SOURCE: A review of Longshot, in The Armchair Detective, Vol. 24, No. 2, Spring, 1991, p. 228.

In the following excerpt, Mattos lauds the "pulse-quickening suspense" of Francis's novels and Longshot in particular.

In 1962, so the story goes, Dick Francis needed a new carpet for his sitting room. He decided to write a book to get the money. Drawing upon his past as a successful jockey, he wrote a thriller set in the world of horse racing. That was Dead Cert. He now has homes in both the U.S. and Great Britain, and I bet they all have fine carpets. In Francis's latest novel, the hero, John Kendall, is a struggling writer. He is down to his last few pence when the pipes freeze in his rooms and he is forced to seek temporary accommodations. About this time, he meets Tremayne Vickers, a successful horse trainer who feels the need to...