Brief Note: DAMAGE, Felix Francis

You know how it is over a holiday weekend -- you grab a book that will be easy to pick up, easy to put down, because one way or another, people will interrupt. (Glad to have them around!)

So I grabbed the newest Felix Francis book, DAMAGE. The cover calls it "Dick Francis's DAMAGE" -- which I suppose is branding, but at this point, silly. Here, Felix Francis writes a solid, enjoyable, well-paced "novel of suspense" focused on the racetracks and their horses, where his father Dick's books took place. Jeff Hinkley, an investigator for the British Horseracing Authority, has the best of professional reasons to solve an extortion situation that's holding the BHA and its races hostage. Francis also gives Jeff two major issues in his private life to juggle -- in his sister's family, and with his girlfriend -- and ramps the tension up swiftly.

I had a good time racing around England with this personable investigator. His moves made sense, and the plot twists were both credible and interesting. I'd read another Felix Francis on any holiday weekend ... and maybe even in between!