The Smoke Jumper
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- €3.99
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- €3.99
Publisher Description
The fire that was to change so many lives started with a single shaft of lightning that struck a mountain ridge on a still and moonless night. The woman who camped nearby with her group of troubled teenagers slept on and heard nothing. Until the deadly inferno engulfed the mountain, and into the flames leaped The Smoke Jumper.
His name is Connor Ford and he braves he the flames to save the woman he loves but cannot have, for Julia Bishop is the partner of his closest friend, Ed Tully. Julia loves them both but the tragedy on Snake Mountain forces her to choose between them and burns a brand on all their hearts.
In the wake of the fire, Connor travels to the world's worst wars and disasters to take photographs that find him fame but not happiness. Reckless of a life he no longer wants, he dares death to take him, until another fateful day on another continent, when he must walk through fire again ...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With fists over their hearts, best friends Connor Ford and Ed Tully shout out "hearts of fire" before parachuting into devastating forest fires to extinguish them. Working side by side in life-threatening circumstances, this unlikely pair (Connor is a Montana cowboy and freelance photographer; Ed is a Chicago musician and would-be playwright) bond through their summer job. Ed's girlfriend, Julia, counsels troubled teens in the Montana wilderness and, though neither one acknowledged it, when Connor and Julia met sparks flew. All three of their lives change irreparably when Julia is trapped in a raging forest fire. Ed becomes blinded during the rescue, and Connor saves Julia. Julia marries Ed out of a sense of responsibility, and a frustrated Connor leaves for years to travel the globe as a war photographer. Although it sounds like an extravagant soap opera, and occasionally feels that way, Evans's (The Horse Whisperer and The Loop) latest novel is about more than just a complicated love triangle. From its opening line, "The important things in life always happen by accident," this is a tale of fate and the search for happiness and self-fulfillment. Conger's strong, clear reading has an edge accentuating the danger of Connor's life, yet at the same time his voice is a source of integrity and calm that anchors the story. Simultaneous release with the Delacorte hardcover.