Review: The Mountain Between Us

Author: Charles Martin

Also Wrote:  Where the River Ends

Genre: Fiction - June 2010

About:  Ashley Knox and Ben Payne are strangers who meet in the airport after their flight is cancelled due to an incoming snowstorm. Ben Payne, a surgeon who is also an avid hiker and climber, had been out of town for a medical conference; Ashley was on her way to her own wedding. With several surgeries scheduled for the next morning, Ben hires a charter plane to fly him around the incoming storm and invites Ashley to go with him so she doesn't miss her wedding. She gratefully accepts, with tragic consequences. The pilot has a heart attack and the plane crashes in the mountains. 

Overall:  Really enjoyed and read it in two days.  This is one people will either love or hate.  Some may think it's too unrealistic and corny:  Ben just happens to have his fully equipped backpack from a climb the week before, he happens to be a doctor, which is perfect because Ashley, who happens to be beautiful, happens to be hurt in the crash.  But if you take the story for what it is...a page-turning, action-packed, romantic survival story, well, there you go.

Liked...the tenderness and love Ben Payne showed for his wife as he recorded messages to her on his dictaphone in case he died.  The feelings he began to have for Ashley while treating her injuries during their month-long ordeal were realistic. I can imagine how close two people would become after the necessary intimacies required in the aftermath of a crash with injuries like Ashley's (i.e. toileting issues.  Hmmm...TMI, perhaps?)  I also was glad the story included a dog, who belonged to the pilot and was in the plane when it crashed.

Didn't Like...their saga on the mountain dragged on a little too long at times, but this annoyed me only slightly. For the most part the author kept it interesting. 

Source: Library

Why I Chose: Saw it on Book Page and loved the synopsis.

Recommend? Yes, absolutely.

Rating:  4.5 / 5

Do stories like this turn you off or are you able to look past too obvious and predictable coincidences and enjoy the stories for what they are?