Powder Burn by Mark Chisnell

Title: Powder Burn
Author: Mark Chisnell
Available Get a free preview from Mark Chisnell’s website then get it at Amazon.

I am always happy to read a book by Mark Chisnell, so I was thrilled when he requested a read/review of Powder Burn. The reason there’s no “available from” is because it hasn’t been published yet.

I’m going to appoint Chisnell the Thriller King. When I pick up one of his books, I expect a taut, well-written, can’t-put-it-down thriller with unexpected twists and turns and I’m never disappointed.

Powder Burn is another home run hit in the thriller category. It features Samantha (Sam) Blackett, and I’m happy to find this is only the first of a series featuring Sam. She’s gutsy, broke, and willing to go on an adventure with a good-looking Brit and his companions, mostly so she doesn’t have to go back to her mother and admit defeat. Aside from the part where she’s hiking off into high altitudes of the Himalayans with strangers part, I can relate. 🙂 It turns out, everyone on this trip is keeping some secrets. Pete Halland (the handsome Brit) and his friends don’t tell her they’re on their way to find the legendary Powder Burn to document a snowboarder’s dream ride down a flawless chute. What they don’t tell Sam is that this ride will take them illegally into the mystical and mysterious country of Shibde. They’re counting on Sam’s writeup for National Geographic to catapult the film and its participants into fame and fortune. What Sam doesn’t tell them is she’s only had one article published, in a small regional magazine where her mother works, and has a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a story accepted by National Geographic.

While they planned on having to quietly sneak across the border of Shibde to access the legendary Powder Burn, they didn’t plan on meeting a revolutionary and his apparently magical sword. What follows is classic Chisnell, a tight buildup of tension as the roller coaster chugs its way to the top of the mountain, unexpected twists and turns, then a long, gut-wrenching drop to the finish. The epilogue is the revealing photo finish.

I don’t know what this book’s pricing is going to be, but whatever it is – it’ll be worth it! Watch for it on April 3rd, then get ready for a great thrill of a read.

Updated (April 1, 2013): This book is now available at Amazon. For only $0.99, it’s a steal.