Once upon a time, I read a lot of the late Dick Francis’s books. They were pretty good. In recent years his son Felix has taken up the mantle. Although Felix’s name is on the cover, Pulse is still prominently marketed as “A Dick Francis novel”, though it clearly is not, as he has been sadly deceased since 2010.

In a break with the Dick Francis tradition, the narrator/protagonist of Pulse, Accident and Emergency consultant Chris Rankin, is a woman. (Although the blurb and first few pages, along with her unisex name, seem to go to some effort to hide that fact. I’m not sure if it’s meant to be a stunning revelation.)

Chris also suffers from mental health problems which appear to have been triggered by an early menopause. She’s in a bad way, borderline suicidal and severely eating disordered. She certainly doesn’t seem well enough to be working at all, let alone as a doctor in A&E - a fact she herself should surely be aware of.

It’s a real shame that the first female lead character is so troubled - while Dick Francis’s male heroes generally had their own issues to deal with (typically discovering hitherto unsuspected reserves of strength and courage over the course of the story), I don’t recall any being as much of a fragile mess as Chris. For the first part of the book she’s basically a walking disaster area and I certainly wouldn’t want her anywhere near me in an emergency. If Felix Francis wanted to write a main character with mental health issues - fine in itself - there’s no reason this couldn’t have been done with a male character. It’s concerning that he apparently felt he could only write such a troubled character by making her a woman, whose mental illness is triggered - naturally - by the loss of her fertility. Oh, and she has body image and eating issues, too, and worries incessantly about her husband leaving her. Of course she does - she’s female. Who on earth thought all this was a good idea?

And don’t, please don’t get me started on the bit where she mentions her breasts. I wondered how long it would take for Francis to commit the quintessential male-author-writing-female-character cliche. It wasn’t long. And I’m sorry to have to report that the word “fulsome” was mentioned. Let us never speak of this again.

At around 12% in, the whole thing was annoying me so much I wasn’t sure how much more of it I could take. However, things did pick up a bit around a quarter of the way in, when the actual plot started to get going, with Chris investigating the death of a man who was found unconscious in a toilet at Cheltenham races and subsequently died in A&E. (It’s never quite clear why she’s so interested, but never mind.)

Overall, this was a very mixed bag for me. The racing plot was OK, once it finally got started, if not particularly memorable. It does get quite exciting towards the end.

But the whole thing was overshadowed by the inescapable fact that Felix Francis clearly just shouldn’t be writing female characters. To be fair, the male characters here also lack conviction- Chris’s husband Grant has no discernible personality other than Concerned Husband (and is apparently incapable of boiling an egg for himself - nobody, including her, seems to question that anorexic hospital consultant Chris should do all the family cooking).

To Felix Francis’s credit, I believe he has tried to write seriously and sensitively about the devastating impact of mental health problems, and that is to be commended, even if it didn’t always succeed. I just wish he hadn’t chosen to do it in such a gendered way (and thrown quite so much in there). I could have tolerated it better if Chris’s issues had been triggered by something - anything - other than the loss of her fertility and perceived attractiveness and fear of losing her boring husband. There is no reason at all why he shouldn’t write about a main character with severe mental health problems, and there is no reason at all why he shouldn’t write for the first time about a central female protagonist, but did they really have to be combined, and in such a way?

Just like Dick - but successfully updated to the modern age

Alas it was archived before I got chance to read it.

I started this book when I was on a long train journey, by the time I reached my destination I was about half way through. I stayed up till I finished it the same night. At first I thought the main character, Chris Rankin, was annoying but it didn't take long before I started to emphasise with her and the book took hold. I'm not a follower of horse racing but found the terminology and events which took place on the racecourse easy to understand. From the very start, when the mysterious man dies whilst in her care and Chris Rankin's interest is piqued, the reader is on a roller coaster - on the one hand you want her to interfere and question the jockeys she suspects hold vital clues and on the other hand you want to shout at her and tell her to be sensible and leave well alone! I really enjoyed this book and although I wanted to finish it to see how it ended I also didn't want it to end!

Chris Rankin is working as an A and E doctor in Cheltenham when a man in is brought in who was found unconscious in the toilets at the Cheltenham racecourse - no-one knows who he is and she treats him blind for suspected heart problems before being called away to a more urgent case. When she learns that he has died she is upset and we soon realise that she has her own problems suffering from depression and an eating disorder but she is still intrigued and wants to know about this man and what was actually wrong with him.

Chris is also a doctor at the racecourse and so when after a spell off work with mental illness she goes back to work in March for the Cheltenham meeting and determines to find out who the unknown man was as police are getting nowhere. Her asking questions does not go down well.....what have some jockeys got to hide and is she putting her own life in danger by pursuing this?

I read all of Dick Francis's novels and loved them so it is great that his son is now carrying on the tradition - I loved being back in the racing thriller world and really enjoyed this book that was hard to put down

Boy, it's been a fair while since I read a Dick/Felix Francis book and, after devouring this book in only a couple of days I am at a loss as to why they have fallen off my radar. Something to definitely rectify methinks.
So, Chris is a trauma doctor at an A&E department close to Cheltenham racecourse. She is not without her own personal demons and has an ongoing struggle with depression and anxiety, just about managing to keep her professional head above water. She is on duty when an unidentified, unconscious man is brought in. She makes a judgement call to administer treatment but is called away to another trauma before his outcome is known. She later finds out that he has died and that her actions, and indeed recent behaviour, is being questioned. She's suspended from the hospital and the death ruled out as murder. She has her doubts and begins to obsess over the man and the events leading up to his death. Still on the rota as a doctor for the racecourse, she starts her own investigation and it soon transpires that there are people who would prefer she didn't. With the police writing her off as basically a nutter, can she get to the truth herself, and at what personal cost as her family too is dragged into the mire.
Ok, so there were some things in the plot of this book that had me questioning things but, on balance, it was such and interesting and indeed intriguing read that I was easily able to forgive any misgivings I had and let the story take me to all the dark and scary places it took Chris.
This decision was aided by the fact that her mental health issues were very well described and handled in this book so it was easy to connect to her and emote with her throughout all that was happening. The story also got on with itself nicely so there was never a place that I was able to easily put the book down so I was inspired to read through any difficulties I was having along the way as I really wanted to get to the bottom of it all. That's really the point of what an author wants to achieve so in that respect, it was a job well done.
I also found the timeline rather refreshing. Where in some books, the crime is solved in quick smart (often unrealistic) time, here the story spanned many months which, considering the fact that the guy was hard to identify, made it much more credible.
The reasons for certain events happening were also quite pertinent to some of the things that are really happening in sport these days too. I am not going to qualify this as to do so would include spoilers but it did add a whole other layer to the more well known and indeed prevalent, shenanigans usually found around the sport of kings.
All in all, a timely reminder of an author I really should not be passing by. I'm off to check out the books I have missed along the way and intend to play catch up as soon as I can.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Dr Chris Rankin is a consultant doctor in Emergency Medicine at Cheltenham Hospital, but also a doctor suffering from depression & other has health problems.
One evening a smartly dressed man found unconscious at the local racecourse is rushed in to A & E, where he subsequently dies. But who is he? Where does he come from? He had no form of identification on him, and no one claims the body.
Chris is intrigued by the nameless dead man, obsessed even, and so starts asking questions. However, someone doesn’t want the questions answered and will go to any lengths to prevent it, including attempting murder.
Another gripping, engrossing page turning novel that I read in a day as I couldn’t put it down. The pace is fast & at times I couldn’t read fast enough! The characters as always have plenty of depth. I felt I knew Chris by the end. There is a mix of corruption, murder & mystery. I love the Francis novels & this doesn’t disappoint, I hope they keep on coming

My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

The thing I really like about Felix Francis, and his dad before him, is how easy to read his books are. For me they are like a gentle flowing river moving onwards without interruption. I read this book in two sittings, getting lost in the Francis world as usual, without complicated characters and the very annoying "present tense" of so many, so called, psychological novels.
In "Pulse" the protagonist is Chris Rankin, a hospital doctor who helps out at the Cheltenham races from time to time. When an unexplained punter turns up almost dead, our good doctor tries to save him but ends up losing him and then getting involved in trying to find out why the man died. So involved in fact, that our good doctor ends up being targeted to die too for asking too many questions!
As I say, this is an easy straight forward linear read and the pages do flow nicely, but if I have a small criticism I did find the whole plot a little weak, and not as strong as some of Mr Francis' earlier novels. That said, I thought the same thing about Triple Crown but judging by the reviews on Amazon I am definitely in a minority.
If you like Dick and Felix Francis novels I am sure you will like this. The weak story, in my humble opinion, will not stop me reading future books by this author, but I would just like to see just a little more attention to plot.

Another great read from Felix Frances and a totally new angle of horse racing from the view of the race course doctor. A very likeable,human heroine, highlighting her problems in a very sympathetic way
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This is a stand alone racing thriller, set in Cheltenham. The plot, which was not very realistic, did keep me interested until the end. Lots of medical details and full of racing details, Fans of the author will enjoy this book. I would recommend it if you are interested in horse racing as I learned a lot about behind the scenes. Thank you Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Goodreads.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of Pulse, a stand alone racing thriller set in Cheltenham.

Chris Rankin is an on duty A&E consultant when an unconscious man is brought in with heart problems. Sadly the man does not respond to treatment and dies shortly after being admitted. Chris has her own mental health issues and starts to obsess about the identity of the well dressed stranger whom she is convinced was murdered.

I enjoyed Pulse. The plot, while hardly realistic, held my interest throughout and gets quite exciting at the end. I must admit that I found it hard to believe that Chris found out so much when the police couldn't but it makes for a good read. I also think that the plot is quite simple as there are no real twists but again it makes for a good, easy read.

Mr Francis excels in his description of Chris's mental issues and the first person narrative adds extra impact, making it very personal. Depression and anorexia nervosa are not easy subjects to either discuss or describe and yet he nails them accurately and without fuss both from Chris herself and others' reactions. It's impressive. These conditions do not make Chris a particularly likeable character but the first person narrative does much to mitigate this.

I found the medical treatments described early in the novel a bit too detailed and unnecessary as they slow down the momentum of the novel but fortunately Mr Francis keeps them to a necessary minimum after that. In contrast the role of the race course medic and how they system works are fascinating. I learned a lot in an interesting way.

Pulse is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

What a great book thoroughly enjoyed it a one sitting read didn't guess the end love love love it can not recommend ot highly enough

This is the latest book by the Author set around the Racing Industry .

A man is found unconscious in the toilets at Cheltenham Racecourse ............ he is very smartly dressed but has no form of identification .
He is admitted to the A & E department at Cheltenham Hospital where he is seen by Consultant Dr Chris Rankin .
Unable to diagnose the cause of his unconsciousness Chris finds herself under pressure to stabilise her patient, as she is warned of incoming trauma patients , whose injuries are life threatening , she must leave his care to her juniors .
After attending to the crash victims she is told that the unknown patient has died ............ the stress is getting to her , she has to find a safe place to get a hold of herself and calm down .
Chris's stress is building up , her mental state is breaking down ............she has been suspended from her post , a claim of mal-practice has been made .
By whom ?
Why now ?
After an aborted suicide attempt Chris becomes obsessed with the unknown man from the Racecourse .
Who was he ?
How did he really die ?
Who killed him ?
In her driven race to find answers she finds that someone does not want the truth to come out - the cost might even be at the expense of her own life .

Whilst the concept of this story line was good I found the mental stresses experienced by Chris along with her obsession with the dead Racegoer , even when her own life is in danger , unrealistic