Summary: After Marc falls and breaks his leg while hiking in the mountains, his chances of survival are grim unless Kim and the search and rescue operation manage to find him.
Comments: This is very much an emotional rollercoaster of a story, particularly the heartache of the people trying to find Marc. A few more things that it shares with Hostage in the Woods, besides the multiple viewpoints, are the author's love of adjectives, and the fact that rescue comes at basically the last possible second - any later, and it would have been more of a cleanup mission. I rather enjoyed reading this book again, but damn does it mess with my head.
The technology changes over the last 20-some years are less noticeable than in Hostage in the Woods, since cell phones and so forth probably wouldn't have helped much - I would guess that the area where Marc was doesn't have very good cell coverage even now, so it wouldn't have helped him any. And I can't really picture him saying much about the hike on twitter or facebook, so it's hard to say if the search and rescue operation would have had any additional clues as to where to start looking.
Showing posts with label Cynthia Wall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cynthia Wall. Show all posts
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Hostage in the Woods, by Cynthia Wall
Summary: When Kim is kidnapped by bank robbers and forced to help an injured member of their group, she must rely on her wits, and her ham radio, to rescue her from her predicament.
Comments: This is another young adult book that I reread, but that doesn't disqualify it from being enjoyable once again. Though admittedly, I may have kinda skimmed over the mushy romantic parts.
One thing that I like about the book is that it's from the perspective of a variety of different people - the protagonists, bank robbers, various law enforcement officers, and some random people who only show up briefly. And the various random people seem to have a whole history and be very well fleshed out. The bank robbers also have distinct personalities that a reader can come to recognize.
One thing that struck me this time around is how much technology has changed since the book came out (1990). That was before the internet, cell phones, and email became a thing (I'm not sure if they existed back then, but they sure as heck weren't widely available). And some of their ham radio tools fill basically the same needs. For example, when Marc and Kim almost get run off the road by the bank robbers, they're able to call the police and report it because someone they know who happened to be on his radio at the time has a radio that's connected to the phone system, so they with their radio were able to communicate with the police's phone. I have to wonder how this story would be different if it were set today. For starters, Kim likely would have had a much harder time keeping hold of a way to communicate with the outside world as the bank robbers would have assumed that she had a cell phone and would have taken it away from her almost immediately.
One other thing that I have to mention is that, for better or for worse, this is kind of an emotional roller coaster of a book. Then again, you probably could have inferred that from the fact that the protagonist gets kidnapped and that we get to see the perspectives of other people. For example, her boyfriend.
Comments: This is another young adult book that I reread, but that doesn't disqualify it from being enjoyable once again. Though admittedly, I may have kinda skimmed over the mushy romantic parts.
One thing that I like about the book is that it's from the perspective of a variety of different people - the protagonists, bank robbers, various law enforcement officers, and some random people who only show up briefly. And the various random people seem to have a whole history and be very well fleshed out. The bank robbers also have distinct personalities that a reader can come to recognize.
One thing that struck me this time around is how much technology has changed since the book came out (1990). That was before the internet, cell phones, and email became a thing (I'm not sure if they existed back then, but they sure as heck weren't widely available). And some of their ham radio tools fill basically the same needs. For example, when Marc and Kim almost get run off the road by the bank robbers, they're able to call the police and report it because someone they know who happened to be on his radio at the time has a radio that's connected to the phone system, so they with their radio were able to communicate with the police's phone. I have to wonder how this story would be different if it were set today. For starters, Kim likely would have had a much harder time keeping hold of a way to communicate with the outside world as the bank robbers would have assumed that she had a cell phone and would have taken it away from her almost immediately.
One other thing that I have to mention is that, for better or for worse, this is kind of an emotional roller coaster of a book. Then again, you probably could have inferred that from the fact that the protagonist gets kidnapped and that we get to see the perspectives of other people. For example, her boyfriend.
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