Perilous (YA Suspense) [Kindle Edition]

Tamara Hart Heiner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Jaci Rivera joins her best friends Callie, Sara and Amanda for a night of pizza and shopping. But an evening at the mall turns into a terrifying twist of events that drive Jaci and her friends 2000 miles across the Canadian border. The girls find themselves alone and running from unknown enemies on all sides, and not even the police can be trusted. . . . Detective Carl Hamilton is called out on a homicide case where the partially decayed body of an unidentified teenage girl is found along a remote highway. He is drawn into a life and death race to stop the killers before they strike again.

ALTERCATION, the sequel to PERILOUS, will be coming soon from WiDo Publishing.

“A young adult thriller filled with non-stop action. Perilous grabs hold of you from page one and doesn’t let go until the very end." ~Joyce DiPastena, author Loyalty’s Web and Illuminations of the Heart

“Heiner’s writing is crisp and clear, painting evocative word pictures and creating a movie in the reader’s mind." ~Tristi Pinkston, author Dearly Departed

“Terrifying, riveting, and jaw dropping. Jaci's world is turned upside down after a night out with her friends at a shopping mall. Patiently waiting for their ride the girls witness something scandalous and before they know they are kidnapped and fighting for their lives." ~Jen Daiker, book blog reviewer

”The plight of Jaci and her friends as they make their way through Canada, and back to their home is thoroughly gripping. A story full of suspense, with lots of twists and turns." ~Talli Roland, author The Hating Game


Perilous does not contain any profanity or sexual content and is appropriate for all ages. It is about 72,000 words long, which is 280 pages.

From the Back Cover

Detective Carl Hamilton is called out on a homicide case, where the partially decayed body of an unidentified teenage girl is found along a remote highway...

Weeks before, Jacinta Rivera joined her best friends Callie, Sara and Amanda for a night of pizza and shopping. But an evening at the mall turned into a terrifying twist of events that drove Jaci and her friends 2000 miles across the Canadian border. The girls escaped the kidnapper's lair only to find that he has spies and agents working on both sides.

They are being hunted, and not even the police can be trusted....And Detective Hamilton is in a life and death race to find the three remaining girls before the kidnapper does.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 567 KB
• Publisher: WiDo Publishing (October 1, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0045JLQCI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,805 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

I live in Arkansas with my husband and three children, two crazy boys and one pretty little princess. I used to spend a lot of time writing until I had a baby and discovered Facebook. Now you'll often find me on there pretending to have a social life.

Perilous is my first published novel. I'm finishing up the sequel and hopefully we'll see its release sometime in the near future. A lot of changes went into getting the novel published, and you can find some of the scenes/storylines that got dropped on my blog, tamarahartheiner.blogspot.com.

I love hearing from readers! Feel free to start a discussion or leave a comment!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling read, November 26, 2010

By 

Cheree Smith (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Perilous (Perfect Paperback)

Debut author Tamara Hart Heiner has created a chilling tale about a group of girls who have to escape their kidnappers and journey across the country to get home, not knowing who they can trust. The characters in the story are all interesting with unique characteristics that makes them different from each other. The two point of view characters, Jaci and Detective Hamilton, are the perfect characters to tell the story. The reader learns little clues from both sides and makes you want to turn the page.

The fast pace and numerous twists and turns add interest to the story and will keep you on the edge of your seat, hoping that the girls will be able to make it home safely. The ending suggests that a sequel is in progress, or I hope so because I want to know what's going to happen next on the girls journey.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't Love it, February 13, 2012

By 

L. COP (Banks, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Perilous (YA Suspense) (Kindle Edition)

This book started great and I loved the beginning. I will be cautious not to give out spoilers. I gave it three stars because I was able to finish it.

The book to me was pretty draggy in parts and I did not feel that police procedures were accurate. Some of the "conspiracy" was pretty far fetched and the story lost me at that point.

I forced myself to finish it and they clearly left the end open for a sequel. I did not feel the story was accurate enough to warrant me reading a sequel.

Supposedly various police agencies were "infiltrated" by the organization that took the girls. First off that is hard to believe by itself. Secondly it would not be the job of some podunk Idaho officer to investigate all the agencies that were supposedly infiltrated. I think that is what was the hardest to believe is that they would send this officer all over the country on this investigation. Also the thing with Jaci's dad was a bit of a stretch.

The other part that was hard to believe is that all these people in the supposedly corrupt offices turned a "blind" eye to kidnapped girls that were all over the news and just pretended they had never been there and they would not be caught.

The third issue I had a problem with was the coincidence of the boys. I won't spoil it, but I thought that was far fetched as well.

If you have not read various procedural s or are not familiar with how police work it might be ok. But if you like me get hung up on details that are obviously fictitious, well you probably will not be able to suspend your belief for long.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Perilous Story, February 22, 2011

By 

Arlee Bird (pico rivera, ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perilous (Perfect Paperback)

As far as I know I don't think I've ever read anything that is considered young adult or teenage literature unless the Tom Swift and Hardy Boys series would fall into this genre. I wasn't totally sure what to expect from a genre labeled as "Young Adult", but Heiner's first published novel is pretty much what I thought I would find.

Since I guess I am a good ways past the "young adult" phase I decided that I would have to try to read Perilous through the eyes of a younger reader and imagine how they might see this novel. My impression that most teens, male and female alike, would enjoy the story and the way Tamara presents it. And for that matter so did I as an older reader.

This is an exciting action thriller that moves with intensity. Four teen-age girls witness a jewel heist at a shopping mall and are abducted by the burglary gang. They are taken from Idaho to the headquarters of the gang's ringleader, a notorious criminal known as "The Hand", who hides out in Quebec, Canada. The stakes are raised after the girls escape from the gang's hideout and attempt to make their way home on foot, not knowing whom to trust since The Hand is intent on finding them.

The story relies on some rather extreme coincidence and some illogical behavior from the characters, but that's what helps make the story more intriguing. Some readers may need to add an extra dose of willing suspension of disbelief to keep from rolling their eyes at some things in the story, but I think most younger readers will be fine with it. I was certainly willing to go along with all of it in order to enjoy the story. Tamara has skillfully presented the story so that everything happens with a natural flow and the readers are kept on the edge of their seats to see what happens next.

Perilous is mostly a road story--a journey home. Tamara does an exceptional job of depicting that journey. In fact, I pulled out my North American highway atlas to see if the places she mentions and the route her characters take were accurate. The author did her research well. I was able to follow the teens' journey and felt like I was right there with them. I was very impressed by sense of place and the descriptions of settings in the novel.

This book deals with some mature and serious themes including violence and rape. It raises some questions of moral ambiguity related to stealing, divorce, and corruption. However, all of these issues are presented discreetly and in good taste. The issues allow for some good topics of discussion and thought. Perilous is a wholesomely presented story of real life problems and is suitable for all teens.

Tamara Hart Heiner's Perilous is a book that parents should feel comfortable in allowing their teenagers to read. It's also a book that I would recommend to adult readers who like a well told story that avoids bad language and scenes that one might deem offensive. This is a fun reading diversion that deals with relevant topics.

One of the bigger issues that some may find with this book it that it leaves a lot of loose ends. Those who want their endings neat and resolved may be disappointed. This book demands a sequel or perhaps even a series. I was sad to see the book end where it did and was left wanting more. Now I'll have to wait for the next book. Don't leave us waiting too long, Tamara.