Book Review: Fear of Falling

Image from Amazon

The day the world stops spinning for the Woodson family is the second day of their Irish vaction when a nuclear bomb detonates in the atmosphere over the Irish Sea. With no communications, no cars, no electricity and a countryside rapidly turning into a lawless world of kill-or-be-killed, the family must survive until help comes… if it is coming at all. For Sarah, it is the day her irrational worries for the safety of her child dissolve forever as she comes face to face with real fear.

I was intrigued by this story’s concept of suddenly living in the modern world and then having to live without everything – electricity, communication, cars, even food. The cowboys and indians aspect of the story in the form of gypsies was not something that interests me, however, this was not quite the theme of this story. The Woodson family were vacationing in the middle of nowhere, but came to know an elderly couple down the road. The elderly couple helped the Woodsons, while Sarah’s husband Matt offered his help to the generous couple.

It is quite a distance (a 4 hour ride by horse) to the nearest village. Sarah has a history of riding horses so she makes the trip leaving her son and husband behind. She meets a group of people who are working to form a new community in order to survive. But not all members of this community are good. The Woodson family becomes involved in a war with the gypsies in order to save themselves.

I did a little research on the author but found nothing to indicate that Susan Kiernan-Lewis is a Christian author, but the lack of swearing, sex, vulgarity, etc., along with prayer and faith in God made this a refreshing read. There are bad guys in this story but no swearing. That is rare. Of course the Irish twang actually turned one swear word into a non-swear word.

One thing is certain, this is in no way a boring read. There was no time when description weighed the story down. It was a page-turner from beginning to end. It kept me up late at night, that’s for sure.