Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
32nd out of 64 books
—
181 voters
The Smoke Jumper
In a searing novel of love and loyalty, guilt and honor, the acclaimed author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Horse Whisperer gives his millions of readers another hero...
The Smoke Jumper
His name is Connor Ford and he falls like an angel of mercy from the sky, braving the flames to save the woman he loves but knows he cannot have. For Julia Bishop is the partner of...more
The Smoke Jumper
His name is Connor Ford and he falls like an angel of mercy from the sky, braving the flames to save the woman he loves but knows he cannot have. For Julia Bishop is the partner of...more
Paperback, 576 pages
Published
July 30th 2002
by Dell
(first published 2001)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Can a person love two people at the same time, and how does one choose just one? Julia meets Ed first and is in relationship with him when she meets his best friend Connor and has a "love at first sight" experience. Connor reciprocates this feeling, but both he and Julia manage not to pursue a love that would hurt Ed. The summer of life-altering events finds the three in Montana where Ed and Connor are smoke jumpers, something that they've been doing for several years together. Julia is working...more
This story started out promising. A cute romance develops between two likeable characters and then a smokin hot "complication" gets introduced. From there it went all down hill. There needed to be more of everything, more passion, more tension, and more heartache. I found what I was reading to be less than gripping and I always found a reason to do something else other than read it. This story is about a blind man's wife falling in love with his best friend. How can you bore your readers with a...more
6 likes · like · see review
Nicholas Evans is a stunning writer. He is the master of description; one stops to savour them not hurry on to the action. But there's also plenty of action. This is a complex story of two men who both love one woman. She in turn loves both in different ways but the man she loves most she cannot have. The two men are friends and they are smoke jumpers. Evans finds some intriguing professions to write about. Think of the Horse Whisperer for instance. Smoke jumpers...I never even knew such a job e...more
Diana had read The Horse Whisperer and bought Nicholas Evans' succeeding two books on a bookstore excursion that feels like eons ago. Remembering how much she had sung the praises of The Horse Whisperer, I gave Evans' third a go--and was not disappointed in the slightest. I'm currently working through authors on my shelf from Z backwards (having just completed a circuit in the other direction and then reversing it to make my way back to the Es). I try to be highly selective with what I read at a...more
Three friends are connected by one summer’s events on a Montana mountain. Ed Tully and Connor Ford are smoke jumpers who both love the same woman. Julia is a social worker who is taking a group of “at risk” teens on a several day hike in the wilderness in an effort to rehabilitate them. When the draught-stricken forest is hit by lightning, the smoke jumpers have to come to the rescue.
You know where this is headed, don’t you? There will be tragedy, lots of guilt, miscommunication, silent (but ver...more
You know where this is headed, don’t you? There will be tragedy, lots of guilt, miscommunication, silent (but ver...more
I lovelovelovelove this book. I've read all of Nicholas Evan's books (The Horse Whisperer, The Divide and The Loop) and this is by far my favorite. Nicholas Evans writes in a way that is clean and does not interfere with the story. This particular story has it all - action, adventure, unrequited love - and the characters are very relatable. It makes me want to go to Montana very badly (and almost makes me want to become a firefighter...)!
Nicholas Evans is a first rate story teller who has infused every element available to a writer into the Smoke Jumper and turned a mere spark of an idea into fireworks -- he has an uncanny ability to get inside the very essence of what makes his characters tick and fleshes each one into a real & alive being, real in one's own mind anyway. Combine that with epic proportions that leads the reader from one continent to another and back again, threading it with a cocktail of catch-22 circumstanc...more
Part 1: fantastic. Part 2: meh. Part 3: good God.
Here is one paragraph (excuse me, sentence) from the book:
In the grass and dust yard of the church stood a white cement figure of Jesus with his arms spread in welcome and the boy stopped beside it and would go no farther and Connor photographed him and then photographed the dogs and vultures that came hurtling from the open doors of the church and photographed the soldiers chasing them and yelling and shooting at them but mostly missing.
This is O...more
Here is one paragraph (excuse me, sentence) from the book:
In the grass and dust yard of the church stood a white cement figure of Jesus with his arms spread in welcome and the boy stopped beside it and would go no farther and Connor photographed him and then photographed the dogs and vultures that came hurtling from the open doors of the church and photographed the soldiers chasing them and yelling and shooting at them but mostly missing.
This is O...more
I LOVED this book! I would've given it 4.5 stars if possible, and didn't feel it deserved 5 stars, so I rounded down to 4. That being said...one of my favorites! I stayed up till early hours of the morning reading this book because I was so captured by everything about it. The lifestyle, the love, the tragedy, the suspense...EVERYTHING! I saw someone else who reviewed this book say that it made them want to visit Montana and I am going to second that! In fact, can I move to Montana instead of vi...more
I gave this book a 3 because I really liked the 1st part of the book then I thought the last half of the book was somewhat contrived and more like a romanc novel. I bought the book because I thought it would be more about smoke jumpers. This is the story of 2 friends, who fall in love with the same woman. I feel like the author couldn't decide what story he wanted to tell. The book started out with the smoke jumpers, Ed and Connor, and Ed's girlfriend Julia, an artist who worked with delinquent...more
This is Nicholas Evan's finest. Well, for me at least. I have read only 2 of his books including this one and I loved this far better than The Horse Whisperer.
A story of 2 best friends who are smoke jumpers who love one wonderful woman, Julia, and whose lives became intertwined by tragedy, and of consequences of choices made. The novel was divided into three parts and some pages made me laugh, most pages made me teary-eyed. Set in the scenic Montana and moving towards the mountains and deserts o...more
A story of 2 best friends who are smoke jumpers who love one wonderful woman, Julia, and whose lives became intertwined by tragedy, and of consequences of choices made. The novel was divided into three parts and some pages made me laugh, most pages made me teary-eyed. Set in the scenic Montana and moving towards the mountains and deserts o...more
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I had so many people recommend it to me that I thought it would be something 'special'. I did enjoy the part where Julia is in the bathtub marvelling at her unborn child moving from side to side in her stomach. Julia was so amazed that her unborn child was actually making "ripples in the water" from moving so much. THAT brought back pleasant memories of my pregnancies!
From back cover:
"His name is Connor Ford and he falls like an angel of mer...more
From back cover:
"His name is Connor Ford and he falls like an angel of mer...more
I never really became engrossed in this, or really cared about the characters as much as I hoped I would. I ended up skimming paragraphs and had to make myself finish. Maybe I should have just quit when I lost interest and tried it again another time. Regardless it was entertaining and a quick read. My first book by this author. My husband enjoyed one of his books and so I had high hopes for a great story. I was dissappointed that it seemed so unlike what I had envisioned. I loved The Horse Whis...more
The last Nicholas Evans' book I read - The Divide - I really enjoyed and so was very much looking forward to this but I felt it was a bit lacking for me. It was easy enough to read and the characters likeable enough but it was all a bit predicatable. There's not necessarily anything wrong with that, especially in a romance novel where most of the times there'll be a happy ending, but it just wasn't believeable to me! The characters set off on hair raising and daring adventures and there's was lo...more
Best friends Ed (a musician with high aspirations) and Connor (a rancher and photographer) are smoke jumpers (firefighters that skydive into national forest fires) during the summers in Montana. When Ed's girlfriend Julia joins them one summer, a close bond grows between the three friends. That bond is impacted for life when a terrible forest fire has devastating repercussions for them all.
Beautifully written, this book evoked tears, laughter, overwhelming sadness and eventual satisfaction. Alt...more
Beautifully written, this book evoked tears, laughter, overwhelming sadness and eventual satisfaction. Alt...more
This book has everything I love in a story: slightly dangerous occupations (my writing regularly features EMS and military characters). War and chaos. A handsome, brooding male character. A love triangle ... and a happy ending (I'm a sucker for those). Evans did a masterful job of using traumatic events and showing how the characters develop because of (or in spite of) them. The 'voice' of each was authentic and even though there were four points of view (telling their stories) I didn't have any...more
I loved the first half of this book. The second half of the book, while connected, should have been a totally separate book by it's self.
A frustrating read, punctuated by too many plot twists where you have to suspend your disbelief. The story jumps around and regularly loses what small momentum it had built up as the reader is flung forward years or thousands of miles, or both.
The Smoke Jumper is at least 100 pages too long, cluttered by pointless insights which seem to be lifted from a teenager's diary, and the denouement is signposted in flashing neon lights throughout the book - although how Evans reaches that point was too o...more
The Smoke Jumper is at least 100 pages too long, cluttered by pointless insights which seem to be lifted from a teenager's diary, and the denouement is signposted in flashing neon lights throughout the book - although how Evans reaches that point was too o...more
I read a lot of books and have a lot of favorites. When someone asks me "What's your favorite book?" It takes a while for me to think of one or I just say the one I recent read. But now after 19 years I have found my all time book! "The Smoke Jumper" is my true all time favorite book. It has an awesome intense, heartwarming storyline where you fall in love with the characters. I love books that has romance and this book has the heartwarming, tear jerking love story I have ever read.
Evans did an...more
Evans did an...more
This story is divided into 3 books, which I rate all differently. I loved the first book, it was emotional, built great characters, was adventuresome and interesting. Book two had a big story line, with little real impact. So much could have been done here, but I found the emotion lacking. Book three was a little more emotional than Book two, but was so predictable I found it pretty boring. Books two and three seemed to try to pack in too much time with not enough story - yet some pieces had alo...more
Yaaah... buku ini membuat saya berpikir2, adakah Nicholas Evans ini nama samaran seorang perempuan?
Ini bukunya yang pertama saya baca, tapi kok ya rasanya seperti membaca Danielle Steele. Sooo cewek... Semua dicampur, banyak tokohnya, banyak ceritanya, tapi kecuali ketiga tokoh utama, yang lain benar2 hanya lewat2 saja.
Ada remaja minggat, pria jatuh hati, pria patah hati, gadis penakluk, penjahat2 perang segala... Hal yang paling menarik buat saya adalah tantangan dari profesi smoke jumper, par...more
Ini bukunya yang pertama saya baca, tapi kok ya rasanya seperti membaca Danielle Steele. Sooo cewek... Semua dicampur, banyak tokohnya, banyak ceritanya, tapi kecuali ketiga tokoh utama, yang lain benar2 hanya lewat2 saja.
Ada remaja minggat, pria jatuh hati, pria patah hati, gadis penakluk, penjahat2 perang segala... Hal yang paling menarik buat saya adalah tantangan dari profesi smoke jumper, par...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
From the title and the beginning of this book, you think that it's all about the people who parachute into and fight wild fires. But, it's not.
That is only where they start, telling about those that fight fires, but it introduces us to the main characters and their persona.
Then, predictally, relationships and people change.
Through out the book, different moral, and internatioal, problems are addressed, but not in a preaching manner, that I have seen in others novels.
It's above medium in size, 43...more
That is only where they start, telling about those that fight fires, but it introduces us to the main characters and their persona.
Then, predictally, relationships and people change.
Through out the book, different moral, and internatioal, problems are addressed, but not in a preaching manner, that I have seen in others novels.
It's above medium in size, 43...more
Connor Ford and his best friend, Ed Tully from vastly different backgrounds spend time as smoke jumpers in Montana during the summer. Ed's girlfriend, Julia joins them in Montana and works as a counselor in a program for teenagers, trying to help them overcome trauma in their lives. This joining of the trio brings tragedy and love into Connor and Julia's life. Their stories span over a period of time and the world with experiences that relate to their first encounters. Really another great read...more
The honest reason I picked up this book was because I have a great respect and admiration for Smoke Jumpers and Forest Service firefighters. I even met a few that were from Missoula, which the Smoke Jumper base in the book is. Anyways, so now you know what first got me to buy the book and read it but it didn't play a significant part in the storyline. In fact this story was very different than what I had expected, in a good way. I will be completely honest and say that I was not at all impressed...more
"The Smoke Jumper" centers on two best friends, Ed and Connor. Ed falls in love with Julia, a woman who works as a rehab counselor for troubled youth. She takes kids out hiking and asks them questions like "How does that make you feel?" One of the kids, Skye, is killed during a forest fire and during the same fire; Ed is injured and becomes handicapped. Julia marries him, even though she is secretly in love with Ed's best friend, Connor.
We learn that Ed is sterile, so he and Julia ask Connor to...more
We learn that Ed is sterile, so he and Julia ask Connor to...more
I want to cry. Seriously. I was so excited to read a book about hot, sexy smoke jumpers and about an interesting love triangle between 2 best friends and the woman they both loved. I had to actually order the book version since I didn't have my new kindle at the time. I ran to the mailbox daily for 2 weeks waiting to get the book so I could start reading it and when I did, I was just heartbroken. This book isn't about smoke jumpers. Yeah, sure, that's what the 2 (Ed and his best friend, Connor)...more
Sometimes when you pick up a book you have an idea of where the story is going. I at least had an idea of where this one was going, but had no idea the struggles that would occur in the story to get there, nor did I have the story completely resolved.
I was first introduced to Nicholas Evans in a book store on a summer vacation. We were in one of those books a million and the cover kept grabbing at me. Till at last I resolved myself to purchase The Horse Whisper. What an astounding book and autho...more
I was first introduced to Nicholas Evans in a book store on a summer vacation. We were in one of those books a million and the cover kept grabbing at me. Till at last I resolved myself to purchase The Horse Whisper. What an astounding book and autho...more
I give this book 3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed this novel for the most part. The things that I didn't like were the language as well as some graphic details of intimacy. It is a book about a woman that is attracted to her boyfriend's best friend. Without giving too many details...I'll just say the book is about the three of them and their relationships. But there is also a lot more to the book than just ther three of them. Each of the main characters has a side story going on and I really enjoyed all t...more
Connor Ford and Julia Bishop fall in love the first time they meet. But Connor knows he cannot have Julia because she is the partner of his best friend and fellow smoke jumper, Edward Tully. When a tragedy befalls them, Julia is forced to make a choice and marries Ed. Though she likes him, her heart never forgets Connor even after her marriage. Broken and deprived of love, Connor departs on a dangerous journey to Africa, capturing images of wars and deaths. The Smoke Jumper is all about love los...more
1 like · like · see review
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Nicholas Evans was born and grew up in Worcestershire, England. He studied law at Oxford University, graduating with first class honors, then worked as a journalist for three years on the Evening Chronicle in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He then moved into televsion, producing films...more
More about Nicholas Evans...
Nicholas Evans was born and grew up in Worcestershire, England. He studied law at Oxford University, graduating with first class honors, then worked as a journalist for three years on the Evening Chronicle in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He then moved into televsion, producing films...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“I am not gone but merely walk within you.”
—
12 people liked it
“No man may earn his heart's desire, lest first he brave the smoke and fire”
—
6 people liked it
More quotes…
Jan 13, 2013 03:00pm