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New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf follows the phenomenal success of her first two books with her most emotionally charged novel yet. ONE BREATH AWAY is a gripping story of a small town caught in the midst of a deadly crisis, as experienced from the points of view of five different people.

On a bitter March day, as a sudden snowstorm envelops the small town of Broken Branch, Iowa, an unknown man with a gun enters the town’s only school and takes a classroom of children hostage. As awareness of the situation spreads, the panicked community is ready to do anything to protect their children, but can only watch and wait.

As the standoff progresses and the snowstorm rages outside, anxiety and frustration start to build to dangerous levels. But everyone knows how precarious the situation is. One wrong move, even a breath, could have the most devastating of consequences.

We’ve organized another scavenger hunt blog tour to celebrate ONE BREATH AWAY. Click on the dates below to find that day’s excerpt. The additional links lead to even more reviews, author Q&A’s, guest blogs and giveaways!

 

June 26, 2012 I’m in that lovely space between consciousness and sleep…More content here!

June 27, 2012 My curly brown hair once again falls softly down my back…

June 28, 2012 But the problem is that while the carefully prescribed and doled-out narcotics…

June 29, 2012 Sent away to the place where I grew up, the town I swore I would never return to…More content here!

June 30, 2012 I open one eye, the one that isn’t covered with a thick ointment and crusted shut…

July 1, 2012 I carefully shift my body to pick up the phone with my good hand…

July 2, 2012Not sounding like my daughter at all…

July 3, 2012 I want to take a sip of water from the glass sitting on my tray…

July 4, 2012 “I love you, Mom,” she says in a whisper that ends in quiet sobs…

July 5, 2012 She is crying in that way she has when she is doing her damndest not to…

July 6, 2012 “He has a gun. He has P.J. and he has a gun.”

July 7, 2012 Who would do this to my children?

July 8, 2012 “I love you, too.” My eyes fill with tears…More content here!

July 9, 2012 My pants are still damp from when Noah Plum pushed me…More content here!

July 10, 2012…but for some reason I’m the only one who has figured this out and I’ve only lived here for eight weeks…More content here!

July 11, 2012 But she moved here when she was two so she may as well have been born here…

July 12, 2012 Mr. Ellery, my teacher and one of the only good things about this school…More content here!

July 13, 2012 Mr. Ellery said we could even write the same word over and over…

July 14, 2012 Mr. Ellery always gives time for people to read what they’ve written…More content here!

July 15, 2012 Never let it out of my sight…

July 16, 2012 Mr. Ellery, besides being really cute, is the absolutely best teacher I’ve ever had…

July 17, 2012 All he has to do is stare at the person and they shut up…More content here!

July 18, 2012 Even Mr. Ellery’s stare doesn’t work today; everyone is whispering and smiling…

July 19, 2012 “Yesss!” the kids around me hiss. Great…

July 20, 2012 The only sounds in the classroom are the scratch of pencils on paper…More content here!

July 21, 2012 I don’t care if I ever see my grandfather again…

July 22, 2012 My grandfather tells us this isn’t going to happen…

July 23, 2012 …so Grandma and Grandpa, who I met for the first time ever a couple months ago…

July 24, 2012 A sharp crack, like a branch snapped in half during an ice storm…More content here!

July 25, 2012 Looks like someone broke a window at the end of the hallway…More content here!

July 26, 2012 A snort comes from Noah. “Go to your safe place,” he says…More content here & here!

 

 

Heather Gudenkauf is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novels The Weight of Silence and These Things Hidden.  She lives in Iowa with her family.  Visit her website, HeatherGudenkauf.com.