Gold by Chris Cleave

Gold is about 4 people going for the gold in two different circumstances. 3 are cyclists with the Olympics on their minds and 1 is a little girl with an illness with a golden heart full of love. Zoe and Kate met when they were 19 at the cycling center where they learned how to train their bodies to be the fittest possible to achieve record breaking and gold medal winning speeds.  Now at 32, each of them are trying to earn their spots to compete in the 2012 Olympics.  However, when Kate's daughter Sophie suddenly takes a turn for the worse she is faced with a tough decision. Make her daughter proud and compete in the Olympics or give up her dreams to spend time with her daughter?  What would you do for the ones you loved?

Sophie on the other hand doesn't want to get in her mother's way of being an Olympic competitor and therefore does not tell her family when she is feeling worse and worse each day.  She says winning gold would make her feel better. Will her decision be the last one made? What will her mom and father think? Read to find out!!

Gold is a book that will make you rethink all of your relationships with friends, your spouse, your parents, coworkers, anyone. I think it is a really good book to read especially with the Olympics coming up.  I enjoyed reading it.  It is fast-paced with your several heart in your throat moments.  It was hard for me not to become caught up with the characters in this story. I enjoyed reading it.  

I think the description that Amazon has for this book sums it up nicely
 "Echoing the adrenaline-fueled rush of a race around the Velodrome track, Gold is a triumph of superbly paced, heart-in-throat storytelling. With great humanity and glorious prose, Chris Cleave examines the values that lie at the heart of our most intimate relationships, and the choices we make when lives are at stake and everything is on the line."