Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Received from publisher to review
Genre: LDS Suspense
Book Description: Kazakhstan is on the brink of civil war, and Elders Schofield and Johnson need to get out ASAP. But when their train explodes, all the evidence points to the missionaries! With terrorists on their trail and the whole country against them, the elders’ only refuge is the US Embassy in Astana—800 miles away. Fans of “The Saratov Approach” will love this jaw-dropping thriller.
My thoughts; It surprised me that this is a debut novel for Nathan Huffaker. The book is polished for a debut.
I found myself liking the missionaries from the beginning. Their relationship of a new missionary and a trainer caught my interest. Maybe it's because I have a son serving a mission right now? I don't know.
The book takes off from the very beginning. The Mission President receives a call in the middle of the night telling him to evacuate the missionaries. It was impressive to think of the network set up to handle emergencies in the mission field. The chain of information and the help that they receive was great to be reminded of.
It's not a spoiler to reveal that the train two of the missionaries are to travel on explodes just after the leave for an emergency situation. The missionaries were already being watched as possible spies/terrorists. This didn't help them at all, but it did save their lives.
I enjoyed the writing. Nathan Huffaker did a great job at description and the portrayal of the story. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
This book contains some violence. It is written to the LDS market.
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About the Author: Born and raised in Springville, Utah, the first time Nathan Huffaker boarded a plane was when he left home to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kiev, Ukraine. The two years he spent in Kiev later helped him to base parts of “Stranded” on his missionary experiences. Huffaker recently graduated from Utah Valley University with a degree in English and now resides in Spanish Fork, Utah, with his wife and five kids.
Visit his WEBPAGE!
Side Note ~ I think it's pretty cool that he grew up in the small city that I currently live in. :)
This sounds fantastic! I love that it's about Missionaries :)
ReplyDeleteI really liked this one. I am considering purchasing a hard copy to add to my library. :)
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