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The Rescue [Paperback]

Nicholas Sparks
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (574 customer reviews)

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Book Description

April 1, 2005
One of America's bestselling authors returns with a tale about the greatest commitment of all: loving someone forever. When a near-fatal car crash brings Taylor McAden together with Denise Holden, a new resident of Edenton, North Carolina, he must look into his past to see if it's not too late to take a chance on the future.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Denise Holden's life is a fragile mix of luck and hard work. A single mom of a speech-delayed son, Denise makes ends meet by moving to the small town of Edenton, North Carolina, and working the late shift as a waitress. When Denise crashes her car and her son Kyle flees the accident and disappears into the storm, her only stroke of luck is the quick arrival of Taylor McAden, a volunteer fireman. Taylor's got a knack for fixing people, and he can't help wanting to be involved with Denise beyond the initial rescue of Kyle.

As Taylor helps Denise recover from the accident and get to know the town, they discover a sweet bond and a magical chemistry that pulls them closer and closer. Though Taylor fits perfectly into Denise's family, he's unable to open his heart to being loved by her. As Taylor struggles to understand his conflicting desires, Denise questions the wisdom of gambling with Kyle's and her own emotions.

Author Nicholas Sparks has found a loyal audience for his stories about the internal battles that accompany the arrival of love. His heroes may be truck-driving manly men and his heroines emotional swamis, but it's easy to overlook the traditional roles when the complexities of human relationships are so beautifully described. Sparks has found his forte, and this novel is sure to be as popular as his earlier works. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Secret traumas again haunt Sparks's characters, in the author's fourth novel (after The Notebook; Message in a Bottle; A Walk to Remember). Denise Holden, the 29-year-old heroine, is destitute and forced to live in her mother's old house in Edenton, N.C. She's also the single mother of a handicapped child, Kyle, a four-year-old with "auditory processing problems" that render him unable to express himself or to fully understand others. Though she doesn't suspect it, Denise is on a literal collision course with true love. After she smashes her car into a tree and wakes up to discover Kyle missing, she finds deliverance in the form of Taylor McAden, dashing firefighter and compulsive risk taker, who rescues Kyle, too. Since Taylor enjoys an instant, unprecedented rapport with Kyle, there is little standing in the way of burgeoning romance. Trouble comes, however, when Denise learns of Taylor's checkered romantic past. Taylor's inability to commit, it seems, is somehow tied to his compulsive heroism, of which numerous histrionic examples are described. Denise's quest to find the source of Taylor's emotional distance takes up the final third of the book. The story here is mostly a pretext for the emotional assault that Sparks delivers, but when he manages to link affect to action, the result is cunningly crafted melodrama. These occasions are rare, though; more often Sparks gets bogged down in interminable interior monologue. Because these characters are preordained lovers, their feelings prescribed by fiction conventions, their psychology amounts to little more than a profusion of banality. Yet Sparks's narrative acquires immediacy when his characters' exaggerated emotions compel immoderate actions, and his readers will surely delight at these moments of heightened expressiveness. 1 million first printing; 24-city author tour. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 339 pages
  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 1, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0446696129
  • ISBN-13: 978-0446696128
  • Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.9 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (574 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nicholas Sparks is one of the world's most beloved storytellers. All of his books have been New York Times bestsellers, with nearly 80 million copies in print worldwide, in over 45 languages, including over 50 million copies in the United States alone, and his popularity continues to soar.

Sparks wrote one of his best-known stories, The Notebook, over a period of six months at age 28. It was published in 1996 by Warner Books. He followed with the novels Message in a Bottle (1998), A Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in the Road (2001), Nights in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003), The Wedding (2003), True Believer (2005) and its sequel, At First Sight (2005), Dear John (2006), The Choice (2007), The Lucky One (2008), The Last Song (2009), Safe Haven (2010) and The Best of Me (2011), as well as the 2004 non-fiction memoir Three Weeks With My Brother, co-written with his brother Micah.

Safe Haven is scheduled for release on February 14, 2013, and marks Sparks's eighth film adaptation, following The Lucky One, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John and The Last Song, which thus far have a cumulative worldwide gross of nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.

Sparks lives in North Carolina with his family. He contributes to a variety of local and national charities, and is a major contributor to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame, where he provides scholarships, internships, and a fellowship annually. Along with his wife, he founded The Epiphany School in New Bern, North Carolina. As a former full scholarship athlete (he still holds a track and field record at the University of Notre Dame) he also spent four years coaching track and field athletes at the local public high school. In 2009, the team he coached at New Bern High School set a World Junior Indoor Record in the 4 x400 meter, in New York. The record still stands.

Customer Reviews

As I read, I absolutely could not put the book down. J. Weiland  |  111 reviewers made a similar statement
Excellent well written story, with great characters. Romance junkie  |  107 reviewers made a similar statement
It really makes you feel like you're in the story. Javier Diaz  |  55 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 51 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars There is a light at the end of the tunnel! February 21, 2001
Format:Hardcover
Taylor McAden is a volunteer fireman with a death wish. His life's direction is in response to an incident that took place in his childhood. The author alludes to it but it is not till the end that it all comes together and we find out that Taylor isn't the only one doing the rescuing.

The book starts with Kyle, a missing four year old that has limited language skills and understanding. After a car wreck where his mother, Denise Holten is knocked unconscious, he has wandered away and is now lost somewhere in the swamp on a stormy night. With limited resources, a child that won't answer if called, and the temperature dropping we are off to an interesting beginning. Sparks molds his characters with such deference and intimacy. He grants us insight into the undaunting trials and tribulations of a mother faced with what appears to be an impossible task, the love and strength of heart of a little boy and Taylor who steps in and is eventually saved from himself.

This is an excellent book that will leave you in tears as well as make you smile. I've read all of Spark's books and I must admit I liked this one the best. He just keeps getting better...

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63 of 70 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As usual, I'll let you read the synopsis above and just tell you what I liked/disliked about the book. No point in being redundant.

While this book has similar main characters to Message in a Bottle (single mother, loner guy), it definitely carries its own weight. I was so relieved that the author has not fallen into the "formula writing" style that so many bestselling authors have these days.

The plot is new but the author's style of writing is still there. He does an excellent job of introducing the characters and letting us go through their range of emotions with them. The book flows nicely as I was able to finish in a weekend. (I obtained an advance reader copy about a month ago)

If you have enjoyed his previous novels, you'll like this one too. You'll also enjoy it if this is your first Nicholas Sparks book. You should also check his others as they are all available in paperback now.

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48 of 53 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Christmas Gift! September 19, 2000
Format:Hardcover
I grabbed an advanced reading copy of this book at work one day for a friend, and it sat in my car waiting to be delivered. There it sat... and sat... untill I had a doctor's appointment. I grabbed it on my way in for the long wait and boring medical journals that waited inside. This book sucked me in on the first page. The characters, Denise and Taylor were so realistic. They had everyday struggles and convictions that made these people alive in my mind. This is a page turner book that leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling and a little faith in people and the power of love. I had never read this type of book before, but now I am an addict. A must read!
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Finding love and making peace with one's past September 27, 2002
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
THE RESCUE by Nicholas Sparks

The book opens with a horrific storm, and Denise Holton is driving home on the highway with her son Kyle. She loses control of the car and ends up in an accident, losing consciousness. If it hadn't been for volunteer fireman Taylor McAden coming to the rescue, she would have surely died.

As Taylor is seeing to it that Denise is ok, Denise looks behind her car seat for her son Kyle, and discovers he is missing. The back door is open, and Taylor admits he did not know there was a boy in the car with her. She's in a panic, mainly because Kyle is not a normally adjusted child. For some unknown reason, Kyle has a problem with language, and will not come if someone were to call out his name. Knowing this, the search for Kyle would be impossible, especially since the car crash was near a swampy area known to lose people in normal weather. The odds of finding Kyle were pretty slim.

Denise is taken to the hospital, while the search continues for the young 5-year old. Taylor, who seems to have the gift of finding and rescuing people, miraculously finds Kyle hiding in a duck blind, unharmed. Mother and son are reunited.

Denise and Taylor develop a mutual attraction for each other, and slowly they start up a friendship that soon becomes a romance. Taylor seems to be the man of Denise's dreams, and to top it off he loves Kyle. Most persons who have met Kyle are awkward with him, because of his speech impediments and his learning disabilities. But, not Taylor. He treats little Kyle as a normal healthy boy, and soon Kyle becomes attached to his mother's new friend. Taylor is Kyle's hero and the father he never had. Denise watches as Kyle begins to develop better language skills and he does things he never was able to do before. He plays catch with Taylor....

In the meantime, Denise and Taylor become closer. Things are going wonderfully well until they attend a party held by Taylor's closest friends Mitch and Melissa. Mitch is his childhood friend and together they are part of the volunteer fireman group. Melissa is like the sister Taylor never had, and she teases him throughout the gathering, asking whether he is going to marry Denise. Taylor reacts by choking on his food, and becomes distant the rest of the evening.

Unsurprisingly, their relationship turns for the worse. Instead of seeing Denise every day and every night, Taylor uses work as an excuse for not coming by. He shuts her out, just as he did with every other girlfriend he's had. But, the difference between the other women and Denise is that Taylor really loves Denise, and he had felt that she was someone special in his life. So, why the change in behavior? Denise spends many nights in tears, wondering what had happened to the relationship that she so hesitantly opened her heart to. After years of not trusting any man to come into her life, she decided to trust Taylor.

Obviously, there was a reason for Taylor's turnabout behavior. No one knows why he is unable to commit to any woman, but Denise eventually finds out. It's a tragic past that has held Taylor a prisoner, and it is up to those around him to set him free.

I thoroughly enjoyed THE RESCUE. I've read a number of books by Nicholas Sparks, and I have to say that this is one of my favorites so far. For those of you who enjoy a good romance and tearjerker, this one is for you. Read more ›

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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful love story September 21, 2000
Format:Hardcover
At twenty-nine in Edenton, North Carolina, single mother Denise Holden wonders how her dreams turned into nightmares. Currently, she lives in the home of her mother struggling to raise her four-year-old son Kyle who suffers with central auditory processing disorder.

While driving in a torrential storm, Denise crashes. Firefighter Taylor McAden rescues her and leads the search for the missing Kyle. When Taylor finds Kyle, the two hit it off in a way that the child has never done before. Soon Taylor and Denise fall in love, but he has demons that reject the concept of a lasting, loving relationship, which leaves Denise and Kyle wondering if soon they will become excessive baggage.

THE RESCUE is an emotional love story starring three damaged individuals. The story line is extremely powerful when the characters ride their feelings into activities that they normally would avoid. The two lead adults, supported by a child with a learning disorder, are incredibly drawn and their respective "interfering" mothers provide the sparks that inspire the story line. Nicholas Spark's tale is must reading for those fans that cherish a deep-rooted love story like the author,s previous works (see MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE and A WALK TO REMEMBER).

Harriet Klausner

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Great Book. Easy and Fast Read. Nicholas Sparks always has it. Never miss a book you won't regret reading his books.
Published 13 hours ago by Anita McCarty
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars
By far the best book I have read!!!! But be prepared for your emotions to be tossed around. I love it.
Published 3 days ago by madelane Ann cross
5.0 out of 5 stars The Rescue
In the small town of Edenton, NC Taylor finds a wrecked car with an unconscious female driver. When she comes to,she starts frantically crying her son's name Kyle. Read more
Published 4 days ago by kback
4.0 out of 5 stars N Sparks always good
I have always enjoyed Sparks books/movies. This one was good too. A few good twists, not too predictable. Easy read.
Published 4 days ago by Y. Swedelius
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it
It is very similar to other sparks books, I had a few things figured out early on. But it was a great read.
Published 5 days ago by Brandi
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book
I love the way these romance books end, never can stop reading when it gets close to the last chapter.
Published 7 days ago by B BLEVINS
5.0 out of 5 stars Not too bad
Not one of sparks best but not terrible, hopefully they don't make this one into a movie. The movies don't do the books justice
Published 7 days ago by Lisa Peterson
5.0 out of 5 stars amazing
It is so good and jumps right into action! perfect! So sweet and romantic. You will love it. I really enjoyed reading it :)
Published 7 days ago by hannah w.
3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best
This was a fast read. It isn't the best book I have read by this author but was worth the time I spent reading it.
Published 8 days ago by Desta Meyer
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Dane Lover
A good read. Foreshadowing of tragedy is palpable throughout. The ending resolves the heartache felt for the characters. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Great Dane lover
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