Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

M. A. Coupe’s The Cyclist: Carbon Fingerprints follows Alex, a gifted Chicago cyclist riding the Trans-Britain Ultra, an arduous charity race across Britain. An old injury has left Alex with nerve damage that can interrupt an otherwise exceptional performance, yet racing remains the one place where every movement feels instinctive. There is another reason for entering the event. Back in Chicago, a powerful criminal organization known as the Machine employs Alex as an assassin, using a cyclist’s mobility to carry out killings. This latest job comes with an unusual problem: the name of the intended target is being withheld until further instructions arrive. As the miles mount, Alex studies unfamiliar riders and recalls a childhood shaped by the city’s criminal underworld. Someone is watching, and the bicycle itself holds an extraordinary secret.

M. A. Coupe’s The Cyclist: Carbon Fingerprints is outstanding crime fiction, with suspense you can feel in your bones. The author describes danger superbly, putting you among the cyclists battling Severn Bridge crosswinds, then beside Alex surveying a wooded Edinburgh hillside after dark. Alex’s instincts are expertly conveyed, especially when Alex follows two suspicious riders through the Welsh countryside. Bennie, his old friend who builds bicycles, is impressively resourceful, particularly when he helps Alex turn an attic into a carbon-fiber frame workshop. It takes someone with Alex’s instincts to work for Quarters, the formidable Chicago crime boss running the Machine, where deadly assignments depend on anticipating another person’s next move. The author has such a gift for atmosphere that you can almost taste the smoke in Chicago’s gambling parlors, then breathe in pine drifting over heather in the Scottish Highlands. Overall, this is so good that I'd love to see it as a TV series, and readers who appreciate intelligent crime thrillers should put this high on their reading list. Very highly recommended.