There may remain in later Francis novels some element of Nat Gould and Edgar Wallace, early writers of racing thrillers, but a more direct precedent may be the work of John Welcome, a friend and sometime collaborator.

Another influence may be John Buchan, author of The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915); like him, Francis creates heroes who struggle against time and have a keen ability to escape from difficult situations. Francis himself has acknowledged a debt to Ian Fleming and also has expressed his admiration for such contemporaries as Desmond Bagley and Alistair Maclean.