This book had a great plot, and it was certainly full of action, twists and turns, and kept me interested and reading.
The author obviously knows a great deal about flying, both helicopters and planes. Either that or he did a great deal of research.
However, this level of research didn't cover one of the major premises of the book, and this needs to be addressed.
Peace Corps Volunteers never (NEVER) travel around a country doing outreach work with missionaries. They just don't. Peace Corps is funded by the US government - and we have the separation of church and state. Peace Corps Volunteers work with a counterpart who is always a host country national; the point of Peace Corps is to share information and train that host country counterpart. So if Carley Downs were indeed a Peace Corps Volunteer doctor, she'd be travelling around the country with Guatemalan doctors, doing outreach work. Or she might be located at a hospital (possibly a mission hospital), teaching Guatemalan medical students. Or working side by side with other medical instructors, sharing knowledge and developing their skills. The point of Peace Corps is to work ourselves out of a job. (I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Liberia, West Africa, and I was so excited to find a book that includes a major character who is a PCV. I was truly appalled by the misinformation in this book.)
Secondly, while I accept that there are usually some grammatical errors that are overlooked (such as commas in the wrong place, or verbs that don't agree with the nouns), there were glaring errors in this book.
McWain's means it BELONGS to a McWain. If you want to say more than one McWain, it is a simple S. McWains. No apostrophe. The apostrophe is either possessive, or in a contraction (such as can't). That is it.
"Antiquated" means out of date. An heirloom chair would be an antique, not antiquated.
"Dominate" is a verb, not an adjective. Someone would have a DOMINANT personality.
"Bazaar" is a market, like an Arab souk. "Bizarre" is the word for strange circumstances.
(Sorry, if someone is going to write a book, no matter how wonderful the plot, they really should have a better grasp of the English language. Or hire an editor. Please.)
I hope the author reads this review and makes some of these changes. Other than the glaring problem with the ignorance of how the Peace Corps functions, and the various editing errors and malaprops, I thought it was a good story.
OR
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Action-packed and Suspense-filled
This is a new author that's been put on my radar screen. It only took me a few days to read the 407 pages because the story line is tight and very engrossing. The author has made the characters come alive with detailed descriptions so you can get a good visual in your mind as you read about them. I liked the action, the plot and the suspense, which really builds at the end (so allow time to read the last few chapters all at once). A good author will write what he knows about, and Mr. Sparks' knowledge about planes and fire fighting comes through clearly. This is a book worth your time and money if you like action-packed, suspense-filled novels that reads like today's news headlines!
