Description

A rough and raunchy ride exposing the dark underbelly of the glamorous Victorian racing set in a taut fact-based story from acclaimed racing writer Michael Tanner. 'ARE THEY COMING?' The last words of champion jockey Fred Archer - nicknamed The Tinman. Whose arrival was he anticipating? Whose arrival did he dread? Mourning the death of his young wife and hounded by creditors, Archer's mind begins unravelling during the 1886 season. He is propped up against the demons threatening to destroy him mentally and racing's criminal element conspiring to do so physically by his friend, racing journalist Algy Haymer. As the action veers from the social whirl of the Victorian racecourse to the squalor of the slap-bangs of the London underworld, Haymer shields Archer from a Jockeys Betting Ring and its enforcers while confronting his own insecurities and a family scandal involving Archer. But Haymer hasn't allowed for the power of 'The Policy' or the predatory wiles of an old flame whose carnal designs on him are only exceeded by her desperation for cash. The repercussions prove devastating. Haymer's guilt demands atonement - and delivers a painful blow.