Shouting the Odds Betting to Flee the Past

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND, March 1995: When twenty-three year old postman Andy Cooper and his dad Ron return home from watching their beloved Notts County win at Wembley, they discover to their horror that Andy's mum Marie has died. Unable to process the death of his wife, Ron wrongly blames his son for forcing him into going to the game and becomes a drunken recluse, leaving Andy to mourn the death of his mum alone. On his way home from work a few months later, Andy is forced to take shelter from a rainstorm in what turns out to be his local betting shop where he has a life changing experience; and after almost coming to blows with his dad on the way home from the cemetery a few days later, decides he's had enough. In an effort to regain control over his life, he sets himself a one year target to win enough money on the horses to escape Nottingham and his dad for good. However, it isn't long before he discovers that even the best laid plans rarely work out the way you would expect ... In the year that licensed betting shops in the UK celebrate their sixtieth birthday and Frankie Dettori the twenty-fifth anniversary of his Magnificent Seven, Jon Franklin releases Shouting The Odds, a coming of age novel with racing and betting at its core.