My thanks to NetGalley and Thistle Publishing for an ARC of Three Men on their Bikes in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I can’t think of anything to say about it. I couldn’t figure out the author’s purpose in writing the book although I’m guessing it was just some sort of lark. I couldn’t find a theme nor a plot. Having established the surface personalities of the 3 main characters, there was no development in their characters nor depth. And there was no ending. There was no ending to the bike trip nor to any of the strings of thought brought out from time to time. Perhaps a reader needs to be British to pick up on the humor as this American didn’t find any. There was a lot of potential, but sadly the story never achieved it.

Three Men On Their Bikes by Richard Mapes. Published by Thistle Publishing, July 2018

The humour is crafted into the story of three un-grown-up, unfit men deciding to go on a cycle tour around Lancashire. Three mischievous blokes on the cusp of life considering careers, commitments and beer gardens. This is a young man version of Last of the Summer Wine, but these are graduates, challenged by technology, officious railway personnel, bicycle clips and brightly coloured Lycra. They encounter cramped hotel rooms and sober women cyclists. They argue the merits of padded shorts over checked trousers belted above the calf. Short cuts and gut instincts sometimes win over GPS and Google searches. Their friendships and stamina go through the pain barrier in the hills and valleys of The Penines, and none are quite the same at the end of the journey.

About the author:
Richard Mapes is a writer of comic novels. Of his other books ‘Three Men on Tour’ was published in November 2015 and ‘Under the Night Sky’ was co-authored by Bethan Mapes and Juliet Beaumont and published in July 2016. He can be contacted on Facebook and Twitter and has author profiles on Amazon.co.uk and Goodreads.com

Thank you Thistle Publishing and Net Gallery for this copy of Three Men On Their Bikes by Richard Mapes.

We all have been there. Friends set up trying to get together but life gets in the way like family, work and commitments. In this book we meet 3 guys Harry, Ian (the narrator), and George. They decide to get away and cycle many miles to keep up their friendship. They meet many people and ended up hanging with two girls who are cycling but for different reasons. I found some of this book laugh out loud funny and even reread those parts so I could get another chuckle. I can say Harry was not my favorite, very arrogant. Otherwise I liked this style of writing and characters. I would read more by Richard Mapes. If your looking for a fast read and many stop offs to view special places this would be the book for you. If it wasn't for Thistle Publishing I would of never known about this book.

Cherie'

Harry, George, and Ian, three best friends decide to take a 170-mile cycling expedition. The main 'agenda' of this cycling trip is to try to save their friendship. Along their way, they meet a lot of people. There's Howard and Vera, the husband-wife pair on a tandem; Kath and Jenny, school teachers; Pete, Finn, and Colonel, who have been participating in the cycling expedition for ages now.


The story is a mixture of loads of fun with a wee-bit of philosophy. Harry, the arrogant, the one who always thinks that anything and everything in the world is a competition (his cycling competition with Finn is a good proof of it). Then there is Ian, the narrator of the story, the one who easily gives up and is overly loyal to his friends. Then comes George, the one who has planned this trip as the last resort to save their friendship. We all have at least one such friend in the group, don't we?


The book fits the genre of General Fiction and Humor. The author's writing style is informal. Although slightly British, the language is simple and easy to understand. And, I really liked the author's writing style. The conversations between the characters and the 'mental chitter-chatter' was Hilarious! Silly, but funny.


I loved the 'conversation' that the three had on the train. Ian and Harry play the alphabet game while George discusses their plan. Nobody was listening to him and yet he went on and on, yapping about the plan. One should read the book to understand the hilarious part of it.

The part where the trio came across scarecrows was hilarious. They see scarecrows that look like Boris Johnson, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan, Nigel Farage, Theresa May and Donald Trump! These scarecrows were part of a festival, where, local villagers compete to make the most lifelike scarecrows that one can find. And not to forget, the 'encounter' with a bull, which turned out to be a friendly cow!


The book is a delightful read. If you are looking for some serious action sequence where a killer jumps out of the bush from nowhere or the villain paraglides and lands on the cycle, well, there's nothing of that sort in this book!


If you are looking for a light and funny read, I recommend Three Men on their Bikes.