Yosemite National Park is the setting for a suspenseful romance tale in which everything that could go wrong, does, and then some more besides. An unheralded earthquake leaves a small group of people TRAPPED IN YOSIMITE, and somewhere in the vicinity is a man who is armed and dangerous.
Stella Rivers is an arborist who was called to meet a new client up in the woods. But she barely gets talking when a stranger fires at them. Stella is sure her client is dead, and while driving too fast, to escape, she lands nose-down in a river. Luckily, she is pulled out by Von Sharpe, a K-9 handler on break from the Air Force with a dodgy knee. Along with his highly trained partner, Bear, the dog handler is helping out at his late brother's wilderness survival camp. The earthquake strands the pair at the camp with tourists and staff. And someone else, Stella’s baby girl Hannah. Von knows nothing about Hannah, although he’s Stella’s former fiancé. He has a lot to catch up on.
The research from author Dana Mentink is, as usual, top-class. We find out what might happen during an earthquake in this mountainous area of California, damage to buildings, and how people might respond. The local police are severely understaffed to deal with either a murder or a calamity. I also love Bear, a Malinois sheepdog, and his extraordinary skillset. If ever there was a Commando dog, this is Bear. Bitter cold weather and blowing snow compound the survival issues.
The human touch is never far from our adventure either, whether that is Stella being a devoted mom, Von wondering if it’s worth trying for a reconciliation, or the family dynamics of the tourists. I had to wonder why so many people who liked Von had been keeping secrets from him, but that’s all part of the story.
TRAPPED IN YOSIMITE is a lightly inspirational novel, meaning it is a clean read although there’s violence. While the characters each face one dilemma after another, as matters go from bad to worse, they generally think through their choices. They start realising that they didn’t always get it right in the past. Mostly, I learned that if you are trapped in a dangerous situation, everything depends on the people who are alongside you. Well done to Dana Mentink, who goes right to the top of my must-read list.
When a massive earthquake levels the region, secrets and unknown dangers are exposed…
The ground in still-icy Yosemite National Park isn’t stable, and K-9 handler Von Sharpe fears the worst. But his worries are pushed aside when he sees an SUV viciously forced off the road…with his ex-fiancée at the wheel. It’s only when Stella Rivers steps out of the vehicle that the very ground under their feet cracks and breaks with the onslaught of a terrifying earthquake.
When her meeting with a mysterious client is ambushed, Stella witnesses the man being gunned down by a sniper and becomes a target herself. With the threat of aftershocks triggering landslides and floods, the new mom has no choice but to run to save her baby girl—even if it means teaming up with the man who has no idea he fathered her child.
Trapped in a dangerously unstable wilderness with a killer closing in, Von and Stella are running out of time to get to safety. And every fissure reveals a new secret that will shake them to their foundation…
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