Fallout was my first experience with a novel by Carrie Stuart Parks, and wow did I end up being impressed. I could barely put this one down once I started it, and I loved that it kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. With how many suspense type of novels I end up reading, rarely do I find one that keeps me guessing right through until the end, and this one managed to accomplish exactly that. I pretty much suspected every single character throughout the course of the story, and I still ended up being completely shocked at the way everything came down at the end.

The characters were three dimensional, layered and flawed, and I found they were easy to connect with. I liked how this one really only had a light romance element, and instead the focus was on the complicated mystery, and the main character Samantha trying to connect the pieces from the mystery to her forgotten past.

The historical component made the mystery that much more intriguing, and you could tell the large amounts of research the author must have done to portray this entire situation realistically and authentically. The story felt original, and well developed, and it will definitely not be my last experience with a novel from this author.

Lastly, I loved the overall faith message, and the way that the dark content was counteracted with the need for Jesus.

Overall, a wonderful Christian suspense story, and one that blew my expectations right out of the water.

Final Rating: 4/5.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read and review this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and this is my honest review.

Governments seem to like to keep certain "projects" hush-hush and either pay off and/or kill certain people to keep them quiet. This book of fiction has to do with real life issues such as regarding nuclear projects and their fallout. Who knew that the bad things that were happening were also an extension of fallout!

This was fallout that singed Samantha's (Sam) life, Mary's life and others'. Young Sam grew up and realized, eventually, that someone was trying to kill her. Too many strange things were happening around her in her space and sphere - murders, bodies found, unexplained car accidents and more. It was all like a living jigsaw puzzle and Sam was going to try to fit it together - if she could just stay alive.

This story had me rather engaged and I found it to be mostly intriguing. Besides being a faith-based narrative, science and history came in to play along with "sneetches". Ha, ha. Loved the humor and the Hutterites. The book ends with several questions to bring out greater awareness of the various issues touched upon - for example, what happened in Hanford in 1987, and so on.

~Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger~

July 2022

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and the Thomas Nelson Publisher. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own, given as honestly as possible based on the review copy.

I was looking forward to reading this book. However I just didn't connect with the story, or the characters. Really disappointed but not for me.

I received an ARC of, Fallout, by Carrie Stuart Parks. Is it a coincidence that a car runs into the building where Samantha works, or are they their for her?

Carrie Stuart Parks always creates such unique characters for her books. Fallout was no exception. The story kept me guessing. I figured out part of the mystery by the end, but there were quite a few surprises. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

This story had my on the edge of my seat from the get go. I was suspecting just about everyone but Samantha & Dutch. They of course had their own past & personal issues to deal with, on top of dealing with everything else going on. Well written and believable.
I received an ARC copy through NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

A huge thanks to the publisher for my complimentary copy and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The book follows the formidable Samantha who teaches art and absolutely adores children until one day a car crashes into her school. After that her life changes. I absolutely loved how Samantha came out as relatable and empathic. The plot was realistic, the characters are relatable but I felt that the love interests could have been more romantic with some angst. I do recommend it to thriller newbies.

Weird is the only word I can think of to describe this book. It started off by jumping right into the story and I felt like I was missing a chapter or something to introduce me to what was going on.

I found the characters to be really flat and uninteresting and I just couldn't connect with any of them no matter how much I tried. The dialogue didn't flow and a lot of the wording/verbiage felt very off.

The plot as a whole was disjointed with a lot of confusing details. Both too much and/or not enough in different places. It was almost like watching a movie that is in a different language. You can kind of tell what is going on but it doesn't fully make sense.

Sam, for example, did a lot of things that I just couldn't understand. She is so distrustful of people, yet, having only known Mary for less than a day quickly jumps into a friendship and is willing to get into her car and live with her. It also took way to long to reveal Samantha's backstory; although it wasn't hard to fill in the blanks earlier on.

I knew who the "bad guy" was the second the character was introduced. The "romance", (which I can't even call it that because there was zero emotion or chemistry between Samantha and Dutch!) was just so odd! I think the fact Sam and Dutch were written in first and third person (respectively) made it harder to understand them. Basically I just felt very disconnected to everyone and everything in this story.

I was able to easily picture the scene/setting and details about the area were well done. But that might be because I'm from Washington state and very familiar with the area and Hanford's history. So I will give the author points for that.

So while I was initially interested in this story it unfortunately missed the mark big time. There is a lot of action and all the right ingredients for a great story, but overall the robotic characters made for a very boring story.

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

No one seems to care there is a reason for the sickness that is killing people. A good mystery that had me shaking my head in disbelief at the factory that is dumping sickness into the water.

Sam, the main character, is alone in the world. She’s had a horrible childhood experience, not much better of an adult experience, but continues through life leading a solitary existence.

This book plays much better as straight mystery. There is a lot of action, some contrived events that I was willing to forgive in order to see what would happen next, and some real suspense.

The romance between Sam and Dutch lacks chemistry. Maybe it was just me, though, because Dutch didn’t come off as hero material. So- read it for the mystery and you’ll be happy. 4 stars.

An intriguing plot, wonderful characters, and some history thrown in. A very interesting and suspenseful story. Of course, there's a nod to forensic art as well, which is always very interesting! I love the plot, and how the story unfolds throughout the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance e copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

"Fallout" is a suspense novel. Samantha had a traumatic past. Only she couldn't really remember what happened because she was so young. She's learned to cope through art, reading children's stories, and learning odd facts and survival skills. Samantha's asked to help a forensic artist create a drawing of the skeletal remains, and she's drawn into the investigation. She realized from the start that it wasn't clear if she or the driver of the SUV was the target of the shooter. Her random skills and knowledge helped keep her alive, and she's smart enough to piece together what's going on.

The love interest, Dutch, was an ex-firefighter who quit because of survivor's guilt and became a forensic artist. He struggled to forgive himself for the death of a friend who was attempting to save him. Dutch was supportive of Sam, and they worked well together.

The characters were interesting. The suspense came from a killer trying to harm those investigating the crimes. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this exciting novel.

Samantha is a simple woman who teaches art until one day a car crashes into her school. After that her life is in danger . Those involved will do anything to keep her from finding the truth.

This book was very well written and I enjoyed it .

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. From its explosive beginning to the very satisfying end, it kept me guessing. The plot is multilayered with lots of twists and turns and surprises.

The characters are well developed and interesting. I particularly enjoyed the main character Samantha (Sam). She was quirky and fun, yet vulnerable. Her love of puzzles (a love I share) helped her piece together some blanks in her past and leads to solving the mystery put forward in this book.

This is my first experience with this author’s work, but it won’t be my last.

Many thanks to the author and Net Gallery for providing me with a copy. The opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson--Fiction for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Rating: 3 Stars
Publication: September 13, 2022
Pages: 336

Having never read anything by Carrie Stuart Parks, new author to this reader, I thought “Fall Out” was a very interesting story. It was well-written and had its share of twists and turns…what I look for to captivate my attention. Unfortunately, it took me longer to read this story as I couldn’t quite connect to some of the characters until I got further along in the story. The pace moved a bit slow, and I guess this mystery/thriller was not to my thorough enjoyment it was a good read. However, I will try another novel by this author to change my mind on the writing style.

I've read one of Ms. Parks' books before and loved it, so I was excited to read this one! I had a hard time with it, though.

It doesn't make sense to me how Sam and Mary became so tight in one night, and why the two ladies went unquestioningly with Dutch and Dr. Brùn. It doesn't seem realistic.

I had no emotional attachment at all to the characters. The CHARACTERS don't seem to have emotions. It's all very...flat. I DO like the whole "Sneetches" thing, though that sometimes feels forced. It all just seems so disconnected.

The conclusion felt very rushed and just...off.

Carrie Stuart Parks is an author that I put all my TBR pile aside so I can read her newest suspense. The start of the book starts with protagonist Samantha's art classroom being run into by a car. Samantha soon has other tragedies happen and it's clear someone is out to murder her. People from a local rehab center try to help, but it's hard to know who she can trust.
Fallout has just the right amount of suspense to keep the reader guessing on how the whole story connects with a sprinkle of romance. The author always includes the right amount of Christianity in her books without being preachy and this book is no different.
Fallout will be one of my top reads this year!
I received a complimentary copy of Fallout, but all opinions are my own.

This amazing story is actually loosely based on actual events from years ago. Because I'm usually curious about the background information in books, I Google the nuclear experiment mentioned in the story and discovered that Green Run was actually a government experiment to test radiation.

The characterization in this book is excellent as it always is for this author. I really liked the main character, Sam, but the friend she picks up along the way, Mary, not as much. Mary's comments about how boring Sam is, was honestly, a bit annoying after a while. The plot itself was incredibly well done and I liked how it unraveled as the book went along.

Overall, I believe this book deserved a 4 star rating.

Samantha (Sam) Williams doesn’t remember much about the first six years of her life. She knows her parents supposedly died in a car crash, but there are just brief snippets of memories and a few keepsakes. When an SUV comes crashing into the art class she is teaching, the driver having been shot shortly before impact, Sam suddenly finds herself a victim of many mysterious circumstances threatening to destroy her life. Why is she being followed? Who is behind the theft of her personal items and the invasion of her apartment? Will she find the answers before it’s too late? The suspenseful plot will keep readers turning the pages until the surprising conclusion.

I've always loved reading thrillers. When I began my journey of becoming closer to God and my faith I came across this Christian thriller and just had to read it. Thank you so much Carrie Stuart Parks and Publishers for sending me an ARC copy of this book.