Book Review - Two Wheels by Greg Moody

This is a novel of corporate intrigue and murder set amidst the adrenaline-charged atmosphere of an international racing team. It's also very funny. The story opens with the sudden and violent death - caused by an exploding toaster - of the French national road champion. His team, the fictional Haven Racing Team, replaces him not with another top-flight rider as might be expected, but with a recently-retired domestique - Will Ross - who is not only a has-been, but an American has-been! This is not a popular development with the other riders on the team, nor, strangely, with the team management. It soon transpires that someone is pulling strings in high places, and whoever it is, they're quite happy to kill off a few people in order to get what they want. And Will seems to be next on the list. The question is, can he and his new soigneuse and confidante, Cheryl Crane, stay alive long enough to put a stop to the plot?

Moody brings the world of the professional peloton to life very well, with constant references to places, faces and races that will be familiar to all who follow the continental pro racing scene. Most of the action takes place in northern France around the time of the spring classics - cobbles, freezing Belgian roads, the Forest of Arenburg, the Muur, they're all here. His characters are well developed too, and Moody cleverly weaves in references to current and recent cycling stars, making it seem as if his fictional hero is mixing it with the best of them.

The tone of the whole book is slightly tongue-in-cheek - this is not an edge-of-the-seat thriller, it's relaxed and funny, yet still manages to keep the body-count climbing steadily.

This is probably the best cycling novel written to date, IMO. Brilliant.

Published by VeloPress, ISBN 1-884737-11-0

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