Freefall: A High Risk Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

JoAnn Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2008 | Series: High Risk

Emotionally and physically wounded ex-SEAL_Zachariah Tremayne has returned to his South C arolina home determined to shut out the world. Then he meets Sabrina Swann, who has also made a private journey home to put the tattered pieces of her own life back together. But as the two of them learn to love and trust again, a killer is lurking in the shadows, threatening to destroy everything they have fought so hard to rebuild.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this first in a trilogy Ross is developing on ex–Special Forces men reacclimating to civilian life, ex-SEAL Zach Tremayne returns to his South Carolina small town to try to forget the horrors of the Iraq War. Sabrina Swann has returned to recover from a terrorist attack on the Italian hotel where she was waitressing. As the fragile pair rekindle their attraction from youth, a serial killer stalks the serene community, torturing and murdering women and closing in on Sabrina. While Ross has a good handle on the intricacies of smalltown life, the shared PTSD of her protagonists doesn't make for the easiest of romances, and Tremayne's trauma disappears when it is no longer convenient to the story. (Feb.)
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Review

"...patented Ross storytelling; jam-packed with emotion, passion, and dark drama." -- Romantic Times Praise for the novels of JoAnn Ross: "Sizzles with sensuality and danger." -Publishers Weekly "[A] page-turner...Hop on the Ross express for a lightning ride." -New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Signet; Regular Print/Single Titl edition (February 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451223209
• ISBN-13: 978-0451223203
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I wrote my first story -- a tragic romance about two star-crossed Mallard ducks -- as a second grade writing assignment. The paper earned a gold star. And I kept writing.

I've since written around a hundred novels and have been published in twenty-six countries. Two of my titles have been excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine and my books have also been published by the Doubleday, Rhapsody, Mystery Guild, and Literary Guild bookclubs. As a New York Times, U.S. Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller, I'm also a member of the Romance Writers of America's Honor Roll of best-selling authors.

I'm currently writing my Shelter Bay series, set on the magnificent Oregon coast where, when I was eighteen-years-old, my high school sweetheart bought me a bag of taffy, then proposed. The smartest thing I ever did was say yes!

My husband and I live in our beloved Pacific Northwest, with three rescued dogs who pretty much rule the house. (And, in case you're wondering, that taffy store is still there! )

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overpopulated 3.5 star romantic suspense, April 22, 2008

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Freefall: A High Risk Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Terrorism has a profound and lasting effect on Sabrina Swann and Zach Tremayne who return to the small southern island they call home. Sabrina fled Italy after surviving a terrorist bombing at the hotel she managed; Zach is a SEAL involved in a disastrous and deadly mission that left many of his teammates dead. Working construction for his father, Zach and Sabrina run into each other when he is working on her family's tea plantation that she recently inherited. Sabrina has always had a crush on Zach and hopes he doesn't remember the night she threw herself at him before he went of to join the service. Also on their tiny island community lurks a serial killer who is upping his body count, and Sabrina is suddenly on his radar.

I love pretty much everything Ross writes, but this one was just not the knock out I was hoping for. It is so overpopulated. There are so many characters introduced in the first couple chapters that I kept backtracking trying to tell them apart. The chemistry between the lead characters is off the charts - no surprise there - but the ending was so anti-climatic. It was as if Ross was charged with writing a 382 page novel and got to 375 and decided she needed to end it already. What should have been a spine-tingling, edge-of-your-seat ending was instead a haiku, Scooby Doo ending where the killer would have gotten away had it not been for that meddlesome SEAL. Just way too abrupt. I also could not understand why Zach was the responsible one in the mission gone awry - it was never really explained. But that won't stop me from checking out her next novel, because even a mediocre Ross novel is pretty well written!

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More Like 3.5 Stars!, February 13, 2008

By 

Cherise Everhard (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Freefall: A High Risk Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Sabrina Swann is living in Italy when she is involved in a life altering and terrifying event. Seeking a little break from her life she returns to her family tea plantation on the southern island, Swann Island.

Zach Tremayne has left the Navy SEALs and has also come home to Swan Island to recover from a traumatic situation. He is doing construction work for his father's company and he is pleasantly surprised at how Sabrina has grown up.

This is an engaging read and I enjoyed it, however, I didn't love it. There is so much going on in this story and for me it was way too much. First you have the tragic and separate events that bring Zach and Sabrina home. You have the romance between Sabrina and Zach, and then there is one between side characters Nate and Tatiana. Then you have a killer on the loose targeting women. Ms. Ross then sets up what I think is going to be a part of one of the future books with the addition of the reoccurring character, Cait Cavanaugh. There are also about 3 other 'stories' going on that I couldn't mention without spoiling a lot of the story.

The one thing that really lowered the rating on this book was the conclusion to one of the conflicts that is present throughout the story. It is literally discovered, confronted, and solved in 5 pages at the very end of the book. For me it was very anticlimactic and completely ridiculous. The other thing that lowered my rating for me was something that had to do with Tatiana, we never find out what really happened and it's kind of a big deal.

Despite the flaws I enjoyed this book; I am glad I read it and even glad I bought it. She does a fantastic job of setting up the sleepy southern town and making her characters come to life. I am looking forward to the next in the series, Crossfire (September 2008), which is going to feature Cait Cavanaugh and one for my favorite reoccurring characters, Brendan O'Neill, both of whom appeared in Out of the Storm (Stewart Sisters Trilogy) and Blaze.

Cherise Everhard, February 2008

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive But a Lot of Folks, February 8, 2008

By 

C. Farley "seafaire" (Bakersfield, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Freefall: A High Risk Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a great new novel in the style of SEAL/Spec Ops rescue alpha male mode but that doesn't make it any less good. The male and female lead characters have believeable and unique stories and shared, earned bouts of PTSD. Plus a background of growing up together helps cement the togetherness. The diliemma is there are a LOT of third and fourth level characters that we only briefly get to know before they become fodder for our mad serial killer. That was kinda sad because you get enough information about each victim that you are rooting for them to survive and then you realize they are essentially a plot device. I sadly do not want to know so much about the victims because it makes their demise more poignant. That's a cheap trick and this author is WAAAYY better than that. Still a great story and romance are worth the small detail--just be careful who you grow attached to--they may not stick around.