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Saturday, December 10, 2022

ICED by Felix Francis – Book Review

ICED is the latest horseracing mystery by Felix Francis, son of the British crime writer Dick Francis.

Synopsis

Miles Pussett grew up wanting more than anything to be a championship steeplechase jockey like his father. He loved riding horses and dreamed of following in his father's footsteps.

When his dad is killed in an automobile accident when Miles is 12, he devotes himself to learning to ride like his famous father. He is given his first opportunity while still in his teens to compete in a point-to-point event, his first horse race, albeit as an amateur. When his mother dies, he becomes a jockey for a training stable.

Although Miles tries his best, he endures many setbacks as he pursues his dream. He is treated badly by fellow jockeys as they all think he is only given rides in horse races because of who is father was. Therefore he has no friends. He wins a few races, but 'being the best' eludes him as there are more losses than wins and his confidence level gets lower and lower.

Miles ends up drinking as a way to 'forget' his failures and eventually he hits rock-bottom. With the help of the trainer's wife, who sees the problem and wants to help Miles, he ends up seeing a psychiatrist. Turns out that Miles has been suffering from PTSD going back to his childhood. He always thought that PTSD was only a veteran's condition. Not so. Anyone can suffer from it given enough trauma that has gone unrecognized.

Until the psychiatrist explains it to him, Miles had no idea that his dad's death had affected him so strongly (because 12-year-old Miles was in the car with his dad the day of the accident). And his mother's death when he was only 17 was due to suicide and Miles blamed himself. All this trauma before he ever grew up with no one helping him understand it led to his PTSD.

Now it is 7 years later and Miles has left the horse racing world and is doing fine. Instead, he enjoys riding headfirst down the Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile Swiss ice chute, reaching speeds of up to eighty miles per hour.

Horses racing at Cresta Run in St. Moritz Switzerland

While at St. Moritz for the Cresta Run, Miles discovers it is the same weekend as the White Turf – an event featuring high-class horseracing taking place on a frozen lake. Against his better judgment, he gets talked into helping out with the horses. But then he discovers something suspicious going on at the races.

Miles begins to search for answers, because the 'something suspicious' many have a profound impact on his future. But someone is adamant about stopping him – and they will go to any lengths to do it.

Summary

The horseracing mystery involved in ICED is, as always, an interesting read for fans of the Dick Frances and Felix Francis stories. But it is also a look into how Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) can affect not only those who have fought in wars, but anyone who has had to endure a series of traumas in their life.