More From the “Killer Fiction” Review Archives
Posted on July 25th, 2009
Dead Weight by John Francome
Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur
ISBN: 0-312-32981-4
Phil Nicholas had been one of the best jump jockeys in England. But after a devastating fall and life-threatening injuries, Phil wondered if he would ever regain his confidence and ability to win.
Now it seems as though Phil is finally making an impressive comeback because he is—to everyone’s surprise—crossing the finish line on Snowflake, a 33-to-1 long shot, and dramatically passing January King—the favorite—at an important race at the Wincanton racecourse. Life is finally getting better. Phil is in the winning circle once again, he is happily married to Julia, a sexy, beautiful, young woman who adores him, and his bad luck is apparently relegated to the past.
In the meantime, however, a man sits at home and furiously grouses about having been robbed. He had placed a substantial wager on January King—a sure thing as he had seen it—and then, while he watched the race on the television, he had incredulously witnessed the impossible: January King, at the last fence, lost the race! The jockey had simply dropped his hands, sat still in the saddle, and let some pathetic outsider catch him on the line. “Well,” thinks the unfortunate gambler, “I know the little bastard’s name. I know the jockey. It won’t be hard to find out here he lives.” Slamming his fist on the table, dangerous feelings of anger boil up inside him like a separate creature, like a dark and terrible beast. Now, the beast would begin getting even for all the losses, all the misfortunes, all the problems.
With this is the predicate for all the follows, John Francome weaves a richly detailed (and frequently too deliberately paced) tale of horseracing, duplicity, problematic romance, disturbing psychopathology, and violence. At times Dead Weight is a fascinating character study as we watch the passionate but haunted Phil Nicholas as he negotiates the complicated twists and turns on the racecourse and in his marriage. At other times Francome’s novel offers itself as a carefully plotted suspense thriller as we watch inexplicable violence being unleashed on apparently innocent victims by a darkly dangerous man who lurks in the story’s shadows. And for those who are interested in such details, we are at all times offered a vivid panorama of the British horseracing world.
Francome, quite frankly, isn’t exactly Dick Francis—although other critics have made a favorable comparison—but Dead Weight is a reasonably entertaining (albeit occasionally plodding) tale of torment, endurance, and victory.
Tags: Bad Luck, Character Study, Duplicity, Finish Line, Impressive Comeback, Jockey, Jockeys, John Francome, Killer Fiction, Life Threatening Injuries, Little Bastard, Minotaur, Misfortunes, Outsider, Phil Nicholas, Predicate, Psychopathology, Sure Thing, Wager, Wincanton Racecourse
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