The Smoke Jumper

This was by far the most entertaining CD I have listened to in a very long time. I enjoyed listening to this story while commuting to work and back. I even obeyed the speed limits so I could hear more of the book before arriving at my destination. Luke Perry was the narrater and he did a remarkable job. Makes for an enjoyable stress reducer while commuting in work traffic. This had a great storyline and with Luke Perry reading it, you just can't ask for more!

Mr. Evans takes you from Montana to Africa and back in this romance novel about loyalty, friendship and love. He tells quite the vivid tale and puts the reader right there with the characters. A refreshing romance novel with a little adventure mixed here and there. As far as the novel being predictable well it isn't a murder mystery now is it? I found it enjoyable and the 550 pages turn themseleves. Those looking to become Smoke Jumpers need look elsewhere.

I was shocked to read so many negative reviews on this book. Yes, the setting was broader than Montana forest fire fighting but the title says something about the person's character as well, and that was the theme throughout the book. Perhaps so many found fault because they have difficulty respecting characters who don't put their own needs before all else. This is not a book for the ME generation. It is a wonderful story of good people facing life's difficulties with honor and dignity. The beauty with which it was written was like a salve to my soul, having recently read a string of popular novels with the descriptive power of fifth grade essays. I loved The Horse Whisperer and The Loop as well, and will certainly purchase the next Nicholaus Evans novel I see on the power of the author's name alone.

Evans seems to keep the story moving with both adventure and romance. He writes without a lot of descriptive garbage and tells the story with simple ease. I found it a moving and suspenseful story with a great ending. Evans and Sparks are very much alike. It reminded me of "Rescue".

Nicholas Evans takes us through a decade of the lives of photographer Connor Ford, musician Ed Tully, and artist Julia Bishop. This is more than a story about a smoke jumper, more than a story about love. This is a story about friendship, spirituality, and courage. It's about abandonment and individuality. It's about sadness and it's about hope. The author is a good storyteller and even though the course of the story is diverse and unusual, he never loses the reader as he goes from one person to the next, from one continent to another, painting pictures of their lives through his words. While Connor is off photographing pictures across the ocean, Julia and Ed are living a quiet, "normal" life in Montana. But each of them is creating a mosaic of his or her life with the pieces that were left scattered behind them as they moved along. Life is a series of events, some connected, some not. Evans tells about the events in the lives of Connor, Ed, & Julia and pulls it all together into something that will stay with you for a long time.