Freefall

Author: Kristen Heitzmann

Genre: Adventure, mystery

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 460

Time period: Present

Passage from book (first two paragraphs): The blow came like the torrent below, hard and swift and unexpected. Framed by jungle foliage, a face, the thrust of an arm. Her spine arched. She screamed, jerked, and pinwheeled, then splashed in and went under. Swept up in fluid momentum, her head broke the surface. A shout bounced off the canyon wall. She couldn’t turn to place it, couldn’t catch the words. Another shout, drowned by an ominous roar. Realizing the danger, she kicked against the rabid current, but it surged, tipped, and flung her down, down to the pounding base. It drove her into the pool, tumbling and crushing, exploding it percussive blasts like war around her. She hit something hard. Pain seared her head. Her limbs slackened. Darkness.

My overall opinion: Great cover (gets half a point just for that), great opening (honestly, who could put that down?), and a fascinating story! My only problem? It mentioned Jane Austen…except it said Jane Austin. With an i. BAD. It is for older readers, again, some slightly thematic (though definitely not explicit) material, and yeah, just for older as opposed to younger.