The Cyclist

The great thing about being a member of netgalley is the opportunity it offers to the avid reader to explore genres and authors that would have otherwise have passed him by. Equally it gives new authors the chance to reach out to a much greater audience when hopefully their books will receive a warm welcome. I thought The Cyclist was an excellent example of an exciting story that kept me captivated from first page to last and all in one sitting! Not bad for an author whose writing I had only just met...so what's it about?

Judd almost became a navy seal, his friend and mentor Burt "cleaver" worries about him following an incident with live ammo during a field training exercise..."Whatever made him think he was a SEAL material, God only knew".... Judd in his own mind is a washed out failure spending his time cycling and surfing the net in the hope?..........Cat is the answer to his dreams an online companion who finds him funny outgoing and personable, the fact that she lives in Glasgow and he in Minnesota is but a small problem. Judd makes the decision to take out his meagre life savings and make the long journey to Scotland hopeful and confident that Catrina is the love of his life. What follows is an exciting thrill a minute tour de force as Judd tries to comprehend the complex Cat as they journey and cycle north of Inverness in the harsh yet beautiful Scottish countryside. To disclose more would spoil the delights and gruesome pleasures that await you dear reader of my review! I will only add that "Cleaver" shows the meaning of true friendship, and Cat will need to explain to an infatuated Judd just what her relationship with Alistair is?

Many thanks to the good people of netgalley for sending me a gratis copy of The Cyclist in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written. Highly Recommended.

Judd is a former almost-Navel SEAL, now working a standard nine to five office job, slowly wading through the days in a daze of white-collar tedium.

He's haunted by an unfortunate mishap which nearly cost his training officer his life when he pumped his instructor full of led during a drill. His instructor, menacingly named 'The Cleaver', won't leave Judd alone, and the two make for an interesting dynamic, a kind of friend/enemy push-pull.

Needing an outlet, Judd clocks up the kilometers on his bike, a habit which keeps him sane. He's also met someone online, an attractive cyclist based in Scotland named Cat who eventually convinces Judd to visit her in her homeland.

Leaving his life behind Judd falls into a modern day honey-trap.

The Cyclist is a damn fine book. The characters are well rounded and the linear plot, straightforward and as sharp as a knife blade. To use a somewhat corny term the book is 'all thriller, no filler'.

My rating: 5/5.

Very good fast paced page turner. I have read several books by A N Smith and have enjoyed them all, this was no exception. this was a standalone featuring a lonely failed Navy Seal who toils away at a desk job counting the hours until he can go biking again in his native Mn. he soon gets distracted by a female colleague who lives in Scotland and is enticed to visit her on a biking holiday and possibly more. best not to say to much more, except things do not go exactly as planned for all involved. this was a lean, crisp and well plotted thriller tho not for the squeamish as there are a few scenes of intense violence. 4 + stars and thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy. I think this would make a great movie thriller as well.

Judd is living and working in America. He's in a bit of a dead end job which he doesn't really enjoy, he's estranged from his family over his failure to become a SEAL due to a nasty incident that led to him being booted out of the training. These days, he pretty much lives to cycle, spending hours clocking up the miles; but he's still pretty lonely. His only "friend" being Cleaver, the man with which he had the SEAL training incident with, who is still bitter and resentful and plays on Judd's guilt. Until that is he meets Catriona (Cat) on line and they start a bit of an internet relationship. She also loves cycling and they start to bond over their mutual love of the sport. Then they take it up a notch and swap messaging for video chatting and when Judd sees how beautiful Cat is he agrees to a meet-up. Only problem is, she's in Scotland!
So, he does what any smitten man would do. He cashes out his savings and up sticks with his bike to visit. But when he gets there it soon becomes apparent that things are not really as described. Cat starts to behave a bit strange and it becomes apparent that there is more to Judd's visit than at first appears. An ulterior motive. Especially when we meet Alistair!
Blimey. What. A. Ride! And I'm not just talking about the cycling here. What a deep, dark and gruesome mind this author must have to create this story. He also has a bit of a warped sense of humour with some of the black comedy also contained therein. Comedy that was completely necessary to offset the violence. Because, be warned, this book does get a bit nasty at times. And by nasty, I actually mean some very graphic torture scenes.
It's hard to mention much more about the plot without spoiling anything so I'll just say that it is very cleverly worked out and executed, It grabbed me from the start and didn't let go, holding my attention very nicely throughout.
There are not many characters in the book so all of them have to be strong enough to keep it all going nicely. Happy to report that even though they are all a bit complex, wounded, and mostly a bit strange, they are all well described. I am not sure that I liked any of them as a whole although I did like some of their various elements and parts. I definitely connected with them emotionally - again not all positive!
Pacing was a bit of a game of two halves. We start with quite a bit of build up and scene setting but once the action gets started it is frenetic to say the least and it does not let up until the end.
This is not my first book by this author but it has been several years since I last read one of his books. I think this one may be the spark that reignites my interest in his back catalogue.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

One thing Judd loves is cycling. Then he gets to know Cat online and thinks he could love her too. He throws in his job, takes off from his life in the US to meet his dream Scottish girl, and to take a cycling trip with her through the highlands and see where it all leads. This cat-and-mouse thriller has some graphic descriptions which some readers may squirm or skim through while being drawn into a fast-paced journey to find out who survives, who dies.

I loved the setting of a major part of the story in the Scottish Highlands. The raw and desolate beauty of the place is described well in the book. I also liked the idea of a cycling adventure. The grit and determination of a few characters were also worth applauding. There is something raw and disturbing in the premise of The Cyclist which draws you to it. The idea itself is worth every minute that you spend reading The Cyclist.

Since dropping out of Navy SEAL training, Judd has found himself in a rut. Living alone, and tormented – quite literally – by Burt, his drunken former SEAL trainer, he takes solace in a burgeoning online friendship with a Scottish girl name Catriona, built on their shared obsession with cycling. As their mutual attraction grows, Judd makes the bold decision to fly to Scotland and meet Cat in person, with a view to taking an epic bike trip through the Scottish Highlands, and getting to know each other more intimately. Nothing is quite what it seems, however, and Judd’s dream trip quickly degenerates into a bloody nightmare, as a mysterious lunatic sets his sights on the couple…

With its transatlantic, fish-out-of-water plot, and its nerve-jangling Catfish-meets-Rambo storyline, The Cyclist represents a well-judged lunge towards the mainstream for cult crime novelist Anthony Neil Smith. The principal characters are unusual and well-rendered, and the narrative is satisfyingly twisty throughout. That said, Smith pulls no punches with the grisly violence, which made me wince more than once.

Sometimes The Cyclist feels less like a cat ‘n’ mouse thriller, and more like a visit to a menagerie of maniacs – and that is definitely a good thing! Entertaining stuff.

This book was so easy to get into and I enjoyed the very descriptive writing, the characters seemed to come alive and I managed to read the book in two sittings, not sure what I was expecting but I totally enjoyed the book, the trip through Scotland was nice and scenic with a few pubs thrown in and then the chase was on, then it was a race to the end, good writing