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Rob Finn was a bit of a misfit: a struggling young jockey in a family of accomplished musicians, a man in love with a beautiful woman who wouldn't have him -- She loved him but felt been a cousin forbade her to marry Rob. Do not know the rules—but according to this book all honky dory. Difference mothers. So near end the ice is broken after Rob had turned to the girl when he escaped near death, chained up and hanging in a stable somewhere in a rural area just west of Uxbridge, London. He is badly hurt. But rides the horse next day and wins the race, to the great annoyance of his nemsis Kempt the racing TV presenter. Who is eaten up with vindictiveness due to the fact he could never be a fearless jockey himself, like his father. He uses his position to spread rumours about jockeys causing one "Art" to publicly commit suicide by shooting himself. Another to need time to recover from a complete breakdown and so on.
With Rob he feed doped sugar cubes to his horses just before the start of each race so they were sluggish and then Rob suddenly looked like a rider who had lost his nerve. The horses were unusually sluggish, and that there was something more sinister attempting to sabotage him, he checked with the stable lad with the horse in all his 28 sluggish horses to discover they were consistently givensugar cubes by Kempt the TV presenter. The malicious, spikeful and very dangerous TV presenter feed non doped sugar cubes to other horses as well to cover his tracks.
Rob in the end sends written statements exposing his crimes of malicious gossip and sabotage. He on the night beforehand kidnapped the TV presenter. The night before his programme so he does not turn up and thus his career is destroyed. Rob suggests he goes immediately abroad to where he is not known. It is assumed this is what happens and that he lives each day with the knowledge of his deeds and lost career and shame. Wish life worked like that!

Very good plot loved reading it again

Sometimes when you pick up an old book, one which you've previously read, you doubt its relevance to the present day. 'Nerve' was first published in 1964 and you might think it would be tired and out of date. Nothing like it! 'Nerve' is as fresh today as it was all those years ago.
Admittedly there are no mobile phones (blessed relief!), there's no internet or instant communication. What there is instead is pure gold: a solid, reliable thriller with likeable (and not as likeable) characters, written in such a comfortable way that you can't put it down.

Dick Francis wrote a good number of racing - oriented thrillers across a period of half a century, and his reputation stands as solidly today as it did back then.

I heartily recommend this book. I've probably read it about five times now! Will I read it again? There is absolutely no doubt about it.

Kissing cousins freaks me out but otherwise a really great read!

`Bill Clinton, who reads about 100 books/year, said that Dick Francis was his favorite mystery writer. It seemed like a strong recommendation to me.

But, to enjoy a murder mystery, you have to like or mentally be or laugh with the protagonist. I could do none of those with Nerve. It took 100 pages of steeplechasing to arrive at the crime.

The book just did noy engage me, the way a murder mystery should.

Finalist 1964 Gold Dagger Award.

Racing related thrillers - Robert Finn watches a fellow steeplechase jockey blow his brains out in the parade ring at Dunstable races, just before a race. As Finn and the other jockeys cope, some better than others, with the stress of their jobs, other incidents lead him to conclude that someone is trying to destroy the lives of jockeys all over England. Finn is not the average jockey. The only child of famous virtuoso musicians, and the single family member to not be gifted musically, he has followed a different path than that of his family's vocation. He has inherited other skills that will help him as he unravels a sad and warped trail. And he has been remarkably successful jockey for a man with only 2 years experience. Soon, he is the next target. A losing streak that lasts weeks threatens his job until he takes it upon himself to do a little sleuthing, and uncovering the identity of the culprit. Now, Finn wants his revenge, and he takes his time setting it up.

This, the second novel by Dick Francis, was first published in 1964, and like most of his books, this one is set in the world of British horse racing. The protagonist, Rob Finn, shares all the usual characteristics and the same sort of frustrated love life as the typical Francis protagonist. He's quiet and self-effacing, which often leads people to underestimate him. But underneath, he's clever and resourceful and he has a steely resolve that does not bode well for anyone who would do an injustice to Finn or to someone he cares about.

As the book opens, Finn is a struggling young steeplechase jockey trying to work his way up the ladder to better mounts and more success. It's a tough climb, made even harder by the fact that someone is spreading stories about some jockeys that may or may not be true, but which nonetheless are causing them to lose their jobs. One fired jockey even commits suicide.

When Rob becomes the target of false rumors, though, he doesn't chuck it all and kill himself or leave racing for another profession. Rather, he begins an investigation in an effort to clear his own name and those of his friends. It's a very dangerous undertaking and he's up against an especially determined opponent. The result is a very tense story that has the reader turning the pages rapidly.

Re-reading the first Francis novel, Dead Cert, I was a bit disappointed because the book didn't seem to be up to the standards I'd come to expect from Francis. But this one is spot-on and makes me glad that I decided to work my way through his novels again.

Rob Finn is a jockey working his way up in the ranks. Most of the jobs he gets are second rate horses which aren't expected to do well. Then he happens to be in the right place at the right time when a fellow jockey takes a bad fall and breaks his leg. Rob is hired to ride those jobs while the other jockey recovers. After he takes a spill as well, he endures a period when every horse he rides is sluggish. The rumor goes around that he's lost his nerve. Rob sets out to show the real reason.
Re-read in 2013. I think this is one of my favorites of the Dick Francis books I've read. I've read enough now to know that Rob would get himself in a horrible fix that would provide the time to think about what was really going on. My only surprise with this one was how far into the book that came. I can't put my finger on why I liked this one more that some of the others, but I know I do.

2.5. Good writing but the story dragged and felt a bit outdated.

This in a blanket review of all DF books. I am choosing this book because it was my first, My favorite is the architect/house flipper one. I have them on a shelf I’ve labeled Comfort Food, because I’ve read them all like 5 times and for about a majority of them I can’t remember which one’s which. Even the one’s I can remember it’s mostly “the photographer one” or “the glass blower one.” However I LOVE these books. The repeated elements are described in other reviews. The ones with his son (Felix Francis) had the protagonists doing some morally ambiguous things; nuance/having to think is not what I read them for, so i stopped.

6/7/20 [not fully re-read]- My bad. Probably not my first. So far I don’t remember this one at all except that it’s The Incest One (the MC is in love w/ his own first cousin...Thankfully she does not reciprocate; I really have no idea how that arc ends though a sinking feeling she says ok at the end. Gah, I hope not!) I am so grossed out by that idea that it’s possible I didn’t even finish it, and I doubt I would’ve gone on to read all of DF’s books If I had started with this one. I think I started with Enquiry, though that one has a weird 1950’s portrayal of the MCs romantic partner, so I’m not positive. (So far 2.25 stars)

6/29/20 - yep, I was right, they get together, thus cementing the nickname The Incest One (DF tries to explain it’s not incest...and maybe at that time in England they had a different bar...but for me it is). I’m pretty sure, actually that I did indeed read this, because though I don’t remember the climax, I knew/suspected the bad guy from pretty early on, and it contained one of my favorite “hero in peril” scenes.

I think in the current climate the fact that he never (that I can think of) goes to the police is a plus for me. The MCs are simultaneously vengeful, and extremely merciful (the bad guy got off a lot lighter than he deserved) so I think I might raise it to 3* for the mystery, also because it was fairly easy for me to just skim, or even skip, the parts with his cousin (gag)

This is one of Dick Francis's earlier works, being only the second of his forty something crime novels involving horses and racing.

Jockey Rob Finn comes from a famously musical family. And while Finn doesn't have a musical gift, he does seem to have a gift for riding hard to ride horses. He is just beginning to make a name for himself as a steeplechase jockey, when he has a bad fall, followed by a string of horses that lose races they were expected to win. The rumor is that the fall made him lose his nerve. Finn suspects something more nefarious is happening.

Protagonist Finn is a strong hero – a nice guy solving a problem who will fight back mercilessly when necessary. There is some descriptive brutality, of the human against human sort and a rather odd (although not illegal) romance with his cousin.

The best part of Dick Francis's novels for me, is that being a former steeplechase jockey himself, he gets the horses right. That is something that very few authors do well, and is one of the reasons I continue to enjoy Francis's books

My first Dick Francis...I thought it was a pretty good suspense novel.