Reviewed by Jill Caugherty
This fast-paced debut thriller by North Carolina based veterinarian Rebecca Hodge keeps readers on the edge of their seats with its cinematic-like action. Besides being a fun read, it delves into the minds of protagonists Kat Jamison and Malcolm Lassiter in alternating chapters that explore human strength, inner courage, and compassion.
Fifty-something Kat Jamison has retreated to the Blue Ridge Mountains for what she hopes will be a respite from the cancer that has hounded her for the last several years, and which unfortunately has returned. She also has a decision to make: Will she resume cancer treatments, despite what don’t appear to be good odds for recovery and with the certainty of a litany of painful procedures and medical visits? Now a widow, Kat is on her own, except for her adult daughter, Sara, who arrives at Kat’s idyllic rental cottage with a dog in tow that she foists on her mother – the last thing Kat wants.
Juni, the Golden Retriever, is not the only obstacle between Kat and her desire for peace and solitude. Soon she befriends two children on the mountain: Lily, the tween daughter of a divorced father, and Nirav, Malcolm Lassiter’s adopted son. She also reluctantly acquires another dog, an injured pup that she and Lily accidentally find and rescue. When Lily’s father requests that Lily stay overnight at Kat’s cottage while he finishes a work assignment and Nirav begs to join Lily for a sleep-over at Kat’s cottage; Kat feels forced to agree, reasoning it is only one night, and then she will have the cottage to herself and the freedom to reflect on her cancer treatment options.
But when a forest fire breaks out early the next morning and spreads wildly out of control, Kat’s plans fly out the window as she struggles to lead the children to safety. The bridge to their parents’ rentals has been destroyed in the fire, separating the children from their fathers, so Kat must blindly forge ahead with a spur-of-the-moment rescue plan.
From here the action picks up pace, as Hodge alternates chapters between Kat’s desperate race for survival with the children and dogs, and Malcolm’s bold plan to rescue all of them in a helicopter. Kat’s adventures in fleeing the fire with the children and dogs are hair-raising, though at times the reader must suspend disbelief at certain incredibly fortuitous events. Likewise, Malcolm’s and Lily’s fathers’ adventures in the helicopter keep the reader riveted, as multiple delays ensue, and time seems to be running out for any hope of rescue.
In the end, Kat’s actions to save the children are surprisingly heroic. Malcolm, who has also faced deadly danger during a previous stint in the army, enables her to see that she has a wealth of strength and compassion that has been hiding within her, by explaining how his own dark experience changed him and gave him new confidence: “…As if a different person had been hiding inside, waiting for the right moment to put in an appearance. Eventually, I decided to get acquainted with the stranger I’d become.” Ultimately, the choice Kat must make about her cancer treatments becomes more clear, given the inner courage she has found to confront the fire.
An action-adventure that also manages to be an interesting character study of courage and compassion.