The Mountain Between Us

Author: Charles Martin

Publisher: Broadway Books

Release Date: August 15, 2017

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A suspenseful tale of survival with a twist of fate like no one but Charles Martin can achieve.

Ben Payne is a gifted orthopedic surgeon from Jacksonville who is attending a medical conference in Colorado Springs and must take a return flight through Salt Lake City to get back home. While in the airport, he meets Ashley Knox, a budding young magazine writer who is trying to get home for her rehearsal dinner in Atlanta.  The airlines are trying to beat a blizzard out of the airport, but as the they wait for deicing, the airline cancels the flight and brings them back to the terminal.  Needing to get back home to perform a surgery, Ben decides to charter a flight to Denver and invites Ashley along so that she can make her wedding.  But things go wrong mid-air in flight.  Their pilot has a heart attack and crash lands the plane high in a mountain pass.  The pilot is dead and Ashley has suffered a broken femur.  Now caught in the blizzard above 11,000 feet in elevation, it becomes a matter of survival for one or both of them to get back home.

I have rapidly become a fan of Charles Martin and when I saw that this book was available for review, I quickly grabbed a copy. The story picks up tempo quickly and before you know what has happened, you’re stranded on the snowcapped peaks with Ben and Ashley.  The story is told from Ben’s perspective in both present time and reliving memories with his wife on a voice recorder as well as telling her about their current perilous situation.  As he reflects on fifteen years of marriage, Ashely wonders what her marriage will be like.  She loves her fiancée, but not with the kind of love that Ben has for his wife.  Can she make her relationship work if she even gets married in the first place?  There is a twist in the end that some readers will have figured out.  It is sad, but happy at the same time.  Highly recommended read!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.