by Shawn Smucker
Publisher: Revell
Before Dan opened his door to find a wounded woman who had escaped from the tormentors in the mountain, his life had become rather quiet. He and the eight other people in the mostly abandoned town had become friends. They spent peaceful evenings around the campfire and even made vague plans to journey east one day to leave the ominous mountain behind.
But the woman's arrival changes everything. Who is she? How does she know so much about Dan's brother, who is still held captive in the mountain? Why are long-forgotten memories rising to the surface? And why does Dan feel so compelled to keep her presence in his house a secret?
This is my first book by this author and I think he did an excellent job in his writing style however it was not my cup of tea. I wanted to like it so badly because the description is so intriguing and that cover just draws you in but I just could not get into it. The story is very much allegorical.
Dan is the main character and the one mainly telling the story. He once was a captive of the mountain but now he lives with the sole purpose of guiding others who have escaped the mountain into a new life. He also struggles with the fact that his brother is still in the mountain. I am honestly not going to give you more on the story because although there were other characters but you they don't truly delve into them and you don't find out what happens to them. (Again... so many questions).
I don't know if it was my mood or just the fact that the book gives you more questions than answers but I just was not into this book at all but I never liked Dante's Inferno and this is somewhat like that. I kept reading hoping I would start to enjoy it but I never did. At the end I was very disappointed that I was left with more questions than when I started and perhaps that may be that's the feeling the author wanted you to have at the end. I personally did not like that. I also felt that there was no real explanation on the redemption theme.
This is obviously just my personal review on the book and you may think differently and I hope you do! If you enjoy allegorical, dystopian and speculative books then this is definitely the read for you. Like I said before Shawn Smucker knows his style of writing an does a superb job in it however it was just not my type of book.
My Rating: 2 stars/ It was OK, but not my favorite.
(I received a copy of this book through the Revell Reads Blogger Program. I was not required to post a positive review. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)
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Shawn Smucker is an author, blogger, co-writer, and speaker who is passionate about storytelling and the importance of living an adventurous life. His book, Building a Life Out of Words, is consistently listed in Amazon’s top-rated memoirs/biographies, and How to Use a Runaway Truck Ramp details the 10,000-mile cross-country journey his family of six embarked on in a big blue bus previously owned by Willie Nelson. He received his English degree from Messiah College and currently lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with his wife and five children. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, his Blog Site, and at shawnsmucker.com
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