The Danger (A Dick Francis Novel)

“‘I can’t bear to sell the house on Mikonos . . . my wife loved it.”“She loved Alessia too. She’d think it a fair swap.”(Victims father expressing the pain of losing his vacation house because of the ransom. Douglass’ reasoning seems so. . .so. . .cold.)He looked at me for a while.“You’re a strange young man,” he said.“You make things so clear.”He paused. “Don’t you ever get muddled by emotion?”“Yes, sometimes,” I said.This contrast - cold logic vs hot emotion - provides the foundation to construct the drama. Douglass, the central character, organizes, counsels, directs, fixes with clear, sympathetic ‘Reason’.The villain, his intellectual equal; the victims, broken and suffering; two types of police, wise and successful, or foolish and destructive; are drawn vividly, colorfully and quickly. Francis uses each character to present interplay of disciplined control and uncontrolled feeling.Great! “But when it happens . . . I try to sort myself out. To see some logic.” “And once you see some logic, you act on it?” “Try to.” I paused. “Yes.” “It sounds . . . cold.”I shook my head.“Logic doesn’t stop you feeling. You can behave logically, and it can hurt like hell. Or it can comfort you. Or release you. Or all at the same time.”After a while he said, stating a fact, “Most people don’t behave logically.”“No,” I said.“You seem to think everyone could, if they wanted to?”I shook my head. “No.”He waited, so I went on diffidently,“There’s genetic memory against it, for one thing. And to be logical you have to dig up and face your own hidden motives and emotions, and of course they’re hidden principally because you don’t want to face them. So . . . um . . . it’s easier to let your basement feelings run the upper stories, so to speak, and the result is rage, quarrels, love, jobs, opinions, anorexia, philanthropy . . . almost anything you can think of. I just like to know what’s going on down there, to pick out why I truly want to do things, that’s all. Then I can do them or not. Whichever.”(This conversation presents the verbal, intellectual, theoretical idea that Francis uses as underlying theme.)He looked at me consideringly. “Self-analysis . . . did you study it?”“No. Lived it. Like everyone does.”He smiled faintly. “At what age?”“Well . . . from the beginning. I mean, I can’t remember not doing it. Digging into my own true motives. Knowing in one’s heart of hearts. Facing the shameful things . . . the discreditable impulses . . . Awful, really.”He picked up his glass and drank some brandy.“Did it result in sainthood?” he said, smiling.“Er . . . no. In sin, of course, from doing what I knew I shouldn’t.”The psychological impact (on victim, family and villain) of kidnapping covered in detail. I found this fascinating!For example . . .“His fury bubbled on, and I couldn’t blame him. It often seemed to those who loved that literally no price was too great to pay for the safe return of the loved one, but I’d learned a great deal about the unexpected faces of stress over the past four years, and I’d seen that for the future health of the family’s relationships it was essential that one member had not in fact cost the rest everything.’’Why?“After the first euphoria, and when the financial loss had begun to bite, the burden of guilt on the paid-for victim became too great, and the resentment of the payers too intense, and they too began to feel guilt for their resentment, and could eventually hate the victim for love of whom they had beggared themselves. To save the victims’ future equilibrium had gradually become to me as important as their actual physical freedom, but it was an aim I didn’t expect Paolo Cenci at that moment to appreciate.’’Long range thinking.Another psychological insight of father whose infant son kidnapped . . .“ ‘John Nerrity,” I said neutrally, “is like one of those snowstorm paperweights, all shaken up, with bits of guilt and fear and relief and meanness all floating around in a turmoil. It takes a while after something as traumatic as the last few days for everything in someone’s character to settle, like the snowstorm, so to speak, and for all the old pattern to reassert.”“I’d never thought of it like that.’”Like all of Francis books, the title includes multiple implications . . .‘The Danger’ seems to embrace not just risk of victims dying, but also - victims mental breakdown, family destruction, financial bankruptcy, police guilt from incompetence, etc. etc..This work directed to psychological, philosophical drama more than physical conflict.Nevertheless - the story, the people, the reading - is fast, captivating and interesting.Francis does it again!

Having read this book a number of years ago, I wondered if I would enjoy having it on my Kindle. Buying the book was so easy, so quick, I began reading immediately. I found the book as entertaining, suspenseful, and as informative on the unthinkable challenges faced by a kidnap victim as I had the first time I read it. I hadn't remembered all the details and the action is rapid, so I wasn't at all bored. As Francis takes his hero, Andrew Douglas, into three countries, the characters of the criminal and Douglas slowly unfold along with some techniques used to negotiate a safe release of a kidnap victim. This is a hard book to put down from its beginning in Italy to the ending in Washington, D.C. A young lady has been captive for over 5 weeks, and the attempt to ransom her was bungled by a glory-seeking officer. Douglas is faced with convincing the criminal, the family, and the police to renegotiate, from the beginning. In the process he learns valuable information, that aids him in rescues in England and the United States. One kidnapping master mind, three different cultures, three different attitudes toward the process of liberating a captive, but the endeavor is successful until Douglas himself is kidnapped. He knows he will never be ransomed: His captor wants revenge. This is Dick Francis at his best, holding the reader in suspense from the first paragraph to the last word. Anyone who enjoys a good mystery will enjoy this book!

This is Dick Francis at his best. The hero, Andrew Douglas, is a partner in a company that advises families and companies in cases of kidnapping.Andrew understands the psychology of both kidnappers and victims. He gets involved in ransom negotiations, recovery of the victim and helping the rescued victim reintegrate into ordinary everyday life.When we meet Andrew, he's working in Italy (his highly specialized profession takes him all over the world). Alessia Cenci, world-class champion girl jockey, has just been kidnapped. The daughter of a rich, devoted father, Alessia is young, beautiful and brilliant. (If you sense the potential for romance here, you are correct!)There are lots of things to love about this book. The hero is low-key, thoughtful, cool headed in a crisis and wonderfully compassionate - a rock with a soft heart. The methodology of dealing successfully with kidnappers is fascinating, and we see this unfold on more than one case. All the supporting characters are well drawn. And the plot has a symmetry about it that's truly elegant.In particular, Dick Francis does a tremendous job of portraying the emotional damage a victim of abduction suffers and the subsequent symptoms of posttraumatic stress.This is not a particularly horsy book, but rather a thriller that feels totally real - and a love story of ineffable charm. I recommended it wholeheartedly.

Dick Francis is always good or better. This one is at the very least in the better category and perhaps it's over into the best. You can never go wrong reading Dick Francis.

This book had all Dick Francis best characters., light romance , and a plot that keep me reading the whole book in one setting.Love it when the bad guys are bad and the good guys win .

This story is exciting and tender at the same time. The plot revolves around a young man whose job it is to rescue victims of kidnappings. He understands well the terrible emotional toll experienced by the traumatized victims. Rescue is only the beginning of a long process of physical and emotional recovery. This narrative has all the familiar ingredients of a Dick Francis novel-danger, excitement, romance and, of course, attention to detail. This is a wonderfully enjoyable book. It is highly recommended.

This covers similar ground to 'The Negotiator', although of course Forsyth's book is better written and researched.It has the usual romantic subplot with the obvious ending and a frankly nonsensical escape by the narrator but is still a good quick read. Classic Francis timekiller.

Whilst horses were involved in the periphery, not the usual racing world environment for this particular story. Not quite up there with his best, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

The beginning not the usual enticing opening ! Several times I was going to give up. Persevered, lighthearted suspense. Ending is a short sharp slap . Wow !!! That's it.

So enjoying re reading Dick Francis and this turns out to be one of the best. Great characters as ever and a taut and gripping plot

Good Francis novel but anyone who has had experience with abuction might find some of the detail upsetting.