Not so much a fast gallop as a sedate walk. - Rated 
Dick Francis has been a hugely successful author over a period of thirty years and has a devoted following. It has been many years since I read any of his novels which I used to enjoy. However, I found myself struggling with UNDER ORDERS. I'm not sure if my tastes have changed or if Mr Francis is not at the top of his game in this novel. There seemed to be a great deal of over-explaining which slowed the pace down. There was a lot of detail about the racing industry and online betting; more than I felt I needed to know. Nor was it really necessary to know the detailed back-story of nearly every major character who appeared in the book.. There was also much made of the fact that Sid has an artificial arm. We were told the history of how he lost his arm and his battle to come to terms with it. As this is the fourth in the Sid Halley series, I'm sure regular readers knew all this before and for a first time reader, it wasn't all necessary. I had fond memories of earlier Dick Francis novels but sadly, UNDER ORDERS didn't live up to those memories.
Francis has gone off the boil - Rated
For many years I looked forward eagerly to the year's Dick Francis book. They were always good, stirring stuff. So I was keen to read his latest offering - but I wish I hadn't bothered. There was obviously a good plot in there somewhere, but the writing was laboured and poorly edited. I was hugely disappointed that one of my favourite authors should churn out something so poor.
Welcome back, Dick - Rated 
I enjoyed this latest outing from a thriller writer who has become somewhat of an institution in the crime genre. Its six years since Francis' last book, and about forty years since his first, and certainly his style and approach have changed. There is more politics and more social commentary in this book than I remember in any of this others and, as some other reviewers have mentioned, it does feel at times a little ham-fisted and simplistic. But it is also minimal and easily disregarded. What Under Orders does have in its favour is all the classic elements of a great Francis thriller. Fast paced (once you get past the first 50 pages or so), well-plotted, convincing and credible, Under Orders may not be Francis' best, but it is still very good.
Sid Halley - the crippled ex-jockey hero of three previous novels - is quickly embroiled in a tale of race fixing, jealously, adulterous affairs and double murder. Characterisation has never been Francis' strong point, but who cares. Sid is vulnerable and invincible, and surely this is just what is needed in a private detective from the Francis' stable.
Under Orders isn't profound, it isn't life-changing, it isn't polemic and it isn't edifying. But it doesn't pretend to be either. It is a rare book in that it does exactly what it says on the tin - pure entertainment. And it does that very, very well.
Delightful - Rated 
Having read many of the downbeat reviews I was not particularly looking forward to reading this book.
In fact I was put off buying the book.
However, having read every one of his books I thought I should buy it and see.
I was delighted. The same old Dick Francis was back, Ok the story was a little tame at the start, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book from start to finish.
Thanks for another pleasurable read Mr F!
Disappointing - Rated 
As several of the other reviewers here have mentioned, I too have read every one of Dick Francis's books. I did find this one very disappointing after really looking forward to buying it. The characters are reasonable but the plot was very thin. There seemed to be a huge amount of waffle with Sid Halley doing very little in the way of sleuthing. He then suddenly solved the crime without any real lead up to this. The last part where he is held by Enstone was reasonable but there was little in the way of pace and excitement in the earlier chapters. It is an easy read however and, being a bit of a die hard fan, I will still buy the next book, whenever that appears on the shelves, in the hope that it might be an improvement on this one!
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