"One Breath Away" by Heather Gudenkauf

Her Best Yet!

In One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf, a lone gunman takes over a small classroom holding the teacher and pupils hostage.  What made this book so good in my opinion is that it is told by five people as the novel is ongoing.  I got to know their thought and background to understand what led up to this point.  The writing is superb.  If you want riveting, this is it!  I could hardly put it down and kept saying how good it was while reading it.  Oh, and good luck trying to figure out who the gunman is—I was completely surprised!  To sum it up, it doesn’t get any better than this—don’t let this one get past you! 
(Gerard's review, rating 5 stars)

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf is really, really good!  It is fast-paced and realistic contemporary fiction with characters that are very believable.  It grabbed my attention right from the start and never let me go!  The hostage situation at the small school in a fictional small town in Iowa is described so well, I could feel what the characters were feeling.  It kept me guessing who the gunman was right until he was revealed.  I’m sure because this story is told from five different people, there is at least one that you will identify with.  For me, I identified with the teacher—determined to protect her students from the gunman while thinking about her husband.  The teen girl’s unwavering desire to protect her brother was both touching and heartwarming.  It shows how a crisis can bring families closer.    I highly recommend One Breath Away—it even has a dog in it!
(Karen's review, rating 5 stars)

Other books we've read by this Heather Gudenkauf:
These Things Hidden
Weight of Silence

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!