Review - One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf

My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin (MIRA) for an advance e copy to read and review.

Published by Harlequin (MIRA) 19 June 2012

My 4**** Review

“We’re always one breath away from something, living or dying, sometimes it just can’t be helped”

The town of Broken Branch, in Iowa, is a small town with a big heart. In the midst of a snowstorm, a man with a gun walks into the town’s only school, and takes a classroom of children hostage. The identity of the gunman is unknown, but as this appalling news reaches the wider community, people start to gather outside the school, and as the snow continues to fall, they are powerless to do anything but wait and watch. What then follows is a cleverly woven story, held together by five very different narrators; a mother, a grandfather, a child, a police officer and a school teacher, all blend their voices together, as piece by piece, the story unfolds.

One Breath Away is so much more than the story of a lone gunman. It is the story of a small town community bonded together by tragedy, but divided by secrets. With remarkable skill, Heather Gudenkauf has pieced together the fragmented heart of a community, and has with great sensitivity exposed the rawness of grief, the challenge of redemption and the power of justice.

This is the second book by Heather Gudenkauf I have read and enjoyed. Her other books are :


The Weight of Silence (2009)

These Things Hidden (2011)