz during the same weekend as White Turf, when high-class horseracing takes place on the frozen lake, he gets talked into helping out with the horses. Against his better judgement, he decides to assist, but things aren’t as innocent as they seemed.

When he discovers something suspicious is going on in the races, something that may have a profound impact on his future, Miles begins a search for answers. But someone is adamant about stopping him—and they’ll go to any length to do it.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Audiobook, Animals, Suspense

326 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2021

About the author

For over forty years, the London University grad helped father Dick Francis (31 Oct 1920 – 14 Feb 2010), ex-jockey known for horse-racing mysteries. In 2007, after 17 years teaching physics, he took on the job full-time. Experience also as international marksman aided research for Shattered, Under Orders, and Twice Shy. Co-author of NY Times bestsellers Dead Heat, Silks, Even Money and Crossfire.
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/felixfrancisw...

Reviews

[Monnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a confirmed reader of this author's books - and/or those of his late father, Dick Francis - do not expect this one to be another standard issue. In fact, it's noticeably different; but once I stopped wondering when the pace was going to pick up and someone was going to get bumped off (somewhere around the 30% mark), I realized I was getting into it anyway. And that continued right to the end, after which I shut down my Kindle and said to myself, "Self, that was very well written and a darned good story."

Basically, it's a canter through the life of Miles Pussett, son of beloved champion steeplechase jockey Jim, who died in a car accident by literally taking the brunt of the crash to save his young son. Miles followed in his father's footsteps as a steeplechase jockey, but due to circumstances mostly beyond his control - including unfavorable comparisons to his late father - he quit. But the thrill of the chase hasn't deserted him; now, he gets his kicks on Switzerland's Cresta Run, where he barrels headfirst down a nearly mile-long ice chute at close to 80 miles an hour with little protective covering.

The story is a little hard to follow in that it shifts in time from his steeplechase time seven years ago to the present, focusing on events that shaped (and continue to shape) the person he's become. And clearly, he's carrying some serious emotional baggage with which he continues to deal. The two periods in his life collide when his former boss Jerry Dickinson cajoles him into helping out by taking one of his two horses for a run and saddling up the other before a race. After the race is over the the horse expected to win doesn't, Miles questions the result and doesn't like the answer he finds, but he also isn't sure what to do about it (if anything).

Mixed in between is a look at Miles's ongoing internal struggles - which includes self-medicating with alcohol - that is handled quite well and puts a spotlight on the important issue of mental health. Miles doesn't always make the best choices, but given his life circumstances, he's doing the best he can. In the end, everything comes full circle that really isn't very surprising (well, the "who" of it isn't - the bad guys and gals are pretty easy to spot early on - but the "how" is creative and, in some respects, downright fun.

So IMHO, it's another one well done - maybe more so because it isn't just another formulaic entry into a series. Definitely worth reading!

[Alex Townsend · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute complete and utter toss, from the first chapter to the last. Truly, truly dire.

I can’t say much else without spoilers, but it’s another unsympathetic character, basically whining about how rotten their life is, and has been. It’s a long time since I’ve wanted to punch a fictional character in the face quite as much as I did with this one.

I normally try and find some positives about a book, but all I can do with this one is say that it’s positively one of the saggiest, direst reads I’ve had this year.

[Fiona · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a mystery thriller this isn't it, sorry. If you prefer reading about a tragic life interspersed with racecourse facts, fill your boots. It was an easy read, though, I'll give it that.

[Emmkay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Formulaic comfort reading. I enjoyed a stack of used copies of Dick Francis novels when I was 14, surprising myself as I’d never been that interested in horses. Now his son has taken over writing them, and I picked up one of his on a whim. Despite a rather slack pace, it has many of the elements that I remember fondly, including the immersion in details of another milieu (in this case a triple header of steeplechase racing, ice-based horse racing, and skeleton racing on the Cresta Run in St. Moritz). Is the dialogue awkward at times and are the women dated? Well, yes, but I still enjoyed it.

[Syl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed with this read. I have read a few Felix Francis books, mainly due to the fact I have read all his Dad’s books! This book was not the usual crime solving novel… for some this might be a welcome change. It was more like a biography of the central character who failed to engage me and to be honest as I write this I cannot recall his name.

It was however, an easy summer read.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin Jarvis was the narrator for the audiobook version of this novel, and he was all wrong for the role. He annoyed me the entire time I listened to this novel. You know how sometimes when people talk and their lips get stuck on their dry teeth, and you can hear it when they are speaking? That’s what he sounded like through half the audiobook. It was truly weird.
This novel was just…. Ok. Barely any mystery, way too much alcoholism, some insta-love with the MC and his nurse, and then the worst part: the chapters kept flipping back and forth between the past and the present - but, with NO WARNING WHATSOEVER. None of the chapters said if it was “then” and “now”, and you literally had to guess for yourself. Sometimes it was quite confusing. Maybe next time, Francis can label the chapters better so we readers know when/where we are…? That might help, my dude. Also the ending was just lame. I really didn’t think it worked. Try better next time, please…?
I don’t know, maybe I’ll try the next Felix Francis novel, and maybe not. Something is missing in his novels lately, and it’s really beginning to show…. I hope he finds it soon, and gets things together. This is so depressing…..! 😩

3 stars, and not really recommended.

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read every book in the Dick Francis series and to be honest I found this one a little disappointing. Based on all of the other stories I found I kept waiting for something more sinister to happen but it never did and with what does happen, we were given a very small pool of suspects to consider so it was not that difficult to identify the culprit. As a horse racing fan, I was also a little disappointed with some factual errors and even the emotional statements were a little odd with regards to "love".

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting treatise on horse racing but not remotely a thriller.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Iced is a self contained mystery thriller in the style of Dick Francis and ghost written by his son Felix Francis. Due out 12th July 2022 from Crooked Lane Books, it's 326 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out 1st quarter 2023. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

The book is engaging and readable with an action driven plot told in parallel first person PoV through flashbacks and the current day, timelines which converge in St. Mortiz with protagonist Miles drawn back into the equestrian world he had walked away from years earlier.

The characterizations are very well rendered, with believable three dimensional characters and dialogue which is never clunky or overwrought. The descriptions of the very disparate sports of tobogganing and horse racing on the flat ice, are well written and rich in small details. The climax, denouement, and resolution were well written and satisfying.

For fans of la famille Francis, this is a solid addition to the artists' oeuvre. It's full of beautiful scenery, set in the middle of the winter and would make a nice read for beating the heat. The language and some of the action is a bit rough and gritty, so it's not a completely innocent cozy read. There is some potentially triggering content in the form of frank discussions of eating disorders, mental health, athlete exploitation, etc.

Three and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[P.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this very disappointing, and almost gave up reading it. About half-way through the pace increased somewhat, and I kept going simply to find out what happened in the end.

The author uses two different time periods in the life of Miles Pusset. The earlier describes in tedious detail his early life and training to become a steeplechase jockey. The later period, which keeps interrupting the 'training period', is set after something fairly predictable has taken place to change Pusset's career direction and move him to seek his thrills from riding down the Cresta Run in Switzerland.

You cannot help comparing Felix Francis' work to that of his father, especially when his narrative features racing and even at one point mentions 'Dick Francis'. And in doing so, I realised that the descriptions of life in the jockey world would have been far more captivating if written by Dick Francis because he would have included threats, suspicion and an altogether more exciting story weaving around Miles Pusset's depressingly gloomy life.

So I can only award three stars for this, and I'm sad to do so because the novel before this one was so much better. Would I read this again? Definitely not!

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a slow start
Too many details on too many races
Constant jumping back and forth in timeline, so when are we now?
A nurse dates her patient without pause or mention of appropriateness?
MUCH too neat and tidy with the struggles

[Kathy Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This latest by Felix Francis was an intriguing story about a man named Miles Pussett. It contains a number of flashbacks that talk about his past and the things that made him the man he is now.

Miles is the son of a famous jockey and had always wanted to follow in his famous father's footsteps. But his father died in a road accident with Miles was twelve leaving his family is some financial dire straits. His mother dies by suicide some five years later. Miles feels a lot of guilt about both events. He was with his father when he died and believes that his father took the brunt of the crash in order to save his son. He feels that he could have saved his mother if he had been paying better attention but conflicts about his future plans had them estranged at the time of her death.

These two events damage Miles's mental health. It doesn't help that, as a jockey, he faces a lot of other stresses ranging from the obsessive need to lose weight to remain eligible to race and the pressure put on him to win races and the public's written and spoken pressure when he doesn't win.

These various pressures lead to nightmares, panic attacks, and an overuse of alcohol as an anesthetic. He is lucky to find support from the young nurse trainee he meets when a panic attack leads to hospitalization and from the Sabrina Dickinson who is the wife of his employer racehorse trainer Jerry Dickinson.

When the story begins, Miles is in St. Moritz taking part in the Cresta run. He's abandoned the entire horseracing industry to preserve his mental health but the speed and danger of racing down an icy course at high speed fills his need for adventure. But St. Moritz is also the site of winter horseracing on ice and Jerry Dickinson is there with a couple of his horses. Miles gets pulled in to help when Dickinson's usual groom breaks an ankle and finds himself pulled into danger again.

This story was a thriller. Someone does try to murder Miles by dropping a bag of cement onto the Cresta course which could have killed Miles when his sled hit it. He was lucky to escape with a dislocated shoulder and broken collar bone.

As Miles investigates who might have wanted him dead, he learns some things about his past that explain some things. I didn't feel that the mystery aspect of this story was the strongest part. For me, the crux of the story was about Miles's regaining his mental health and the changes he makes to build a happy life.

[Leanne ~ Tales From The Heart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was actually scrolling through BorrowBox my Library App and spotted this one. Being an old fan of Dick Francis I have enjoyed his son's work. This is quite different to books of the past. Less about the horses and even the crime took a back seat until towards the end. A look into the life and mental health of a jockey. I was so invested in the story and lives of these characters.
A well rounded story and I loved it.

[Rita Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felix Francis at his best! A good storyline, well-written, my only criticism being that the constant jumping back and forth in time becomes annoying. Initially it transitions very skillfully, but later flips much too often. Still a very enjoyable read.

[Kathy Sebesta · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a word: B-O-R-I-N-G. Have been waiting several novels for Felix to begin to catch up with his father, Dick. It's obvious that's never going to happen and I'm done.

[Jacqueline sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read the previous novel Guilty not Guilty by Felix Francis I was excited to get the opportunity to read this one. This seemed completely different from the last book. The pace was a little slower, and I didn’t feel there was the element of suspense that I felt in the previous book. However, some of the topics dealt with within the story were quite dealt with well.

Miles Pussett is the son of champion jockey Jim Pussett, so he has big shoes to fill. Sadly Jim had died in a car accident one night on his way back home with Miles in the car. Miles was only a teenager at the time, his dream was to become a jockey just like his dad. But his mum didn’t want that for him, she hadn’t been able to watch his Jim race, so the last thing she wanted was for Miles to go down that same route. It wasn’t long after his dads death that they moved to Yorkshire to be closer to her parents, this was the last thing Miles wanted, he would be moving away from the local trainers in Lambourne to the middle of nowhere in Yorkshire. Where his grandparents had a farm.

Miles was determined he was going to be a jockey and did everything he could to do just that. He did point to point races, worked in stables, rode whenever he could, his mum wasn’t happy as he wasn’t doing his schoolwork. He lost his mum who had never really got over losing his dad. Miles had gone to live with his grandparents, as they had been allowed to leave school at fifteen they hadn’t seen the point in forcing Miles to concentrate on his education. Something later in life he realised his mum had been right about. 2 months before his 18th birthday he became a professional Jockey. But would this live up to everything he hoped it would?

After a while of doing some races, and winning some he was approached by Jerry Dickinson, a man he knew from reputation but didn’t know personally. Dickinson wanted him to go and work for him, this was a big opportunity, it could lead him to become a champion like his dad. But it could also lead to a downfall. The whole story is told through Miles as the narrator, the things he has to deal with at such a young age, decisions he makes as he starts to grow into a young man. Starting out as a young jockey is tough, a competitive world then there is rivalry with some who believe he is only where he is because of who his father was. When his father had died they had been left with no money, Miles worked to get any money together he could to pay for himself to become a jockey.

The story is told in two timelines the now and the past, the now is set in St Moritz. Miles is no longer a jockey, he has been going to Switzerland every year for 7 years to take part in the Cresta run, which entails hurling himself on a toboggan, head first, down a three quarter mile long Swiss ice chute reaching speeds of up to 80 miles an hour. This is where he gets his adrenalin rush. There is no cash prize for the winner. It is purely for the fun and rush. Through the past parts of the story we learn how his career as a jockey came to an end, what happened leading up to it and after.

In the now, Miles, bumps into some people from the horse riding industry, in the seven years since Miles quit horse racing he had never been there during the White Turf weekend. White Turf is a high class racing event which takes place on a frozen lake. Despite everything Miles finds himself roped into helping out his old boss Jerry Dickinson, after his original helper had fallen on the ice and broken his ankle. All he wants Miles to do is give the horses a short run early morning and to saddle up one of the horses whilst Jerry does the other. What could go wrong? But after the race when Miles takes the losing horse back to the stable he becomes suspicious, something doesn’t seem right. Why is the horse carrying extra weight? Miles waits to confront Jerry, but when the horse Jerry was holding comes into the stables alone, Miles goes looking for Jerry and finds him face downon the ice, when he rolls him over he sees Jerry seems to have had a good beating, but refuses to let Miles get the police or and ambulance. In the end he lets Miles take him to the hospital. But who had done this? It’s not long before Miles suspects who it was, especially when he himself gets cornered, but what do they want? Later when Miles is doing a practise ride on the Cresta run someone has put something on the track, at the speed he is going Miles has no chance of stopping and ends up hitting the obstruction at high speed. Was this deliberate? Was it the same people he had seen before? Or is it someone else? Why do they have it in for Miles he has done nothing? Who would want him dead? What was interesting in the backstory of this is the pressure on jockey’s and their weight. For Miles who was quite tall he was always battling, which meant not eating or drinking before getting weighed, because if he came in pound over he wouldn’t be allowed to race. This became a big pressure which led to some drastic not to mention dangerous extremes to attain right weight whichever horse. This had an impact on not just physical health but also his mental health, he had his first panic attack when driving to a race, on the same part of the road where his dad had died, this was the start of flashbacks, and vivid dreams, then he would drink in order to blot things out, or to help him sleep. The author manages to deal with mental health, PTSD, alcoholism and survivors guilt really well. Some of the grief that Miles had never really dealt with, as it seemed he never had anyone close he could talk to. Until it got so bad that one person did help him.


The writing flows well, the going back and forth in time works, I found Miles to be a reliable narrator as he tells of what happened to him, as he tried to be as good as his dad, he is a three dimensional character, I liked Sabrina, Jerry Dickinson’s wife she was a very empathetic character. It was interesting to read about the White Turf weekend which is a high class annual major event, where race horse owners, trainers and jockeys from all over the world go. It’s not just about the horse racing there is music and art as well. Along with champagne of course.

Overall this was an interesting read, i would have liked a little more suspense or drama thrown in, but this is still an entertaining read. There was much more about horse racing, the rules, the weights. Gambling. But very well written. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like to get what I signed up for when reading Dick Francis and this one is definitely not his usual form. It's more of a character study than an adventure- and while the main character is the typical Francis jockey-who-takes-a-beating and there is the typical Francis vivid-present-tense-action in a few scenes, the plot kind of meanders along with frequent time jumps and doesn't really feel headed anywhere. DNF at 85 pages, plus a hop to the end just to see how it all turns out.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The crime was different than the usual crime. I enjoyed the character study and, typical of the person, he never thought he had a problem. Plus I learned about a sport I had never heard of. It was just a “fun” story.

[Susan Mattes · Rating 4 out of 5]

2022 summer reading challenge category - located on another continent. MPL

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Anne, Unfinished Woman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This quickly became a tedious and boring story. The narrative moves from the present, a race at St. Moritz, and the speed and joy felt on the ice chute back through the obsession with horses and the career development of a steeplechase jockey.

Miles Pussett's father Jim was a multiple winner of the Grand National. He had a serious accident and a two-year recovery before returning to again win the Championship. Miles is obsessed with horses from a young child and seeks early to train. When he is 12, he insists on accompanying his father to a race. In a new Jaguar, at 80 mph, they are on their way, when a car in front of them loses control and hits the median. As his father swerves to avoid the car, he fails to see a van behind and is hit, circling around to end up facing the opposite direction in the path of a brick carrying lorry which will end in a head on. Jim turns the car so that the lorry hits his door broadside avoiding the front passenger side. Miles is unhurt, Jim dies. He is thrown from the drive side to the passenger side to lay on Miles lap for over an hour until they can be cut from the wreckage. It is an experience that Miles cannot get from his mind and he blames his father's death on himself. His mother will begin a struggle to pay the bills, and eventually commits suicide, for which Miles also blames himself.

Still Miles pursues his career as a steeplechase jockey, becoming a professional two months short of his 18th birthday. But he is a haunted man. From early in his career he fights the issues of weight, being as good as his father and drink. He is a soul disintegrating. He refers to the thousands of hours psychotherapy that he has undergone. And he has hung up his silks no longer riding.

However, while at the St. Moritz race a racehorse trainer, formerly his boss, approaches him for help when his groom breaks his foot and Jerry Dickinson needs assistance with his horses. Miles reluctantly agrees. When Jerry is mugged, he is pulled in even further. Riding before the races to warm up the horses and saddling them and cleaning them up after. He finds that the latest runner did not win, and when he is pulling the equipment and saddle off him finds the breast girth filled with lead weights...and around the legs chain mail.

At this point I stopped reading. When once again the story was going back to his early career I was finished with the tedious and minutely detailed descriptions of the sport. The exact weight Miles was before and after the race, at every race. How much the equipment weighed, what equipment counted and what didn't. How he managed to get his weight down if too heavy, in steam rooms for too long and depriving himself of eating, to be nearly unable to walk to be seated on the horse. His constant drinking. His state of health after overindulging. The walks of every course with the trainer reviewing the state of the course, where and when to accelerate or go wide to watch for this or that. Every race! Describing the other jockeys who had won or loss over the years. It wasn't until over 100 pages that the "mystery" appeared, and by that time I had had enough, so was out when another flashback began. It seemed as he flew down the ice chute that he was close to a death wish, and his lack of enthusiasm for anything else was depressing. More than a mystery, at least for the first third of the book, it was more the character study of a disintegrating man.

[John Reis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Francis had difficulty getting this book published in the US last year. He lost his publisher. It might’ve been because of Covid. But it might also have been because of the hero: Miles Pusset.

This book lurches back-and-forth between the present and the past, between his racing days and his luging days.

As a young child he survived a horrific car crash in which his father was killed. His father had maneuvered the car so that he caught the full force of the collision on his side of the car. His father’s body laid on his before the police came. Later, his mother commits suicide and leaves no note.

Miles has a great deal of anxiety and depression and perhaps PTSD. He spends his teenage years training to be a jockey. When he changes stables, he begins to drink heavily to handle the stress. While working for the new trainer, Jerry Dickinson, he wins one race and then loses a very long series of others. He spends more time drinking. Eventually, he has a panic attack and is found by two policemen in the middle of a street late one night. He meets Rachel in the emergency room. He is in one or two more races, but his career is over. That is his past.

When we meet him in the present, about ten years later, it has been sometime since he was a jockey and he now races luges for excitement. We never learn what he has done for work for a decade.

At Cresta, the luging event, he runs into his old trainer Jerry who asks for help dressing two horses for the ice racing the next day. After the race when he sets the horse back in its stall and begins to remove his harness, he realizes that the horse lost because it was weighted down with lead weights hidden in the harness, the breast girdle, and his leggings.

That night as he walks back to his hotel, he is accosted by the owner’s two grandsons.

The next day, while luging in a race event, someone drops a bag of cement on the luge track. Miles is very badly injured and hospitalized. He believes it’s the twin grandsons.

Miles is a victim throughout this book. There is no point when he fights back. He is put in grave danger, as his father put his protagonists in his books, but Miles does nothing.

I liked “Pulse” which also had a protagonist with anxiety issues. I did like this story but did not like Miles’s self-pity, self-harming(drinking and luging) and general inertia. If this is becoming a pattern, I will stop reading books by Felix.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoy Felix Francis as a worthy successor to his father's (mother's, some say) literary mantle, this book seemed more to be a recovery exercise or penance. It toggles back and forth between the first career of main character, Miles Pussett (and what an ooky surname that is), as a steeplechase jockey and his second passion, toboggan racing.

Miles suffers from PTSD brought on by the horrific auto accident in which he was a 12 y/o passenger and his legendary steeplechase jockey father was the driver - dad dies, and the accident replays in Miles' nightmares for a decade. He also tries to emulate his father, pursuing jump racing, but perpetually battling the brutal weight requirements and the demands of his boss, stable owner Jerry Dickinson, horses, and owners. These pressures seem only to be kept at bay by the bottle, but Miles doesn't realize he's an alcoholic, despite misjudgments and a series of increasingly serious accidents.

While all this ten-years-ago history is being recounted, the story is interleafed with Miles current activity on the Swiss Cresta Run, an ice chute for toboggan racing. His horsey-past pops up, and peril ensues.

This really was a story about insecurity, mental health, alcohol addiction, and lots of poor choices. While there is no pro- or epilogue statement about the need to seek professional help and addiction recovery organizations, the wisdom of those courses of action is apparent in the tale. Whether this is something that is personal to Felix Francis in some what is unknown.

I do agree that Miles didn't seem to be very likeable or very mature, as other reviewers have noted, but that may have been necessary for the plot and the underlying message.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there's been some improvement in Felix Francis's writing, he is still a pale shadow of his famous father. Which is ironic, given the theme of this book, in which our hero longs to be recognized and honored in the the same way, Champion Steeplechaser, as HIS father! Needless to say, both author and rider fail to outshine their dads in either profession!

We are presented with two timelines here, one dealing with the backstory of the protagonist, Miles, and one in the present, showing how far he has come in laying his demons. He has been traumatized, to be sure, as a young man, but I found it jarring that his response to everything is tears. It seems unlikely, because he does not come across as sensitive to atmosphere or emotion; it left me shaking my head wondering why he collapses so often into a sodden mess.

On the plus side, however, this author handles romance more deftly than Dick Francis ever did. Gone are the awkward pauses whenever a possibility for love arises! Unfortunately, Felix's language is also much cruder and therefore, far less appealing.

The mystery itself is buried beneath a lot of extraneous detail about tobogganing and various racing trivia which do not serve to advance the plot. In fact, the ending is weak and is treated more like a light-hearted puzzle rather than a crime. While the plot is a lesser rehash of several of Dick Francis's original devices, there are still some glimmers of originality, such as the use of an unusual setting, (in St. Moritz,) and the more realistic approach to relationships. It seems clear that there is potential for Felix's future storytelling.

[Jerry B · Rating 2 out of 5]

We were frankly totally disappointed with this latest, “Iced” (after the protagonist’s tobogganing hobby) from Felix Francis. Dad Dick’s lead characters, as were the joint efforts with son Felix, and most recently Felix’s solo efforts, were all protagonists that any man would love to emulate and that any woman would love to latch onto! But our “hero” in this one was a half-baked son, Miles Pussett, of a steeplechase champion who could in no way repeat his father’s legacy. And so in the process, he developed severe PTSD symptoms after being in a car crash fatal only to his father; he became an alcoholic, and actually spent 85% of the story wretched and depressed. That condition did exactly nothing but depress this reader, and what little mystery there was in a weak horse-racing related plot was soon enough summed up near the end. The only saving grace at all was that Miles eventually kicked all his troubles amid a romance with a nurse, and all more or less ended well. Getting there was tiresome and did very little to entertain throughout. Meanwhile, a bevy of hard-to-follow flashbacks were at best confusing.

If Felix is being criticized for formerly being formulaic, our vote is to go back to the formula!

[Dazz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have loved all Dick Francis' books, and am thrilled that Felix has done a fantastic job of emulating his Father.

So this book certainly raises a lot of questions.

It deals with a talented son trying to emulate and following in the footsteps of his Champion Father...

I'm not a huge fan of the flashback, and it needs to be used judiciously. Yet this book perpetually flip-flops between past and present, on a stanza by stanza basis, to the point where I actually became confused at one point about which I as reading. And ultimately it just fails to tell much of a story.

I would generally describe their books as being part Mystery, part Drama, with a smidge of Thriller, and a good dose of Wry Humour. All set against the colourful backdrop of the English Racing Industry. Yet this reads more like a maudlin soap-opera.

I'm happy that Felix has chosen to shine some light on the twin challenges of Mental Illness and Addiction. But as is too often the case, the view is too shallow and the ending too much of a fairy-tale.

[Seth Sulkin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Felix Francis is only a ghost of his father

I used to have high hopes that Felix would learn storytelling from his father but if anything, he is getting worse. This book is so bad that I couldn’t finish it. Dick Francis always knew to make his protagonist so interesting that a reader cared what happened to him. In Iced, the protagonist has no redeeming personality traits nor do any other characters in the book. Every character in the book is unpleasant and the story shifts back and forth in time so often that I lost track. The story in both the past and present is boring and depressing. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.

[Stan Usher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I love Dick Francis books, but sadly his son isn't near that level.
This book is also about a son trying to emulate his famous father, but not having success. The "hero" Miles Pussett should really have been called Miles Pussy, as he is such a whiny crybaby! The story keeps switching from present to past, which sometimes gets very confusing. The actual plot of the story is ok but sadly as well as Mr "Pussy" the other characters are equally unlikeable. The only decent character doesn't even come in until halfway. I couldn't give this one star out of deference to Mr Francis Sr, but I'd certainly not recommend it, unless you want to check the validity of my review!

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Miles Pussett is a former steeplechase jockey. Now he gets his adrenaline rush from riding down the Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile Swiss ice chute, head first, reaching speeds of up to eighty miles per hour.

This was incredibly boring. I kept waiting for the excitement to mount but it just skirted around the edges of possibility and never arrived. A dull story interspersed with dull facts about racecourses.

[Daniel Montague · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book jacket promised, “a heart-pounding thriller that will keep you racing to the next page.” What I read was a bland portrayal of a sad-sack jockey, Miles Pussett. This was truly a half-ass effort by the author, Felix Francis, who poorly depicted horse racing, luge and alcoholism. I have never felt such indifference to a character who has suffered as much grief as Miles. He faces not one but two tragic deaths of his parents before his 18th birthday. Great pains are stressed to enumerate the times he has to starve himself to make weight as a jockey. He has a verbally abusive trainer, Jerry, who fully aware of his parents’ demise still treats him like garbage. With constant pressure and stress he turns to the bottle where he becomes an alcoholic.
Yet, strangely I never felt a connection with Miles. Maybe it was the off-putting writing style which was more concerned about diligently describing ever grandstand or piece of turf that was being raced on. As a kid, I would read the backs of baseball cards (clearly I was super popular) so I have a better than average threshold for sports minutiae yet my eyes were glazing over at the various strategies and locales. At some point it dawned on me that the whole point of this book was for the author to go on holiday to various places of interest. He used the idea of writing a book so he could peruse all of the horse races while getting ginned up and gambling on the ponies. This theory explains why he chose the setting of St. Moritz to place Miles at. He could have had Miles perform death or gravity defying maneuvers anywhere but if the author could get a paid vacation to one of the most exclusive and picaresque places, he might as well take advantage of the situation.
With the plot being bollocks, maybe the set of characters would be inspiring? Unfortunately not! The slight description of Miles’s parents, his father, Jim the great equestrian and his worrywart mother did not leave much of an impression. Despite, being a champion horseman Jim leaves his family nearly penniless after his tragic death. I wish they could have at least given him a backstory on his money woes, instead of he lived the jet set lifestyle. Something silly like he invested most of his money in intricate life-size jockey statues. Clearly, this investment failed and now his family is left in a state of penury. I guess any chance at levity in this thorough depressing book would have gone against the ethos. The mother is basically a device for more pain in Miles’s life. She acts as a barrier against Miles pursuing the life of a jockey. It’s okay, she overdoses quickly and Miles, can become a jockey. The trainer, Jerry Dickinson is a typical high strung asshole, who gambles and berates with frequency. His wife, Sabrina is pretty much a saint and takes care of Miles when he is at his lowest. Allegedly, she can relate because she has some OCD issues, which I am not a doctor but OCD and alcoholism do not seem all that similar. The love interest, Rachel is another character with no purpose other than how can she be of service to master Miles. She is a lovely nurse who meets Miles after a panic attack. She spends a few hours talking with him on the phone and a half a day touring her hometown and that is enough for her to change her life. Out of all the stupid things in the book, the idea that a person who is incredibly well entrenched in her life: she is a nurse in the town she has spent her whole life at and presumably has lifetime friends and family there, decides to move willy-nilly for a selfish prig of a man like Miles is the most outlandish. The author’s complete inability to write what a human being (especially one of intelligence) would say or do is stupefying. Another decision that irked me was incorporating two benefactors, Susi Ashcroft and Barbara Fenton as pivotal characters. I am sure it is not uncommon for authors to take bribes in order for a friend of the publisher to have their name in a book but to have it as blithely as this one was absurd. This brings it back to Miles. The straw that stirs the drink. He is the only character written as more than a caricature. This should be a good thing but sadly it is not. I did not enjoy Miles, so having the whole book revolve around him was quite annoying. He has a very narrow scope of things, namely anything that inconveniences him is bad and anything that supports him is good. His inability to care about anyone’s emotions other than his own is a bit sociopathic. Whether it is an Uncle whose family farm rightfully belongs to him but Miles is salty because he thinks he is entitled to half as a partial heir. His mother, who he completely ignores after his father’s death. Rachel, who he manipulates to move closer to an outpatient facility. In fact, the end where Miles does not act selfishly is a departure from the norm. In even with that, there is still a bit of spite in how gleeful he is in forcing Jerry to retire.
If you want shallow, one-note characters and a plot that is driven by the author’s holiday travels, then this is the work for you. Detailed descriptions of a jockey cutting weight by starving themselves and “resting” in a sauna, then come on down. The book jacket was right about the page turning but instead of eagerly anticipating finding out what happens next, you just skim through a race strategy at a quintessentially named English town.