Review of Racing California by Janet Nichols Lynch

Racing California

by Janet Nichols Lynch

Release Date--February 20, 2012
No Available Cover Image

3 Scribbles

Senior Evan Boroughs never imaged that his part-time job at Arizona Cycling Tours would introduce him to the gods of his beloved cycling universe, but during Winter Training camp in Phoenix one of those gods, Tour de France winner Dashiell Shipley, approaches Evan and invites him to join his team for the upcoming Tour of California race. Being a lifelong cycling fan, Evan has no choice but to say yes, but in doing so he risks losing his right to walk with his class during graduation, his girlfriend Glory to another guy, and an even larger dream—to be a doctor. Short chapters feature sweat-filled pages of muscle wrenching action as Evan realizes that competitive cycling is exactly what he knew it would be—pain. Far from cursing the experience though, Evan embraces pro cycling and finds reserves of strength he never knew he had. Idealistic about cycling from the start, Evan is in for an awakening. The world of professional sports and the gods that live there are not entirely guileless, and even gods can crash. The work is extremely well-researched and obviously written by someone who cycles and is familiar with the cycling world; that being said, even those unfamiliar with cycling will learn naturally and enjoy the story. The end of the novel leaves a few loose ends (who is Super Heckler Man?) and wraps up pretty quickly and neatly, but the action in the body makes up for the brevity of the ending.