This year, I have read four books by Heather Gudenkauf. As you can tell by the title of this review, I just finished One Breath Away.
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Synopsis:
In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom. Outside the school, the town of Broken Branch watches and waits.
Officer Meg Barrett holds the responsibility for the town's children in her hands. Will Thwaite, reluctantly entrusted with the care of his two grandchildren by the daughter who left home years earlier, stands by helplessly and wonders if he has failed his child again. Trapped in her classroom, Evelyn Oliver watches for an opportunity to rescue the children in her care. And thirteen-year-old Augie Baker, already struggling with the aftermath of a terrible accident that has brought her to Broken Branch, will risk her own safety to protect her little brother.
As tension mounts with each passing minute, the hidden fears and grudges of the small town are revealed as the people of Broken Branch race to uncover the identity of the stranger who holds their children hostage.
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After reading three books by Gudenkauf, I knew that I wanted to get everything she has written. I was lucky enough to find this book at our library's semi-annual book sale. I was a little nervous when I saw the cover. I did not read the words on the cover, you know, the ones that say: One School. One Gunman. Your Child. Somehow, I overlooked those words and I only saw the picture of the female on the cover. My initial thought was that this book was going to be a romance novel. I'm glad I read the synopsis because I was wrong. So very wrong.
I started One Breath Away while traveling one weekend. I was actually debating between One Breath Away or the first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor. At the time, I didn't have the audiobook for Killing Floor, but I could get One Breath Away on Scribd. I started the One Breath Away audiobook thinking that I would start Jack Reacher at the hotel. There was one problem, I couldn't stop listening, and then reading, One Breath Away. Even my wife stopped reading her book to listen to One Breath Away while we were driving. The very first chapter is only two and a half pages and it ends like this:
"Yeah," she finally says. "I love you, Mom," she says softly.
"I love you, too." My eyes fill with tears and I can feel the moisture pool beneath the bandages that cover my injured eye.
I wait for Augie to disconnect when I hear three quick shots, followed by two more and Augie's piercing screams.
I feel the bandages that cover the left side of my face peel away, my own screams loosening the adhesive holding them in place; I feel the fragile, newly grafted skin begin to unravel. I am scarcely aware of the nurses and my mother rushing to my side, tearing the phone from my grasp.
Yep, tell me that you don't want to continue the story. Gudenkauf's writing style is one where she grabs your attention from the first chapter and keeps it until the end. One Breath Away is no exception. As with her previous books, she grabbed my attention from Chapter 1 and had me the entire way.
This whole novel takes place over the span of a few hours and is told from the perspective of five characters: a student in the school, a mom that is several states away, a grandpa who has two grandkids in the school, a police officer, and the teacher whose classroom the gunman is in. Each character has their own unique voice. You could pick up the book to any page and know which character you were reading. With the audiobook, they have a different narrator for each character. That is something I love.
This book has very short chapters. I mean short. I would say most chapters are four pages or less. There are some that are a little longer, but they are few and far between. The total number of chapters is 116, and the book is only 370 pages. I can tell you, and my wife can confirm, that I spent a couple of nights staying up late to read "only one more chapter."
This is a fast-paced story. So sit down and buckle up. The pages go by real fast and you will be turning the final 75 pages as fast as you can, that is when the story starts to unfold. Gudenkauf has perfected her storytelling that way. She will keep your attention the entire time, but you know the final 100 pages will simply fly by. Gudenkauf doesn't leave any major questions unanswered in her stories either. You get a simple, fast, and clean story from her every time.
And villains....DANG IT GUDENKAUF! How do I never see them coming? Gudenkauf always throws some red herrings your way. The first one or two suspects won't be the villain, but somehow I never realize who the villain is until she reveals them. I should have suspected them all along, but yet I don't. Other readers may figure it out sooner. Then again, maybe they don't. Maybe the whole reason I don't figure it out is that I am so engrossed in the story.
This is another stellar book from Gudenkauf. If you love the mystery/thriller genre and enjoy fast-paced stories, give Heather Gudenkauf a try. You won't be disappointed. I will definitely be reading through her catalog. Four down, five to go.
One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf - 4.25 / 5 Stars
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