How to Survive the Fallout by Carrie Stuart Parks

Fallout is the next release in Carrie Stuart Parks’ loosely linked but stand-alone novels that all revolve around a retreat center in the Pacific Northwest. Here’s what it’s all about:

After a difficult childhood, Samantha Williams craves simplicity: jigsaw puzzles, lectures at the library, and the students she adores in her role as an elementary school art teacher in the dusty farming community of LaCrosse, Washington.

But when an SUV crashes into the building where she teaches, her entire world is upended. Samantha manages to keep the children safe, but her car isn’t so lucky. Oddly, her purse—with her driver’s license, credit cards, and other identification—is missing from the wreckage.

After authorities discover that the driver in the accident was shot seconds before the crash, Samantha quickly becomes entangled in increasingly strange events that have her constantly looking over her shoulder.

Samantha has long tried to forget the tragedy of her past, but the twisting connections she discovers between the murdered driver, a deadly secret government project, and an abandoned town can’t be ignored. Those involved are determined to keep these secrets buried, and they’ll use any means necessary to stop Samantha’s search for truth.

Carrie Stuart Parks’ latest novel Fallout is a dangerously delicious tale of high-stakes action and what-if whodunnits. She drips out the drama as Samantha tries to survive each day while you try to figure out what’s fiction, what’s real, and what’s going to happen next.

Samantha is a quirky character you can’t help but love – though you might find yourself groaning at some of her choices. The same is true of a few other characters, too; you can’t help but cheer them on all while wondering what they’re really up to.

Parks’ novels always include a historical aspect, and I love that, but this one read a bit different to me, because not only was the story built around real historical truth, but she placed an event in history that hasn’t happened yet – but could. The possibility of this had me searching online to determine how much was real and how much was creative license early in the story. The very real danger posed by this history isn’t over, and that ups the stakes for any concerned reader. That whole situation takes this book to a whole new level.

So if you love mysteries and whodunnits, if you love history and mystery but don’t mind a bit of fear factor, then Fallout is the perfect autumn read for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.