No Brakes: On the Wing

On the Wing #1

by Ellen Ann Callahan

Lucy Prestipino has only minutes to deliver a lawsuit to the Baltimore City courthouse. She’s a twenty-one-year-old bicycle messenger on a mission—saving a crying lawyer from missing the statute of limitations. She's promised to file the lawsuit before the court closes, no matter what.


No matter what propels Lucy into a horrific crash with handsome and charismatic Romero Sanchez. She becomes romantically entangled with Sanchez until Rick McCormick, the chief of the new gang unit of the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office, warns her of the depth of Sanchez's criminality. Her relationship with Sanchez violently disintegrates.


A brutal murder draws her into a ruthless vendetta between Sanchez and McCormick. She's convinced the police are on the wrong track and launches her own murder investigation. The long-kept secrets Lucy unearths during her hunt for a killer force her to confront choices that may destroy her.

344 pages, ebook

First published May 12, 2015

About the author

Ellen Ann Callahan is an author and freelance writer. Her articles and essays have appeared in Maryland Life Magazine, The Washington Post, Washington Family Magazine, and Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor’s Soul. She was an adoption attorney until she retired to pursue the writing life. She lives with her husband in Deep Creek, Maryland.

Reviews

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy Prestipino is a 21-year-old entrepreneur in Baltimore with a bicycle delivery service and a great deal of spirit and drive. She has the best-of-the-best bicycle, all the safety equipment you could ask for except brakes, owns her small starter home, and has a circle of repeat customers who keep her on her toes - literally. Until she miscalculates a traffic light change and t-bones handsome Romero Sanchez. Her bike in many pieces, his fancy car very dented, her ankle broken and in a cast from knee to toes and no insurance. Her mother, of course, would help, but she doesn't want to ask her. Her friends, the same. She will somehow muddle through until she can work again. Perhaps. Eight weeks, the Doctor tells her, before the cast comes off. In reality, in two months she'll be homeless and starving. But optimism is one of her saving graces. Or is it?
Reviewed on March 15, 2025 at Goodreads, AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, BookBub, and Kobo.

[Joyce Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beauty, brains, and unbridled blab--Ellen Ann Callahan's protagonist, Lucy Prestipino, possesses gifts that allow her to survive in her dog-eat-dog urban environment. She has built a bicycle messenger business and talked her way into countless public and private offices where delivering papers pronto is important. And she delivers. She rides faster than any of her employees--without brakes.

All well and good for Lucy, until her "without brakes" habit cases her weeks of rehab away from her business. The accident and its aftermath also lead to her involvement with underworld and law enforcement figures who are just as tough and competitive as Lucy.

The story kept me reading as Lucy's, sometimes sneaky and dangerous, sometimes brilliant and astute, behavior led her into and out of scrapes with dangerous forces. I wanted to yell, "No!" when she spouted off or fought the wrong characters. Then, I anxiously turned the pages to find out how she would talk her way out of trouble.

I recommend this story for its great characterizations, its realistic portrayal of law proceedings, and for all the emotional ups and downs within the mystery.

[Jeff Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

“No Brakes” is up there with the best! Lucy Prestipino is superb: bright, intelligent, fearless, and unique. Each chapter I read made me desperate to read more. Complex characters. Fascinating interactions with the men in her life, lots of plot twists, and a satisfying conclusion. It kept me guessing right up to the end.

[Linda Luedeke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, love the characters especially Lucy. The author’s knowledge and background as an adoption attorney in Baltimore helped bring the story support. Looking forward to Plowed Under which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, MD.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read. Love the way she writes, good character development.

[Marcia Chocinsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, fast paced, okay read. This book is made more interesting to me as I live in MD and I’m familiar with parts of the state, like Sideling Hill and Deep Creek Lake.

[Lisa Luden Grunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story told by a new author. It was full of crime stuff and some romance. I enjoyed it. There is a sequel and I have already picked up the book on kindle.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellen Ann Callahan joins Laura Lippman as a literary voice of Baltimore. Ellen Ann Callahan’s debut novel “No Breaks: On the Wing” evokes Baltimore and its environs like no other author since Laura Lippman. You can practically taste the Old Bay. Her heroine Lucy is flawed but sympathetic. The plotting provides enough red herrings to keep you guessing but resolves in a tight and satisfying denouement. Did I mention the men? The novel is peopled with intriguing male characters that make Lucy’s romantic choices as suspenseful as the “who-done-it”. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to hearing more from Ms. Callahan.

[R. SULLIVAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stop reading this review and start reading No Brakes on the Wing now! You will not regret it. The novel is fast-paced, engaging, intelligent, and delightful. The characters are sympathetic, realistic and captivating. You know how, in some books, the author gets wordy or lets the story lag a little? You won't find that in this book. It is tightly plotted; masterfully laid out with unanticipated twists and turns. It is even educational, in a good way, if you didn't already know about bike messenger culture, addiction, gang life, and intricacies of the legal system. It is hard to believe that this is a first novel for Ms. Callahan. I very much look forward to her future books!

[David Dennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast paced, well researched, police/gangland story sure to keep readers turning the pages. Ms. Callahan knows the environs she describes and it shows.Could make a nice TV Movie or series. Move over Lee Child!

[Diane Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, what a story! I can't believe this is a debut novel. Where has Ms. Callahan been hiding her talent? Can't wait for her next book.

[Barbara Frey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read. Anyone interested in a good mystery that also involves action/adventure and courtroom processes would enjoy this one. Good stuff!