(one in a series of Dick Francis reviews in which I try and separate all those rather similar titles, and in which I try not to give away plotlines)
'Nerve' (1964) is a scorcher! Rob Finn is a rather unsuccesful workaday jockey. Then, a rather succesful jockey shoots himself, and more and more things go wrong for other jockeys; there seems to be a general edginess between trainers and jockeys, and nasty rumours abound. After appearing on television as a 'typical unsuccesful jockey' Finn's rides also seem to be gettng slower and slower. The story is how he finds out what is happening, and why, and what he does about it. My only gripe is some cod psychiatry, but the sustained tension and an excellent love story interwoven with the plot more than make up for it.
The bare bones don't really do justice to it, but this is an absolute Francis cracker, with plenty of suffering, af bearing up, of dealing with adversity without moaning, about changing misfortune to a positive outcome. read this when you're ill, or otherwise sorry for yourself - it buckles you up! Seriously, Francis is hitting his stride here, and writes very well about the down-to-earth grittiness of being a jockey, but also about the absolute elation that can come with a good race. And imparts some more of his philosophy: ".... a refusal to be content with a low standard, when a higher one could be achieved merely by working."
Enormously satisfactory.
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