Francis' second novel takes the successful formula from the first (male jockey who is a bit of an underdog but comes from a background of both discreet wealth and with an upbringing which bestowed a steely resolve in our hero).

The difference here though is that the case is hugely entertaining. Why Britain's leading jockeys all suffering career-threatening fates? Rob Finn falls foul too but sets about finding out why.

The depiction of a man driven is well realised and the characters are all beautifully drawn. The love story which seems like a secondary interest at the beginning evolves nicely over the course of this tautly-paced thriller.

Highly recommended.

Another fantastic, incredible, tense at times, novel by Dick Francis. This is the 3rd time I've read this story, the 1st time being in 1998 and the 2nd time in 2004. I've come to love his intense attention to detail throughout all his novels, weaving a picture that I can perfectly see inside my mind's imagination as the story unfolds. I can actually feel the tension and anguish of Rob Finn, the main character here. I love this man's writing .... it makes me feel alive when I read his words that fill my mind with such great and intense colors of emotion.

Dick Francis was well-known and well-loved for his taut, tightly-plotted mysteries, most of them set in or around the world of horse-racing. Nerve has always been one of my favorites.

The book begins with a bang -- literally. "Art Matthews shot himself, loudly and messily, in the center of the parade ring at Dunstable races." And with that, we're off. Something is deeply amiss in the racing world. Jockeys are being ruined by rumor and innuendo; Art's suicide and the later nervous breakdown of jockey Grant Oldham are merely the most obvious signs.

Narrator Rob Finn, a relatively unknown jockey, gets a lucky break when he is taken on as second string jockey by well-known trainer James Axminster. But when Rob takes a bad fall, then finds himself atop a string of slow, unresponsive horses -- several of them favorites to win -- he realizes that he, too, has fallen victim to whoever is trying to ruin jockeys. The difference is, Rob intends to fight back.

And fight back he does, eventually identifying the source of the rumors. But before he has a chance to prove it, the villain strikes harder, and Rob finds himself in a fight for his life.

One of the things that make Francis's books work so well is the liveliness of his descriptions. You aren't reading about the race course, you're there -- feeling the power of the horse beneath you, smelling the horses, hearing the crowds. I once read a review which said something to the effect of, 'only Francis could make a 10-foot fall from a balcony feel as agonizing as being shot.' As a jockey, Francis knew intimately the pain of a sprain, a broken bone, a fall. His descriptions of these are vivid and immediate. Don't get me wrong -- though there may be violence, accidental or deliberate, in a Dick Francis novel, it's graphic but never gratuitous, and rarely gory.

His main characters are equally real, and while they all share several characteristics -- tenacity, an ability to think logically, a certain tendency to take justice into their own hands, and above all courage in the face of their own fear -- I don't find (as some people complain) that they are the same person at all. Rob is an unusual jockey, born into a family of celebrated classical musicians but without musical talent. He's totally committed to racing, and hopelessly in love with his cousin Joanna. He's a real, three-dimensional person whose voice comes alive on the page. The secondary characters, while less developed for obvious reasons, are equally realistic and believable. It's the writing, the tight plot, but above all the characters that keep me returning to Nerve.


Review originally published at The Bookwyrm's Hoard.

FTC disclosure: This book is in my personal collection.

Rob Finn, a professional jockey, is just starting to become successful in the profession he loves when suddenly it all falls apart and he is accused of having lost his nerve. This isn't one of Francis' more memorable mysteries, but what it does feature is a lot of interesting, genuine inside information about what it is like to work as broke, unsuccessful professional jockey, handling horses that no one else wants to race, sustaining frequent injuries and constantly starving oneself to make the weight restrictions. Definitely worth reading if you're a Francis fan, but I wouldn't put it in his top tier of works.

You don't ordinarily consider British horse racing a typical setting for a smart thriller, but Dick Francis (himself a steeplechase legend) delivers a good one with his second novel Nerve. Written in the early 60s, and rife with a restrained British sensibility (it's always amusing to see swear words were hyphenated back then to please the censors), Nerve doesn't have many modern trappings of thrillers--perverse killers, graphic sex, car chases, or shootouts. Instead it has the very relatable story of an up and coming jockey (Robert Finn) who suffers a series of disasters on the track that he suspects have been deliberately caused.

Francis demonstrates a flair for ingeniously dark humor when his protagonist arrives home early in the story to find two letters, one informing him that his income taxes are over due, and another from an ex (and cigarette model) telling him she's getting married to a wealthy industrialist. I wish Francis had written more scenes with Finn's family, who are all successful musicians, and whom see their jockey member as an oddball and outcast. Finn, meanwhile, pines for his hot cousin, an artsy manic pixie dream girl sort with whom he shared baths as a child, and to whom he continually insists it's not illegal or incestuous to marry.

As a highly successful jockey himself, Francis is able to paint the sport quite realistically, and in general portrays it as a mostly lonely and dangerous pursuit filled with petty professional jealousies. In fact, the whole novel revolves around professional jealousy, and the lengths a person will go to destroy those that have what they never can.

Nerve is quick and breezy but quite enjoyable. It's kind of amazing that one man managed to not only corner the market on horse racing thrillers, but make a lengthy, best-selling career out of it. Dick Francis' novel not only gives an inside glimpse into a sport most people know nothing about, and makes it interesting, it's also a study on the impact of niche marketing. More than forty of his novels became international bestsellers.

Early Dick Francis. A young and inexperienced steeplechaser gets a few breaks, does well with them, and then things start to go bad for him. It takes him what seemed to me to be an inordinately long time to figure out what the problem was, but once he wakes up, his revenge is sweet. One overlooks the improbability of it all because the bad guy is SOOO bad, and the good guys are sooo good.

A big thank you to openlibrary.org for making this available as an eBook. Sadly... due to the nature of copyright law, this and many of Mr. Francis' earlier books are unavailable for the Kindle at this time.

Once again Dick Francis brings to vivid life the risky business of an amateur steeplechase jockey. The incidents involving the Tank Carrier and the Jaguar blocking the lane reminds me of the comment made in Goldfinger... The first time is happenstance. The second is coincidence and the third is enemy action. This was Mr. Francis' second thriller and his third published book. His first book being his autobiography as the Queen Mother's jockey. His first thriller and second book was Dead Cert.

I thoroughly enjoyed this page-turner of a crime thriller. I was aware that Dick Francis wrote horse racing related crime thrillers but had never read one before. Now I understand why they are popular.
Published in 1964 there are elements of the story that have dated, of course, but if, like me, you can (just!) remember the days with no mobile phones, internet or even colour TV you will appreciate this story all the more. The book evokes the sixties quite well, though this was not its purpose.
The story begins with a death and Mr Francis sets the background nicely. His prose is economical but sufficient to give a good impression of character - a clever skill, so that you know who's who quite quickly. The story then races along (sorry!), becoming more exciting as it goes - a bit like a horse race really.
I knew little about the world of racing but after reading this I feel I know a bit more, so it was somewhat educational as well as very entertaining. Some of the things that happen seem a bit unrealistic though certainly possible but this does not matter, as this is a cracking read that will leave you satisfied and wanting to read another one from the Francis stable.

Bottom Line: Good novel, definite reread

This novel is one of my favourites. The character is a typical Dick Francis character, strong, fearless and decisive who at one point doubts his nerve. This emotional conflict is intrinsic to the story but is explored through action and conversation and not through typical emotional descriptives. The pacing is quick and the prose is tight. The story has aged extremely well, originally published in 1964, except for small details it could be contemporary.

I always enjoy Francis. Another good one.

NERVE - Ex
Francis, Dick - 2nd book

Mysterious accidents start happening to jockeys, one man is found shot dead, while another is found with a broken leg. When Robb Finn begins investigating, he finds himself caught up in a world of violence and twisted envy.

Another great Dick Francis book. Interesting and exciting. In this book, the protagonist is in love with his cousin who is a singer of madrigals.

I have read all of Dick Francis but when I saw Nerve available as an inexpensive eBook I was sucked right into buying and re-reading it. I believe it was the first book he wrote, and it has all of his signatures: something to do with horse-racing, a protagonist who will get beaten up and who will come out ahead in the end, a light romance and information about some subject that you might not be familiar with. In this case, we learn about steeple chase racing and also about a horse racing tv show. (Oh, and usually a steak and tomatoes will be grilled and eaten!). I loved re-reading it. Now I need to re-read For Kicks which was the first Dick Francis book I ever read.