The Arm of the Starfish

It's always a revelation to see how attitudes have changed as books from earlier times are reprinted (mid-sixties in this case). While the action and plotting don't fail, the characterisation seems embarrassingly dated, like some repeated television favourite whose acting conventions now seem wooden and unrealistic. Stylised extremes of intellect, goodness and beauty merge with awful sexual stereotyping. Nevertheless, it meets National Curriculum requirements at the highest level to move pupils towards writing for adults - in this case Dick Francis and Jeffrey Archer.