The Survivors

Molly is hoping for a quiet flight home when her sleep is interrupted by two men in front of her arguing. She tries to ignore them, but finds it difficult. Suddenly, their plane crashes and almost everyone is dead, but Molly witnesses one of the men who had been arguing killing the other. She considers herself lucky when he leaves the plane, so she decides to escape, but while she is leaving, she finds a young boy named Johnny O'Ryan in the seat next to hers trying to wake up his grandparents who were obviously killed in the crash. When the boy asks her if the bad man killed his grandparents too, she knows that he also witnessed the murder. Although injured, they both escape into the woods before the bad man can come back and finish show more them off.
Deborah has had the gift since she was a child, but it has left her unable to maintain relationships, so she lives a solitary life in the mountains. When she sees a vision of the plane crash, she knows she has to help, so she makes her way to the crash site where she offers to help find the survivors. Four generations of O'Ryan men are skeptical, but will take any help they can get to find Johnny.
The Survivors is an emotional story about love, loss, and redemption. The protagonist throughout the first half of the story is Molly, but Deborah gradually takes that role as the story moves forward. There are many instances in this story where it is necessary to suspend disbelief, but overall it is a gentle romance with some suspense layered into the story that makes it more interesting and worth the read. show less

I enjoyed the book in general, though I found myself struggling to suspend my disbelief more than once. First off, it seemed highly contrived for everyone else to die in the plan crash. It just didn't make much sense to me, especially considering the real life crashes that have been much more violent, yet have seen survivors walk away. (IE the 1989 crash in Sioux City, Iowa) And are we just supposed to be amazed that not only did the two senators wind up on the same flight, but it just happened to crash as well? Then there was the fact that the killer survived the crash and the weather with no shelter, no food or water, and no one to help keep him warm, all things that Molly & Johnny had, yet they were the ones who nearly succumbed to show more hypothermia. And last, but not least, I must take issue with the way the killer not only managed to shoot the seasoned military veteran who had the drop on him, but then also managed to pick off a dog running at him full tilt and then calmly take aim at the child and nearly hit him as well. And he did it all without having any firearms experience at all, it seems. Amazing!

Over all, I found myself enjoying the book purely from an escapism perspective. But I was disappointed by the questions left unanswered as well as the absurdity of the situations mentioned above. It is an entertaining piece of fluff, but could have been so much better with just a bit of rewriting. show less

I really liked this book. The only thing that kept it from being 5 stars is that the 2 romances or at least the main romance could have been a bit richer. I'm happy they fell in love, I just wish I could have read more and experienced more about it. I like all the generations of the men being together and supporting each other. I loved the pyschic aspect. I did wonder how the bad guy stayed alive while injured in the weather etc. After all, Molly and Johnny nearly died after only 2 nights. How did exposure not get him? Still all in all a good read.

This was an intense, quick read for me. I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the story although there were questions in my mind at times. The story builds quickly and keeps you drawn in. I also liked the occasional perspectives from the viewpoints of various characters. It added a lot more to the story and more than made up for some of the more unrealistic details, or lack thereof. I'd definitely recommend The Survivors to anyone wanting a good, quick read.

I had a hard time putting this down! This was the first Dinah McCall (or Sharon Sala) I've read, and I wouldn't hesitate to read more. The rescue happens rather early in the story, so I wondered what else was going to happen. The weather didn't disappoint. My one complaint is that I found it hard to believe that the bad guy would survive as long as he did in the wilderness in bad weather, injured, with very little food and/or water. But I rarely read anything that doesn't require at least a little suspension of disbelief.

I was really looking forward to reading Dinah McCall’s latest book, The Survivors. I was not disappointed. The book was really intense, moving and emotional. It was a very fast-paced, almost to fast and hard to put down. I don’t think this was one of Ms. McCall’s better novels, but I did enjoy it, anyway.

Dinah McCall/Sharon Sala books are almost always automatic reads for me.