If We Survive
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4.5 • 53 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
They came on a mission of mercy. Now they're in a fight for their lives. New York Times bestselling author Andrew Klavan delivers a heart-pounding story of what happens when a seemingly noble adventure that turns into a survival nightmare.
High schooler Will Peterson and three friends journeyed to Central America to help rebuild a school. In a poor, secluded mountain village, they won the hearts of the local people with their energy and kindness.
But in one sudden moment, everything went horribly wrong. A revolution swept the country. Now, guns and terror are everywhere--and Americans are being targeted as the first to die.
Will and his friends have got to get out fast. But streets full of killers . . . hills patrolled by armies . . . and a jungle rife with danger stand between them and the border. Their one hope of escape lies with a veteran warrior who has lost his faith and may betray them at any moment. Their one dream is to reach freedom and safety and home.
If they can just survive.
"[A] gripping story . . . The best part is the narrator, a sort of more hopeful and kindhearted Holden Caulfield, who finds himself in binds that lead him to make tough choices in the heat of the moment." --Publishers Weekly | "Fast-paced with multiple threats, genuine tension and lots of machine guns." --Kirkus | "This gripping novel will hold readers' attention from the opening pages until the end." --School Library Journal
What readers love about If We Survive: high-stakes survival, relentless pacing, coming of age through crisis, moral clarity, and clean but intense storytelling.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two-time Edgar Award winner Klavan (True Crime) works the YA category with a gripping story narrated by Will Peterson, a teen on a youth mission trip. Will has a jaded view of the group, until building a wall for an orphanage turns into a rush for survival in a fictional Central American country crumbling into civil war. Extensive early character description slows the story's takeoff; characters efficiently develop in action by conquering fears and bonding while being chased by rebel leader Mendoza. With help from a discharged U.S. Marine, the group navigates everything from snakes to firing squads to escape the country. The best part is the narrator, a sort of more hopeful and kindhearted Holden Caulfield, who finds himself in binds that lead him to make tough choices in the heat of the moment: "And I Will Peterson sixteen years old from the quiet little town of Spencer's Grove, California... I had just killed a man." Klavan turns up the heat for YA fiction, and this book will be a hot Christmas gift this season. Ages 12 up.
Customer Reviews
Best book I've ever read
So griping through the entire story