The Waiting Hours by Shandi Mitchell

☆☆☆☆
ebook, 400 pages
Expected publication: April 30th 2019 by Penguin Random House Canada & Viking
About the Book:
When tragedy erupts on a stifling summer night, three ordinary people, with the extraordinary jobs of rescuing strangers, are connected to one another in ways both explicit and invisible. Each is deeply devoted to what they do, but they are all beginning to crack under the immense pressures of their work. Tough-as-nails Kate, when she's not working with her beloved search-and-rescue dog, Zeus, is a trauma nurse who spends her off-duty hours trying to forget what she has seen. Estranged from her troubled family, she must confront the fact that resolution may elude her forever. Respected police officer Mike is on the edge of burnout and sets himself on a downward spiral that may be impossible to break, fraying the bonds of love that hold his family together. Tamara, an agoraphobic 911 dispatcher, who is trying her hardest to remain as calm and emotionless as an automated message, is propelled into the middle of a story that she can't avoid and must enter the world to find out how it ends. With a city prickling under a heat wave and a hurricane threatening to make landfall, these responders will be forced to make fateful choices that will alter lives. A storm is coming and nobody is prepared.

Between the twilight of three and six, came the Waiting Hours.

Shandi Mitchell weaves together the narratives of the main characters to create a story that holds your attention from beginning to end. From her clearly written prose grows the complex relationship and situations between Mike, Kate and Tamara. The care that Ms. Mitchell takes to build nuance into her characters, and to deal with issues that are now ubiquitous in our modern society, allows the reader to be enveloped in the development of the outcomes.

Hard to put down. A well woven tale of how being a first responder can permeate family relationships. The characters are well developed and nuanced, the writing real and deep about community, loss and family dynamics. The story-line is right here and now. From triumph to heartache, to frustration and fear, to exuberation, and celebration, it's all there, as the layers are peeled back to reveal the stories guiding these characters to their future and these three lives are now forever entwined. Looking forward to more novels from Shandi Mitchell in the near future.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada, Viking and Shandi Mitchell for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

#TheWaitingHours #NetGalley