Firefighters are a different breed, heading into the blaze while everyone else is racing away. We can't help remember the scenes of 911. These were the heroes and Joan Johnston did her research well so that she could capture the essence of what makes a firefighter.

In the case of smoke jumpers, well I can't even fathom their bravery and smarts. They know what they face and yet the dangers are insurmountable but necessary. Raging forest fires are beyond menacing. They are totally destructive. One would wonder how someone could jump from a plane smack dab in the middle of one of these infernos.

Taylor Greyhawk, one of the King brats, is a pilot and this current mission to drop off smoke jumpers has put her and the spotter on board, none other than Brian Flynn, one of those awful Flynn boys, in grave danger. An unfortunate decision and move had them both falling right smack into the middle of that raging beast.

Now it seems that these two feuding families are faced with working together (has hell frozen over?) to search for and hopefully find their siblings. Hopefully alive, but surely not in the best condition if, and it's a big if, Taylor and Brian had actually survived the plunge into the inferno.

As it turns out, the two who would be the front team are Aidan Flynn and Leah Greyhawk. And their story is mesmerizing and heartbreaking. This feud has caused all sorts of problems for all the Flynn and Greyhawk children who, now as adults, seem still sucked into the middle of a fight without a winner in sights.

Joan Johnston has done her homework. The details that explain and describe the ordeal of making that jump and finding a way to survive are extraordinarily outlined in this adventure. Day to day, hour to hour, and week to week trials are handled with great attention to detail. The reader actually feels a part of the drama of Taylor and Brian.

Taylor, affectionately called Tag by Brian, has a past with Brian. A teenage past nipped in the bud by their respective siblings who were continuing the horrible feud of their fathers. Tag and Brian have kept their distance for many years, but they are thrown together by their jobs in smoke jumping. Both felt they had moved on from their days together as teens. In reality, it had left both of them in a sort of limbo with neither one even remotely looking to reopen that chapter.

The fight to survive is going to teach them a lot about themselves and each other. They are very realistic in the probability that either one or both of them might not get out of this fix. They are both fighting any leftover attraction. In truth, both Tag and Brian are very frightened but determined to be as optimistic as feasible when all odds are definitely not in their favor.

It's easy to understand the enormity of research that an author sometimes has to do in order to give credence to the story line. Joan Johnston out did herself in this one. SURRENDER is at times harsh and candidly scary. It's our growing feelings for all these characters that keep us invested page by page right through to the ending. Looking for a great book that is impossible to put down, read SURRENDER by Joan Johnston.

Book Summary