What a difference a day makes
Author : Charles Martin
Title : The Mountain Between Us
Published : 21/09/2017
Pages : 336
Genre : Contemporary Fiction
Publisher : W&N
On a stormy winter night, two strangers wait for a flight at the Salt Lake City airport. Ashley Knox is an attractive, successful writer, who is flying East for her much anticipated wedding. Dr Ben Payne has just wrapped up a medical conference and is also eager to return home. When the last outgoing flight is cancelled due to a forthcoming storm, Ben finds a charter plane that can take them.Then the unthinkable happens and the plane crashes into the High Uintas Wilderness - one of the largest stretches of harsh and remote land in the United States. Ben, who has broken ribs, and Ashley, who suffers a terrible leg fracture, along with the pilot's dog, are faced with a battle to survive.
Every now and again a story will come up on the news about how someone got strand in some remote location and managed to survive days or weeks till they were rescued. I always think of it as an interesting thought experiment as to how I would cope if I got lost in the middle of nowhere and had to make my way out. With Martin's story, you have the added element of having his two protagonists survive a plane crash. I would imagine this would be one of the hardest things to get through let alone all the while looking after an injured stranger.
The book plays out through Ben's eyes, as he tries to make his way down the mountain with Ashley and the dog in tow. As a lead character, Ben brings everything you could want in a survival adventure book. Yes, it helps that he's a doctor, Mountain climbing expert and eagle scout which obversely allows him to be able to have the knowledge that most of us wouldn't have. But I don't think that this is really a problem. There are other books out there which probably deal with this better and to be honest it probably would have been a very short book because they wouldn't have last long after the crash.
While Ashley spends most of the book lying around with a broken leg. she doesn't add much to the action side of things but what the character lacks on this front she does bring a nice balance to Ben's all action hero. She keeps him centered and stops him going completely mad. Which is not to say she is just some cardboard character to give Ben someone to play with. I will admit that the information we get about her is not as much as I would of totally have liked. But I suppose it is Ben's story. The two play off each other well and they give a lot of humor that I wasn't expecting when I first started this book. There where more than a few time that I found my self-laughing at the batter between them. And even in their darkest moments that shone through, I think most people at times would have completely lost it with each other and screamed and shouted till they ran out of breath. I would also give a special shout-out to the dog for generally being a good boy and doing what dogs do.
The story works well and as I worked my way through the pages I found my self-caring for this little band of heroes. There is something so infectious about them, Which I think is due to them generally being good people, it's not like being stuck up a mountain with a murder. The story takes on a second track as we get Bens rambling thoughts in the form of a dictaphone he is caring along with him. Not only did this allow me to get some insight into his state of mind but also allowed his backstory to be filled in. These are sometimes funny and on occasion sad reminders giving a more complex view of our all American hero. In some ways, it would have been nice to have this for Ashly and give her some more life. But overall I can't complain it's a nice mix of survival and romance with a warm heart. The two character show some genuine affection for each other and there is enough peril to keep the tension up. I think the very ending for me was the most shocking as I really didn't see it coming.
As I said before there was a lot more humor than I was expecting from this book. But it gave the book and overall tone that allowed me to have an enjoyable time which is not to say that you might not just shed a tear or two. But I glad I gave it a go as it was worth the time I spent with it.
Every now and again a story will come up on the news about how someone got strand in some remote location and managed to survive days or weeks till they were rescued. I always think of it as an interesting thought experiment as to how I would cope if I got lost in the middle of nowhere and had to make my way out. With Martin's story, you have the added element of having his two protagonists survive a plane crash. I would imagine this would be one of the hardest things to get through let alone all the while looking after an injured stranger.
The book plays out through Ben's eyes, as he tries to make his way down the mountain with Ashley and the dog in tow. As a lead character, Ben brings everything you could want in a survival adventure book. Yes, it helps that he's a doctor, Mountain climbing expert and eagle scout which obversely allows him to be able to have the knowledge that most of us wouldn't have. But I don't think that this is really a problem. There are other books out there which probably deal with this better and to be honest it probably would have been a very short book because they wouldn't have last long after the crash.
While Ashley spends most of the book lying around with a broken leg. she doesn't add much to the action side of things but what the character lacks on this front she does bring a nice balance to Ben's all action hero. She keeps him centered and stops him going completely mad. Which is not to say she is just some cardboard character to give Ben someone to play with. I will admit that the information we get about her is not as much as I would of totally have liked. But I suppose it is Ben's story. The two play off each other well and they give a lot of humor that I wasn't expecting when I first started this book. There where more than a few time that I found my self-laughing at the batter between them. And even in their darkest moments that shone through, I think most people at times would have completely lost it with each other and screamed and shouted till they ran out of breath. I would also give a special shout-out to the dog for generally being a good boy and doing what dogs do.
The story works well and as I worked my way through the pages I found my self-caring for this little band of heroes. There is something so infectious about them, Which I think is due to them generally being good people, it's not like being stuck up a mountain with a murder. The story takes on a second track as we get Bens rambling thoughts in the form of a dictaphone he is caring along with him. Not only did this allow me to get some insight into his state of mind but also allowed his backstory to be filled in. These are sometimes funny and on occasion sad reminders giving a more complex view of our all American hero. In some ways, it would have been nice to have this for Ashly and give her some more life. But overall I can't complain it's a nice mix of survival and romance with a warm heart. The two character show some genuine affection for each other and there is enough peril to keep the tension up. I think the very ending for me was the most shocking as I really didn't see it coming.
As I said before there was a lot more humor than I was expecting from this book. But it gave the book and overall tone that allowed me to have an enjoyable time which is not to say that you might not just shed a tear or two. But I glad I gave it a go as it was worth the time I spent with it.
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