A thrilling Christian mystery story with great twists, suspicious characters, and a very satisfying resolution!

Fallout is a thrilling mystery of a story had builds and builds to a dynamite resolution! The story kept me engaged and wondering the entire time, "What was going to happen next?" Sam, Dutch, and the rest of the main characters were all likable individuals. But you just know someone is hiding something; someone isn't who they appear to be. But though I liked these people, I never knew who was trustworthy. A mysterious black SUV, which made an appearance early on, had me on edge.

The story is told from two points of view: Sam's and Dutch's. I frequently wondered whether either of our narrators was reliable. Dutch is recuperating from past trauma, and Sam has holes in her memory about her past, and what we do know is pretty shadowy. Their circumstances led to some fantastic plot twists and turns that surprised me and kept me glued to the pages. Add in the great descriptions of the Palouse area of Washington state, vivid imaginings of places from Sam's past, as well as a unique and wonderful disguise as a Hutterite, and this was one good and satisfying story.

I recommend FALLOUT for readers that enjoy thrilling mystery stories with loads of action with one of the best examples of Christian mystery fiction I've read.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through NetGalley and Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. ( )

Fallout by Carrie Stuart Parks is about a young woman, Samantha Williams. While teaching a class at an elementary school in Washington state, an SUV comes crashing into the classroom. She gets the kids out safely but in the process, her car is wrecked, and her purse and keys are missing. She ultimately loses her job as her classroom is a mess.

Sam has no friends to speak of and her parents are deceased so she is pretty much on her own. When talking to the authorities she finds that the driver Dr.Greer, the SUV was shot. The passenger, Dutch Van Setters, he holds a Ph.D. and is not too shabby to look at. He is employed at Clan Firinn, a retreat of sorts. Because she has not place to go at the moment, she is invited to stay at Clan Firinn until she gets things sorted.

There is a body unearthed at Alderman Acres, this is intended to be a new housing development but because of the body being found, development can not be completed. Because of her art education, Sam is asked to do a facial reconstruction on the skull. She accepts and is quickly drawn into the workings of Clan Firinn. Clan Firrin is a place for people to recover from various addictions where hope and rehab is offered.

While Sam is there, strange things start happening around her she tries to find the truth of what happened to her parents. She was very young when they died and she was sent to live with an aunt. As time goes on she finds that whatever is happening is connected to her parents.

There is a nuclear plant not far from where she is, does this have anything to do with the threats that she starts to receive? A woman by the name of Mary is pregnant and hoping to find her partner who she hasn't seen in a while. I was not so sure about Mary, there was just something not quite right about her. As Sam digs deeper, the more she finds out that has her wanting to learn more. BIts and pieces of the Cold War are found and how does this affect Sam?

I enjoyed this novel, has a little bit of everything in it. History, romance, Cold War, scientists, and more. If this is your kind of book, then you must go get this one. A page-turner for sure! I give it 5 stars! ( )

In Fallout, author Carrie Stuart Parks transports the reader to the farming town of LaCrosse, Washington, for an intriguing suspense tale that will keep the reader guessing and turning the pages.

The story centers around Samantha Williams, an elementary school art teacher, who gets caught up in a dangerous situation when a car careens out of control and into her art classroom. The driver of the car, Dr. Beatrice Greer, an art therapist was shot and killed. Dr. Greer and passenger Dr. Dustin "Dutch" Van Seter, an anthropologist are employed with Clan Firinn, a privately owned and funded facility located outside of Pullman, Washington, that specializes in offering hope and rehabilitation to law enforcement and first responders suffering from PTSD and other disorders arising from their work. Dutch asks Sam to help draw a facial recognition from a skull from a body that was found at Alderman Acres, a new housing development owned by Clan Firinn, which leads her to getting drawn into the investigation. When mysterious events occur and danger lurks around every corner, Sam wonders if her own troubled past is connected to the events as she tries to find the truth, especially when she becomes a target by someone who is determined to keep deep secrets buried at all costs.

Author Carrie Stuart Parks weaves a fast-paced and suspenseful tale written in alternating first (Sam) and third person narrative (Dutch) that follows Sam and Dutch as they get dragged into a dangerous investigation that has placed a target on her life, and a threat of danger lurks around every corner.

The reader is easily drawn into this well written story with its richly descriptive plot and setting. It is filled with enough family drama and secrets, motives, possible suspects, action, government Cold War secrets, and intriguing twists and turns that definitely keeps the reader guessing until the surprising conclusion.

This was a really intense story to read! The author does a wonderful job of providing enough clues to engage the reader, and I found myself so caught up on trying to figure out who is behind all the incidents around the area. I loved how Sam was able to go beyond her troubled and shadowy past to hep Dutch put all the pieces of the puzzle together, I was absolutely stunned by the conclusion! I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I also loved reading about Sam and Dutch's backstory, both are broken people who have to overcome their traumatic pasts and learn to move forward.

Fallout will definitely take suspense readers on one heck of a thrilling roller coaster ride.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book via NetGalley from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.

https://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/09/fallout-by-carrie-stuart-park... ( )

Title: Fallout
Author: Carrie Stuart Parks
Pages: 336
Year: 2022
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
My rating is 4 out of 5 stars.
Samantha Williams is a young woman who teaches art at an elementary school in the state of Washington. Her classroom is demolished when an SUV crashes into it. Sam had the foresight to get her students and herself to safety. However, in short order, she loses her purse, her car and her job. She must rely on others for help as she has no family and no friends. She likes living alone and her privacy. The authorities soon discover that the driver of the SUV was shot before crashing into the school, and another odd situation is that the bones of two skeletons are found on two separate instances in a nearby site that is being cleared for building upon.
As Sam tries to get her life back on track, strange things continue to plague her. Also, snippets of memories from the past reveal to Sam that she is missing memories from almost a year of her life when she was five years old. What happened to her? Why doesn’t she remember? Her life seems intertwined with these events, and it will take all her smarts to figure out the answers.
This author is on my “must read” list, and this novel is no exception. I thought Sam’s character was so loveable! She is shy, smart, artistic, and when she gets nervous, “Sneetches” (from Dr. Seuss) slip out in her speech. Sam is also a woman of faith. There was a lot going on in this story, which sometime kept me from connecting with characters. I enjoyed the author’s note at the end, explaining what in the story was fact and what was fiction. I learned some new history, which is my favorite subject, and got to read a suspense-filled story with some romance and humor.
Note: The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility. ( )

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK

When Samantha sees the SUV that’s about to crash into her classroom all she can think of is to yell for her students to get out.and thankfully her quick thinking saved the lives of all the children. But her purse didn’t pan out do well, in fact it’s gone! And the SUV driver didn’t make it out of the crash.

Wow! Carrie Parks sure does start off with a bang with her new novel Fallout. Samantha wasn’t sure what to think, especially when she finds her purse is gone, so no keys to her house, but she couldn’t go there anyway. When things started happening that couldn’t be explained, Samantha started getting a little uneasy. And after a while she downright fearful. Where is this fear coming from? Does Samantha have a secret past? I guess reading the book will tell you. And the twists and turns had my head spinning so much, by the time I had one thing figured out something else is happening. I was having a hard time figuring everything out. But I love it!! I always love a good suspense that will knock me off my feet abd this one did. I was so glued to Fallout that I couldn’t stop reading. It’s difficult to give any more information out because I’ll end up telling you something you don’t need to hear until you read it. So I’ll just say check out this book!! Carrie Stuart Parks does an awesome job writing suspense novels. I don’t get to review many of her books but I love it when I can. Hope you will enjoy this one as much as I did! For me, this is Five Stars!

A special thanks to the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review, the opinions here are mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. ( )