Smoky Mountain Escape starts off with a bang, and the suspense doesn’t let up until the end. Sheriff Heath Dalton is hiking through the woods in the pouring rain, returning from a solo five-day camping trip where he’d tested gear for his brother’s adventure camping supply store. With only four miles to go before reaching his truck, he’s wet and miserable, but things quickly go from bad to worse when he comes upon two men burying a body. Unable to call for backup due to no cell signal, but unwilling to let the killers get away, Heath draws his weapon and commands them to put down their shovels and back away from the body. One man complies, but the other suddenly spins and throws his shovel like a javelin, while the first picks up his rifle and fires, hitting Heath in his gun arm and causing him to drop his weapon. He staggers backwards and rolls down a steep embankment.
Traveling nurse Kayla Eldridge is on her way back to Barton Creek in Eastern Tennessee, for a one-month nursing assignment. If it weren’t for her brother, sister-in-law and baby nephew living there, she would never have accepted it. After being engaged to a serial killer there and almost becoming his next victim, driving through the region that torments her dreams sends her anxiety rising. When a man bursts from the woods and into the road in front of her to wave her down, she slams on her brakes, goes into a skid and lands in the ditch. Kayla and Heath spend the next two days running from bad guys with guns before making it to safety. But are they really safe? (Spoiler alert—no!)
Starnes does a great job of realistically portraying a character who has experienced severe trauma, the things that trigger panic and coping mechanisms that help her manage it. I enjoyed watching Kayla make this journey to find healing, as well as love. Heath is a very likable character—brave, protective, caring—everything you want in a hero.
With characters you can’t help but love, great family dynamics and lots of nail-biting suspense, Smoky Mountain Escape is a real page turner. Highly recommended.
Two killers on the loose
and threats around every corner…
Sheriff Heath Dalton accidentally stumbles upon two gunmen trying to hide a body in the Smoky Mountains and barely escapes with his life. And when traveling nurse Kayla Eldridge finds herself stranded in the stormy wilderness with Heath, she now has a target on her back. They must work together to navigate the treacherous terrain and evade the criminals who are tracking their every move. Can they outrun their merciless hunters before they both lose their lives?