Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
In a searing novel of love and loyalty, guilt and honor, the acclaimed author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Horse Whisperer gives his millions of readers another hero...

The Smoke Jumper

His name is Connor Ford and he falls like an angel of mercy from the sky, braving the flames to save the woman he loves but knows he cannot have. For Julia Bishop is the partner of his best friend and fellow “smoke jumper,” Ed Tully. Julia loves them both--until a fiery tragedy on Montana’s Snake Mountain forces her to choose between them, and burns a brand on all their hearts.

In the wake of the fire, Connor embarks on a harrowing journey to the edge of human experience, traveling the world’s worst wars and disasters to take photographs that find him fame but never happiness. Reckless of a life he no longer wants, again and again he dares death to take him, until another fateful day on another continent, he must walk through fire once more...

Amazon.com Review:
New York born and bred, Julia Bishop has no warning that spending the summer counseling troubled teens in Montana will change her life forever. Happily in love with smoke jumper and musician Ed Tully, she looks forward to spending the summer weekends with him in Missoula and is stunned and disturbed by the instant connection she feels to his best friend, Connor Ford. Connor, a Montana rancher and smoke jumper, loves fighting fires almost as much as he loves photography, and before the summer is barely started, he loves Julia Bishop just as deeply. The bond between the three is strong but the work of a smoke jumper is fraught with danger and the trio soon face death by fire. Survival changes their lives forever and places them on paths that divide Julia, Ed, and Connor just as surely as their individual journeys bind them irrevocably together. The Smoke Jumper is a tale of loyalty and guilt, honor and selfless love, and the human cost of choices made. --Lois Faye Dyer

Rating : - Just Read Part I
As many other readers have noted, the beginning of the story had great potential. I loved Evans's details of Missoula; having been there two summers ago on a cross-country bike trip, it was exciting (for me) to know exactly where the Smokejumper Visitor Center is, and to have my own story about hiking to the "M" on the mountain behind Univ. of Montana. Ed & Julia's meeting scene made me laugh. And despite Skye's rough beginnings, I sympathized with her character and her development, albeit a short one. The only criticism I have of Part I was the whole "Hearts of Fire" routine between Connor & Ed. A little sappy, but I'd have been willing to accept it if it weren't for the rest.

The remainder of the book read quickly, but it was annoying. Here's the summary: Boy wants his best friend's girl, she chooses the crippled one, who later admits that he knew all along that she should have chosen the other boy, the Unchosen Boy spends the rest of the book sulking until he gets what he wants, then all is happiness and light in the land of milk and honey (and they build their own house to boot. How cute.)

The boys are juxtaposed with textbook clarity: Ed is an extrovert while Connor is more reserved. One is photographically inclined, the other is blind. One travels the world, the other is stuck at home. One is melancholy to the point that I'd like to smack him in the face, and the other is so cheerful so much of the time that...I'd like to smack him in the face (even after he brushes his teeth with hair remover).

I gave the book two stars because Evans's hook at the beginning was strong, and he was still able to keep my interest long enough to finish the book, despite how little I liked any of the characters by the end.