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It always amazes me how Dick Francis can come up with so many bestsellers *all* based round intrigue in the racing world. Anyway, Twice Shy was one of his, Mosaic have released the adventure, and it's programmed by RamJam, authors of an all-time favourite of mine, Valkyrie 17.

You are Jonathan Derry, a Physics teacher who has become custodian of some computer tapes. The purpose of these is unknown to you at the start, but other people seem to know - and they'll stop at nothing to get them.

First thing you notice when you load up the adventure is the excellent screen presentation. There's a static box containing the location description and another for the graphics. The bottom half of the screen scrolls, and is used for input, messages and object reports. The graphics system is similar to Ocean's adventures: small, and not every location has its own illustration, but pictures which do appear are high resolution and pleasant to look at.

Once you begin playing, however, the true strength of this game becomes apparent. It's a wonderful adventure, packed full of things to do and look at, even if they're not relevant. So you can switch on and watch the television. Examine the flying ducks. Shoot your friends with the rifle. Or crash your car. You'd be amazed how many games I receive won't let the player do things like this. There are numerous small details which add so much. Your house is packed full of objects to find, as a real house would be.

There's a sense of humour, and other welcome features like well-used independent characters and the ability to interact with them. Vocabulary is adequate.

When you need more money during the game (you have to buy things like petrol, drinks, car repairs), you must visit the racecourse at Newmarket. Once there, you load side 2 where you have six graphically portrayed races to bet on. At your disposal are odds, racing conditions and form cards. Apart from having doubts about whether adventurers will like their problem-solving interrupted in this way. I also found it difficult to win anything. I'm not a betting man you see, and haven't the foggiest idea about half the factors I'm supposed to consider.

The instructions should have dealt with this, with some sort of "Idiot's Guide To Horse Racing". But the instructions are too brief, telling you no more of the plot than I gave at the start of this review. More should have been given, including a guide to the characters you will encounter. The best thing to do, presumably, is read the book - though I haven't had the chance to do so yet, and I think it's slightly unfair of Mosaic to expect all adventurers to wade through a whole novel.

Those gripes aside, Twice Shy is technically smoother than Valkyrie 17 and seems as good in other ways. Which means another Monster Hit. A good Christmas present for someone who doesn't play many adventures but give them the book with it.