This is Dick Francis' 2nd novel, written in 1964. Robert Finn is a fairly new steeplechase jockey. Other jockeys in his group are having troubles: one shoots himself, one loses his job because of rumours he's giving tips, one can't get a job as he's been late a few times, and the best jockey of all breaks a bone in his leg. Rob gets hired to fill in and becomes quite successful for a time. Then his mounts begin to lose, and there's a rumour circulating that he's lost his nerve.

The last quarter of the book is quite exciting, with a torturous kidnapping, painful but valiant recovery, and a plan to get back at the person who had destroyed so many jockeys.

Solid mystery with all the Francis touches. This was an interesting look at when things go wrong, and the way the culture of the races permeates into the lives of those who rely on it for their living.

Denoument is...interesting. The health care professional in me was horrified about how Francis did not seem to understand that asthma can be deadly and still kills people regularly. Also, the romance in this one is really a YMMV one that might be uncomfortable for some, particularly the way the female lead is worn down by the 'tenacity' of the hero.

The book may be a bit dated, but Dick Francis knows how to develop his characters and tell a great story. Sweet in the world is horse racing, Francis knows how to describe scenes so they come alive to the reader

I loved this book so much I read it in one sitting. I'm definitely going to be reading more Dick Francis books in the future I feel.

Dick Francis is one of my favorite vacation reads. These novels aren't the most enlightening, but well-written and fun murder mystery novels. This is one of my favorites of his and definitely worth picking up for a plane ride or beach time.

Read this many, many years ago. I could always depend on a Dick Francis novel for a quick, entertaining read.

A decent little read. 2.5*

This is one of the first books from Dick Francis and after reading more than 20 of his later works, it was really fun to go back and see the difference. It is still a good story but told by a much younger author in a different world...1960's.

I'm clearly in the minority on this one, but I did not enjoy this book. I think I just don't enjoy horse racing (or any other form of racing) enough to relate to the main character. Rob Finn is an up-and-coming jockey but someone is trying to do him in. If you enjoy horse racing and thrillers, you might enjoy this one. I won't be trying another installment of the series.

The Power of gossip.

"Art Mathews shot himself, loudly and messily, in the center of the parade ring at Dunstable races."

Thus begins "Nerve," and thus begins Dick Francis's career as one of the leading crime writers of the 20th century. Although "Nerve" was his second novel, it was the one in which he got the formula he would go on to use for the next 40+ years down, and it is still a great read, polished and yet shockingly fresh.

Rob Finn is a sport in the technical sense of the word: the only athlete in a family of professional musicians, he is trying to break into the world of English steeplechasing after spending the early part of his 20s ranching and roughriding in far-flung parts of the former empire. Talented and ambitious, he makes a name for himself as the jockey to call on for the really nasty rides, the ones that everyone else is afraid to take. Until one day he starts losing races, and everything thinks he's lost his nerve.

The plot is, as many of Francis's thrillers are, somewhat ridiculous when viewed from a distance, involving as it does an elaborate scheme to discredit successful jockeys, but grounded as it is by the contextual details and the inner struggles of the characters, somehow it works. Rob's rise, fall, and redemption are genuinely gripping, mainly because they are based on a true grasp of the blood, sweat, and tears behind any kind of genuine accomplishment. Rob has talent, but unlike many fictional characters, talent isn't enough for him to achieve success, something he learns from his distant mother, a professional concert pianist:

"My mother might not have been a comforting refuge in my childhood nor take much loving interest in me now I was a man, but she had by her example shown me many qualities to admire and value. Professionalism, for instance; a tough-minded singleness of purpose; a refusal to be content with a low standard when a higher one could be achieved merely by working. I had become self-reliant young and thoroughly as a result of her rejection of motherhood, and because I saw the grind behind the gloss of her public performances I grew up not expecting life's plums to be tossed into my lap without any effort from me. What mother could teach her son more?"

Rob needs all his mother's lessons in not quitting when he is shattered first by the accusations of losing his nerve, and then by the physical attack the villain sets up for him. He is the first--although far from the last--of Francis's heroes to have to push himself through some of his worst fears, and find strength where he thought he had none. Even readers who find the glitz, glamor, and multicolored silks of horseracing to be trivial will find the struggles that Rob has to undergo in order not to be broken to not be trivial at all. Recommended for all, especially if you're at a low point in your life--there's nothing like a Francis character to buck you up.

Aside from the first cousin love story, which gives me a bit of the heebie-jeebies, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Francis writes well and crafts a fast-moving tale that draws you in quickly, and entertains to the end.