The mixture as before—or is it? Well, not quite. The formula [in Reflex] is certainly the same—the jockey struggling against odds, the secondary background, in this case photography, expertly related to the racing, the unflagging pace, the intricately worked-out plots—not always cohering—the nice girl innocently involved. As always the racing scenes are splendid, terse, evocative and of such immediate impact that one can almost hear the smash of birch and the thud of hooves; the photographic side, too, has clearly been carefully researched, its technicalities being set down with obsessional attention to detail.

But these are things common to the whole canon of Francis' work. This time a new dimension has been added. Since, and not before time, there is less emphasis on brutality—there is only one ritual beating up—he has been enabled to flesh out his characters. The portrait of Philip Nore, the mediocre jockey nearing the end of his career, is created with real insight; as is the interpretation of his relations with the horses he rides. (pp. 143-44)

The subsidiary characters, too, are brought to life with a surer touch than usual…. By widening and deepening the scope of his talents Francis has lost nothing of his narrative drive, so that he has here created something as far superior to the ordinary thriller as a classic winner to a selling plater. (p. 144)