CFBA: Book Review: Falls Like Lightening

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Falls Like Lightning Bethany House (July 1, 2011) by Shawn Grady

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Shawn Grady signed with Bethany House Publishers in 2008. He was named “Most Promising New Writer” at the 39th Annual Mount Hermon Writers Conference. He is the author of the novels Through the Fire, Tomorrow We Die & Falls Like Lightning.

Shawn has served for over a decade as a firefighter and paramedic in northern Nevada. From fire engines and ambulances to tillered ladder trucks and helicopters, Shawn’s work environment has always been dynamic. The line of duty has carried him to a variety of locale, from high-rise fires in the city to the burning heavy timber of the eastern Sierras.

After graduating from James Logan High School in Union City, California, Shawn attended Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego as a Theology undergrad. There he found clarity of direction and proceeded on to acquire an Associate of Science degree in Fire Science Technology as well as Paramedic licensure through Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada.

Shawn currently lives in Reno, just outside of Lake Tahoe. He enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his wife, three children and yellow Labrador.

ABOUT THE BOOK

When hotshot smoke jumper Silas Kent gets his own fire crew, he thinks he's achieved what he's always wanted. But a lightning-sparked fire in the Desolation Wilderness of the Sierra Nevadas has his team in a plane before they can even train together.

Pilot Elle Westmore has been called up to drop the crew into the heart of the forest infernos. A single mother of a mysteriously ill six-year-old, she can't imagine her life getting any more complicated.

It doesn't take long for things to go very wrong, very quickly. A suspicious engine explosion forces Elle to make an emergency landing. Silas is able to parachute to safety but soon discovers his crew can't be trusted. They're hiding something, and now Silas is on a race to save himself and Elle from the flames--and from a more dangerous threat: his own team.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Falls Like Lightning, go HERE

MY THOUGHTS:
WOW.....this book reads like 'lightening'!  There is some serious action here and before I knew it I was half-way through the book and it was well past midnight and I didn't want to stop.  This is one story that will draw you in, there is drama, love, mystery, murder and danger and the story line grabs you from the very first page.  I really enjoyed how the author brought a sense of sweetness into the story because without the sweet little character of Elle's daughter this book good be quite harsh....but she seems to bring light and joy to even the darkest moments.  Many of the characters in the story are suffering and have things to work through and of course some come out better than others and I'm not going to say any more because I'm afraid I'll spill the 'beans'.....you're just going to have to read this book for yourself.  This is not your every day firefighter book!

* I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for review from CFBA.