Reviewed by Cheryl

TITLE: On the Precipice

SERIES: Trailblazer #3

AUTHOR: Robin Reardon

PUBLISHER: IAM Books

LENGTH: 229 pages

RELEASE DATE:  September 8, 2020

BLURB:

Trust. It’s a precious commodity. Nathan Bartlett is looking for someone to trust—someone he can give his heart to, someone he can trust not to drop it. He’s ready to love and be loved.

He’s lost so much love already. First his parents, then his adored older brother Neil, and finally the grandmother who’d raised him. All but his enigmatic sister Nina are gone. He’s had his fill of relationships that go nowhere, men who’ve led him astray emotionally and on the mountains he climbs in memory of Neil.

Nathan has followed enough trails, from Maine to Hawai’i. It’s time to blaze his own. When he does, it leads him to a man who lives life using a wheelchair, a man whose fall from a mountain means he’ll never hike again. Nathan finds himself on a precipice, and only trust will help him now.

REVIEW:

I have been a fan of this series from the start. Not only is there fine writing, a strong plot, a cohesive story between the books, and a main character I can empathise with and entirely get behind, but there is a lot of teaching without preaching. It is clear that the author knows what they’re talking about with regard to hiking and conveyed a deep personal connection to the highlights and lowlights of the activity.

Particularly in book two, there is also a deep and rich connection to the setting and surroundings. The experience of the hike is vividly and richly brought to life through the eyes of the character who is not afraid to take the bad with the good and to share a highly introspective view of both. Nathan is a thinker and he takes us along on a journey of self discovery that is as breathless as the scenery against which it is set.

The third book takes a different turn, picking up on events and themes raised in the first book and running with them. The general theme of this book is addiction and the many different forms it can take.

Nathan starts work at an addiction recovery center and comes into contact with the gritty realities of teenage addiction. He befriends one of the addicts and Elliott’s journey progresses in tandem to Nathan’s growing understanding of his own addictions which are more cerebral but equally destructive.

Nathan meets Drew, a wheelchair user who was injured on a treacherous hike that, of course, Nathan undertakes in nail-biting conditions. One of the things Nathan has to struggle with is coming to terms with how the wheelchair comes between them. In some ways, it is Nathan who has the disability, although his doesn’t show on the outside.

The author once again shows a deep and sympathetic understanding of difficult subjects and she doesn’t shy away from the hard parts. There are undoubtedly triggers in there, but I still think the book is one that should be read by everyone. Occasionally, a book comes along that makes you think deeply about yourself—your prejudices, addictions and all the things you don’t like to look at too closely. This is one of them. It’s not an easy book to read, but it is a very worthwhile one.

The quality of writing is excellent and the author manages to produce a complex, thought provoking book with a heart-warming love story that doesn’t make it easy for either character. I’m sorry to see this story end, but it certainly goes out on a high with the best book of series and a satisfying conclusion to Nathan’s journey. However, we are left with the feeling that, although Nathan has reached the end of one journey, he is only just beginning on a whole new one. The addiction has been faced down, (I also believe that Nathan is suffering from PTSD after Neil’s death) and now the recovery begins.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

Amazon