Gold

Chris Cleave hit it out of the ballpark with Little Bee and now, I am again reminded of what a fabulous writer he is with Gold.  When I first started this book, I thought racing bicyclists - hmm, maybe not.  But I was drawn in right away and caught up to the very end of the book.  The book does not bog down with bicycling details, but is very interesting to see the life of a professional Olympic bicyclist.  It follows the story of three Olympic bicyclists - Kate, Jack and Zoe - and how their lives intertwine to tell their stories.  Their lives certainly intertwine - Kate and Zoe train together and race together but also compete together.  Jack and Zoe have a history but Jack and Kate are now married - hmmm - need I say more - the characters are pretty tangled in this one!  A story of 8 year old Sophie and her battle with leukemia - a story of the hopelessness of life for a character that seemingly "has it all" - and a story of devotion and sacrifice of parents.  I loved this book - I could feel for each character and I was riveted to the very end!  (And it's oh-so-timely here in the days of our current Olympics - don't miss it!)