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FUEL
Timothy Malcolm Smith, a young Creative Director at a cosy ad agency in East Central London, has warmed the hearts of an entire nation with his creativity and charisma, and is being hailed as one of London’s best creative minds ever. Having arrived at the pinnacle of fame in England, Timmy has shifted his sights beyond his home shores, to New York City. Since he began his career in advertising, it had been Timmy’s ambition to one day set foot in the Big Apple unannounced, and astound the city within days of his arrival, not with his mind, but with his feet.
Training in secret from the time he was a young boy, Timmy diligently perfected his running time till he was within reach of some of the world’s best. He had never before run in competition, and for many years held but one aspiration close to his heart, to win his maiden race, the New York Marathon.
With every Brit in the country tuned in to watch him, Timmy flew like the wind through the streets of New York, and built an insurmountable lead. On the cusp of victory, with an entire nation holding its breath, Timmy did what all his countrymen had come to expect from him. The unexpected.
Training in secret from the time he was a young boy, Timmy diligently perfected his running time till he was within reach of some of the world’s best. He had never before run in competition, and for many years held but one aspiration close to his heart, to win his maiden race, the New York Marathon.
With every Brit in the country tuned in to watch him, Timmy flew like the wind through the streets of New York, and built an insurmountable lead. On the cusp of victory, with an entire nation holding its breath, Timmy did what all his countrymen had come to expect from him. The unexpected.
- GenresRomance
256 pages, Nook
First published October 12, 2010
3 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 25, 2014
Oy. If you look at my one-star rating and decide you still want to read this book, I will ship it to you with money inside for helping me get it out of my house. I don't even know how to start listing the things I didn't like about this book. First off, it needs a good edit. Writing errors are completely unacceptable in a published work, IMO. Second, as a runner, I grew progressively annoyed at the running stuff. A female, coming off an old injury, becoming the fastest runner--male or female--in the world? Riiight. And to top it off with an ending so ghastly unbelievable, from the private dinner with Haile Gebrselassie to the entire throng of runners not finishing the race ... I'm calling BS. And good riddance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2017
A story of pursuing your dreams no matter what life throws at you. It's a wonderful story of true love, not a common love story. It's also about making your visions into reality. For beginners in running, like me, I can really say that you will get excited and pay attention to every details that you can learn about running.
June 11, 2012
Although this book would be even better with a careful edit, the story is wonderful... and the ending a complete surprise. Although the story is mostly about competing in the New York Marathon, it is really about falling in love. Non-runners can appreciate the challenge of setting big goals and the bittersweet drama of watching them come true in a different way than planned.
September 4, 2011
Spell binding. Remarkable characters. Excellent dialog. Intriguing story. Touching ending (I cried reading the last 10 pages).
January 21, 2013
I laughed and I cried. What a wonderful book.
October 16, 2013
Happy I bought the hard copy....definitely a keepsake.
May 23, 2018
I've almost finished this book and wanted to post this. As a runner, I found it very difficult to read as it felt so unrealistic. I have read fiction about running before (see Once a Runner) which I have really been able to connect with, it really felt like the author was a runner and knew what they were talking about. In this book, the story and character's abilities seem completely unrealistic without years of specific speed training and yes some racing, which this book does not acknowledge. What's more, it does extend beyond running in that the character does seem to be perfect at everything which again is just unrealistic and doesn't make them very relatable. Characters should actually have flaws!
The way in which the character is seemingly so good at running, with apparently little effort is in fact insulting to the sport.
The way in which the character is seemingly so good at running, with apparently little effort is in fact insulting to the sport.
April 10, 2019
Ugh. The writing was bad. Clichéd characters completely one-dimensional in situations that made no sense. The best part of it was the running and the two characters wait more than half the book before they ever run together. The book takes forever to get going and then fast-forwards through the important events at the end. Which is fine because I was ready for it to end by then anyhow.
April 25, 2021
Totally unexpected indeed! At points, it felt like the author was trying too hard to divulge his knowledge but his flair for words pulls the reader in to the finish line with the momentum of a marathon — complete with beautiful turns and bends, followed by a mad race to the end.
February 8, 2024
I can't do a full review right now, but I would certainly recommend this novel to just about anyone.
April 24, 2012
My thoughts on Fuel are varied, inconsistent, and probably contradictory.
With few exceptions, when I start a new book, issues with writing style are apparent early, within a couple chapters, if not a couple paragraphs. It is rare to encounter significant improvements as the book continues.
At a higher level, the structure of most novels is like a three act play. The characters and story might pull you in during Act I, but then many sag in the middle, making it a struggle to stay interested through Act II. If I were to graph many different aspects of how I relate to a story – interest, entertainment, or my emotional attachment to the characters and story, for example – the normal graph would quickly hit some level in Act I, sag a bit in Act II, and then climb to a level somewhat higher than Act I during Act III.
My reaction to Fuel was much different from the norm. I got off to a shaky start. The first thing to give me pause was describing a company this way:
Common Grounds Coffee had been around for ages. They’d been around longer than penicillin. Longer than tea bags. Before sliced bread.
Do we need more than the first sentence? If so, do we need all three comparisons and do they even work? I have doubts about the first two. While I like the last, some may find it a touch too clever. On a positive note, what this example does have is an attempt to say something without relying on the same old clichés (unless “been around for ages” qualifies). That is more than I can say about several other instances of clichés I encountered in the first portion of the book, this example being one of the more egregious:
But the partners were also gravely aware that their ship had entered uncharted depths, and that their vessel was now more a sunken treasure than a ship. They needed to pull a Lazarus to fish Common Grounds out of the deep.
We’ve got rabbits being pulled from hats, room made for the new guard, and dragons being figuratively slain, all within the first twenty-five to thirty percent of the book. It doesn’t get much more clichéd than this.
In my mind, Fuel was headed for a review of three stars, at best. And then something happened. I found that I started to care about the characters and rather than being a slog, Act II is when I started enjoying the read and caring how the story was going to turn out. If the clichés were there, I didn’t see them. I didn’t notice the author telling me the same thing three or four times. Act II read like a four star book.
Then I hit the last part, Act III, and things changed again. Here the tone of the book went from that of an interesting story to inspirational, almost spiritual. Some of the events that happened here would have had me yelling “I call BS” if they’d happened earlier, yet given the different tone or feel I accepted them without question. The emotion drenched finish left me feeling that I’d just read a five star book, until I started thinking back to the struggle at the beginning and reviewed my notes. As I said at the beginning, my thoughts on Fuel are varied, inconsistent, and probably contradictory.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
With few exceptions, when I start a new book, issues with writing style are apparent early, within a couple chapters, if not a couple paragraphs. It is rare to encounter significant improvements as the book continues.
At a higher level, the structure of most novels is like a three act play. The characters and story might pull you in during Act I, but then many sag in the middle, making it a struggle to stay interested through Act II. If I were to graph many different aspects of how I relate to a story – interest, entertainment, or my emotional attachment to the characters and story, for example – the normal graph would quickly hit some level in Act I, sag a bit in Act II, and then climb to a level somewhat higher than Act I during Act III.
My reaction to Fuel was much different from the norm. I got off to a shaky start. The first thing to give me pause was describing a company this way:
Common Grounds Coffee had been around for ages. They’d been around longer than penicillin. Longer than tea bags. Before sliced bread.
Do we need more than the first sentence? If so, do we need all three comparisons and do they even work? I have doubts about the first two. While I like the last, some may find it a touch too clever. On a positive note, what this example does have is an attempt to say something without relying on the same old clichés (unless “been around for ages” qualifies). That is more than I can say about several other instances of clichés I encountered in the first portion of the book, this example being one of the more egregious:
But the partners were also gravely aware that their ship had entered uncharted depths, and that their vessel was now more a sunken treasure than a ship. They needed to pull a Lazarus to fish Common Grounds out of the deep.
We’ve got rabbits being pulled from hats, room made for the new guard, and dragons being figuratively slain, all within the first twenty-five to thirty percent of the book. It doesn’t get much more clichéd than this.
In my mind, Fuel was headed for a review of three stars, at best. And then something happened. I found that I started to care about the characters and rather than being a slog, Act II is when I started enjoying the read and caring how the story was going to turn out. If the clichés were there, I didn’t see them. I didn’t notice the author telling me the same thing three or four times. Act II read like a four star book.
Then I hit the last part, Act III, and things changed again. Here the tone of the book went from that of an interesting story to inspirational, almost spiritual. Some of the events that happened here would have had me yelling “I call BS” if they’d happened earlier, yet given the different tone or feel I accepted them without question. The emotion drenched finish left me feeling that I’d just read a five star book, until I started thinking back to the struggle at the beginning and reviewed my notes. As I said at the beginning, my thoughts on Fuel are varied, inconsistent, and probably contradictory.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
August 18, 2011
I’ve been accused in the past of epeolatry, and I have to say that on a literary level, this has to be one of the more intelligent books I’ve read in a while. No, it wasn’t heavy, unlike books of its ilk. For the most part, the language wasn’t overbearing, but smart.
To be frank, I don’t think it is a book for everyone, as so much depends on one’s ability to pick out the subtleties. I was really impressed with the way many story bits were discretely planted by the author, and brilliantly drawn together towards the end.
Chin delved into great detail on some topics in his novel. Many authors do that with their stories, to set the stage. I normally allow my mind to skim past those boring parts. This wasn’t the case with Fuel though, as every paragraph, no matter how technical it got, was somehow relevant to the story. At times, I wished I could sit down over coffee with the author, just so I could pick his brains more on certain topics.
I have to admit that some parts were draggy, but it was only later that I realized that they were necessary.
The last page was genius. But you’d have to decrypt the book in Dan Brownesque fashion to spot it. When I caught this prize that he had snuck in, I said this to myself, “Get outta here. What planet is this guy from?”
Jeremy, your book was brilliant. It was engaging. An emotional journey into the dark depths of nowhere. And I plan to read it again in case I missed some of the buried treasure.
To be frank, I don’t think it is a book for everyone, as so much depends on one’s ability to pick out the subtleties. I was really impressed with the way many story bits were discretely planted by the author, and brilliantly drawn together towards the end.
Chin delved into great detail on some topics in his novel. Many authors do that with their stories, to set the stage. I normally allow my mind to skim past those boring parts. This wasn’t the case with Fuel though, as every paragraph, no matter how technical it got, was somehow relevant to the story. At times, I wished I could sit down over coffee with the author, just so I could pick his brains more on certain topics.
I have to admit that some parts were draggy, but it was only later that I realized that they were necessary.
The last page was genius. But you’d have to decrypt the book in Dan Brownesque fashion to spot it. When I caught this prize that he had snuck in, I said this to myself, “Get outta here. What planet is this guy from?”
Jeremy, your book was brilliant. It was engaging. An emotional journey into the dark depths of nowhere. And I plan to read it again in case I missed some of the buried treasure.
April 10, 2011
Never in my life did I think I would award a writer with words such as what I’m about to write. Jeremy Chin, in my mind, has brought story writing to a new level, and has set a bar that all writers should aspire to reach.
Fuel was recommended to me by a friend, and I was sceptical at first seeing that he was a local Malaysian writer. A few chapters into the book, I already knew that this was no ordinary writer, that he was of a rare breed that could pull together great story telling, intelligent ideas, beautiful prose and the human condition. No book has ever affected me as deeply as this one has. Tore me to shreds actually, and his story followed me for weeks. The book is beautifully crafted from start to the very last line, and it is nice to see an author push the boundaries of the language as much as he had.
I have to say though that this book is not for every reader. For one, I believe you have to be a hopeless romantic, and two, you have to be able to engage at a certain intellectual level to fully extract the brilliance of the concepts he has interwoven into the book. Overall, it was an easy read, and I couldn’t put the book down once I got started. The final one third of the book was executed with great tour de force and was very potent, and I found he could not have delivered a more beautiful final paragraph to end his story.
Fuel was recommended to me by a friend, and I was sceptical at first seeing that he was a local Malaysian writer. A few chapters into the book, I already knew that this was no ordinary writer, that he was of a rare breed that could pull together great story telling, intelligent ideas, beautiful prose and the human condition. No book has ever affected me as deeply as this one has. Tore me to shreds actually, and his story followed me for weeks. The book is beautifully crafted from start to the very last line, and it is nice to see an author push the boundaries of the language as much as he had.
I have to say though that this book is not for every reader. For one, I believe you have to be a hopeless romantic, and two, you have to be able to engage at a certain intellectual level to fully extract the brilliance of the concepts he has interwoven into the book. Overall, it was an easy read, and I couldn’t put the book down once I got started. The final one third of the book was executed with great tour de force and was very potent, and I found he could not have delivered a more beautiful final paragraph to end his story.
November 25, 2015
I wanted to like this. I really did.
The beginning was a mess, jumping between 3rd person to 1st person POV. I didn't like it... but I read a couple of reviews on Goodreads that said it got better.
It didn't for me.
It felt like a car that was trying very hard to get somewhere, but not quite reaching its destination. There were too many non sequitur diversions that were somehow related, but not quite connected. At places, what connections there were felt a little forced. It felt like Chin was attempting to weave a great masterpiece, but it ended up with half a wall hanging, and the rest in tangles.
Also, the blurb/back cover... is extremely misleading. I believe I would have liked the story (and ending) much better without having read the blurb.
The beginning was a mess, jumping between 3rd person to 1st person POV. I didn't like it... but I read a couple of reviews on Goodreads that said it got better.
It didn't for me.
It felt like a car that was trying very hard to get somewhere, but not quite reaching its destination. There were too many non sequitur diversions that were somehow related, but not quite connected. At places, what connections there were felt a little forced. It felt like Chin was attempting to weave a great masterpiece, but it ended up with half a wall hanging, and the rest in tangles.
Also, the blurb/back cover... is extremely misleading. I believe I would have liked the story (and ending) much better without having read the blurb.
July 21, 2011
FUEL is a story that starts off very weirdly at the Prologue and it goes on about a guy who has everything that has lost it all as well before he met the girl of his dreams accidentally.
The girl of his dreams seems to have everything he ever wanted and more and this brings a warm sensation to the reader as all the surprises and conversations (which is very witty most of the times) makes it to be a nice romantic story which gave an ending even more surprising to me after I thought it's one of those stories that might have a surprising end.
A slow start with a witty middle and an unexpected ending at the end. Loved the characters even though they are quite straightforward.
The girl of his dreams seems to have everything he ever wanted and more and this brings a warm sensation to the reader as all the surprises and conversations (which is very witty most of the times) makes it to be a nice romantic story which gave an ending even more surprising to me after I thought it's one of those stories that might have a surprising end.
A slow start with a witty middle and an unexpected ending at the end. Loved the characters even though they are quite straightforward.
December 12, 2014
The first quarter of the story was messy, so much so that I almost wanted to stop reading. Then Timmy fell in love and I have never read such beautiful romance storytelling skills from a male author as Jeremy Chin did with his words dancing on love. It was brilliantly explored, the essence of love, the snapshot of falling in love through the simplest moment in life. That's love. That's what I believe in. Love is really beautiful in this book, extraordinaire ordinary love. Good old love. Perhaps I have fallen for the author too! :P
March 15, 2011
Oh gosh... this was a good attempt by the author, but I got so bored with his use of five dollar words and overly descriptive passages on running -some in conversation form between characters. right. eye roll. the 'surprise ending' that the lone reviewer in amazon referred to was not much of one. by the time the story finally started to focus on the connection between characters, I had a feeling that he was building
June 18, 2011
Wow! This book lulled me into a false sense of security, and then came at me with such tour de force with its juggernaut ending. Fuel is crafted beautifully, and I found myself going back to re-read many of this author's words because of they way they were ingeniusly assembled. I'm huge into running, it's a very essential part of my life. This is one of the best, if not the best running book I've ever read. I highly recommend it to you running folk who love a good underdog story.
October 11, 2014
I found this book when I googled on novels about running. I stumbled across the author's website and decided to give it a read. For a few dollars on Amazon, why not.
I found the prologue a bit strange, but once the story began I couldn't put it down.
I actually learned a lot about running. So many facts and tips thrown into the story, yet not in a boring fashion.
This story will make you laugh, cry, and have you cheering all the way to the finish.
I found the prologue a bit strange, but once the story began I couldn't put it down.
I actually learned a lot about running. So many facts and tips thrown into the story, yet not in a boring fashion.
This story will make you laugh, cry, and have you cheering all the way to the finish.
May 18, 2015
A friend gave me this book and I'm glad he guilted me into reading it. Fuel is beautifully written and I hope Jeremy Chin continues to write. For a while, I was wondering where it was heading (tighter editing would have helped) but what an ending. Reminded me a bit of Erich Segal's Love Story.
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January 24, 2016I love the beginning of this book but it was heading towards something I wasn't looking forward to. A love story. I found the storyline pretty interesting overall, it has its cheesy points at times but I didn't really like the ending. Touching, but a little bit of rush there.
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January 30, 2016I love the beginning of this book but it was heading towards something I wasn't looking forward to. A love story. I found the storyline pretty interesting overall, it has its cheesy points at times and I didn't like the ending. Touching, but a little bit of rush there.
December 16, 2015
Adored the running narrative.
I could have done without the love story.
I could have done without the love story.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews