Sid Halley is one of my favorite Dick Francis characters, along with Kit Fielding. This added story of the jockey turned detective penned by Dick Francis' son Felix is an excellent addition to the series. How do you say no to someone who wants you to do something that you know is a bad idea? Darned I'd you do same if you don't. Sid eventually says yes to investigate cheating in the horse racing world he left after being injured. Using his intuition and wits against a sadistic and brutal opponent, Halley must save his family and the racing family as well. Recommended. A caution for those who do not like brutal violence. Francis describes just enough and your imagination fills in the rest. ( )

Lovely. I think Felix has a real good handle on his father's style and on the character of Sid Halley. The plot made sense and the villain was suitably evil. This just seemed to be a recipe for a bad guy to follow. I could see someone sufficiently callous fixing races this way. Anyway if you're a fan, I think you'll like this one. It was great to see Sid again and to see him having a good life. ( )

In the classic Dick Francis novel, the villain was a figure of palpable menace and evilness, but the hero took all the villain dished out and kept coming. Although Felix Francis' writing style is somewhat different from Dick Francis, he continues to put out interesting mysteries set close to the English racing scene. His villains are also getting more menacing and his books more readable. I was quite enthralled, through to the end, in this novel.

Dick Francis’s Refusal, by Felix Francis, falls quite seamlessly into the Sid Halley book storyline. If you are familiar with Dick Francis' writing, you almost cannot tell the difference between this book and the ones written by Dick himself. I believe the Francis Franchise is alive and well in Felix’s hands. The writing is tight, the mystery first rate, the pacing fast and furious so that there was the feeling that this book probably would have been written by Dick Francis if he were still alive. While some of the tactics of McCusker are straight out of the classic Dick Francis playbook, others are wholly those of Felix Francis, but they all do work.

Also, Refusal is a good solid horse racing mystery. Every once in a while I need to get away from all the gloom and doom of other novels, and just read about a rational hero, a good man, and an author that instills a love in me and a knowledge of something: in this case horse racing. Art, the world as it ought to be. It makes me so glad that Felix Francis is as talented a writer as his father and to know that I’ll be reading his books for many years to come, and I’m already looking forward to his next novel. His talent is directly inherited from his father, and is *almost* just as refreshing as his father's works are; like an ice cold drink on a hot summer's day. Good job Felix, 4 stars.
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Not a very satisfying book. Much less a 'who done it' as rather a 'how to get who done it'. All so very neat and tidy down to the very last line -- too syrupy sweet. ( )

i was disappointed in this. i think Felix should have stuck to new characters. i mean granted all the Francis(Dick & Felix) protagonists are very similar type of men but different. this was not his best. i actually reread Crossfire, Gamble and Bloodline before reading this book so i can really say that this was a disappointment. Sid was not as cool as the other gents in the previous books. his wife seemed rather hysterical. then in the second half of the book they all of a sudden become typical Franics protagonists and are cool again. instead of being scared and hysterical. they are mad and cunning and plotting. oh and where was the mystery??? he told us way early who the bad guy was and made it very obvious who else was working with said bad guy. i don't know if he was rushed or if he was pressured to do a sid halley novel but i will give him a pass. every author writes a sucky book once in a while. ( )