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The Mountain Story
Four lost hikers are about to discover they’re capable of something extraordinary.
Nola has gone up the mountain to commemorate her wedding anniversary, the first since her beloved husband passed. Blonde, stick-thin Bridget is training for a triathalon. Vonn is working out her teenage rebellion at eight thousand feet, driven by family obligation and the urge to escape her mistakes. Still reeling from the tragic accident that robbed him of his best friend, Wolf Truly is the only experienced hiker among them, but he has come to the cliffs on his eighteenth birthday without food or supplies because he plans to take his own life.
When a series of missteps strands this unusual group together in the wilderness, they soon realize that their only defense against the brutality of nature is one another. As one day without rescue spirals dramatically into the next, and misadventure turns to nightmare, these four broken souls begin to form an inextricable bond, pushing themselves and one another further than they ever could have dreamed possible. The three who make it home alive will be forever changed by their harrowing days on the mountain.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls, The Mountain Story is a fast-paced, suspenseful adventure and a gorgeous tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. Braving a landscape both unforgivingly harsh and breathtakingly beautiful, Nola, Bridget, Vonn, and Wolf find themselves faced with an impossible question: How much will they sacrifice for a stranger?
Nola has gone up the mountain to commemorate her wedding anniversary, the first since her beloved husband passed. Blonde, stick-thin Bridget is training for a triathalon. Vonn is working out her teenage rebellion at eight thousand feet, driven by family obligation and the urge to escape her mistakes. Still reeling from the tragic accident that robbed him of his best friend, Wolf Truly is the only experienced hiker among them, but he has come to the cliffs on his eighteenth birthday without food or supplies because he plans to take his own life.
When a series of missteps strands this unusual group together in the wilderness, they soon realize that their only defense against the brutality of nature is one another. As one day without rescue spirals dramatically into the next, and misadventure turns to nightmare, these four broken souls begin to form an inextricable bond, pushing themselves and one another further than they ever could have dreamed possible. The three who make it home alive will be forever changed by their harrowing days on the mountain.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls, The Mountain Story is a fast-paced, suspenseful adventure and a gorgeous tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. Braving a landscape both unforgivingly harsh and breathtakingly beautiful, Nola, Bridget, Vonn, and Wolf find themselves faced with an impossible question: How much will they sacrifice for a stranger?
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 14, 2015
About the author
Lori Lansens
18 books1,195 followers Lori Lansens was born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, a small Canadian town with a remarkable history as a terminus on the Underground Railroad, which became the setting for her first three bestselling novels. After living in downtown Toronto most of her adult life, she moved with her family to the Santa Monica mountains near Los Angeles in 2006. A couple of years ago she relocated with her family to Calabasas, California, home of the Kardashians. Her new novel "This Little Light" is set there.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,517 reviews
January 31, 2016
Wow! I was totally immersed in this story of survival from beginning to end!
Wilfred (Wolf) Truly has had an unbelievably sad and rough life in his short eighteen years......the traumatic loss of his mother, the utter abandonment of his low-life piece of sh*t philandering drunk of a father, (I did not like Frankie) and the thought of losing his one true friend in the world (Byrd) has literally sent Wolf over the edge.
With one final trip to the top of Angel's Peak, Wolf plans to end his misery and take the plunge (no spoiler here) but along the way encounters three lost souls wandering through the woods who turn his plan into a disastrous nightmare of an adventure that ultimately gives his life new meaning.
A bit of magic from above, a shocker of a sacrifice and a twist at the end made for an engrossing read!
April 30, 2015
A few months back I started a spate of novels, that I ended up putting aside. My way of having reader's block, having a hard time finding something to grab me right off. Bit, I knew some of these I would want to go back and this was one, after all I usually love this author, so I had to trust she wouldn't write a book I didn't want to read, would she? Of course not and she didn't.
When I picked this book back up I was totally fascinated, hooked by the story of Wolf and his despicable father, and his five day stranding on the mountain with the three Devine women. This is a survival story, and the mountain, although there is of course an actual mountain they are lost and stranded on, also, has multiple meanings. Wolf has been hurdling mountains ever since his Mother's death, with his father, his aunt, his friend and his own existence.
This is written as a letter to his own son many years later and the reader learns all the perilous things that happened during those five days, when four went up but only three came down. Good survival story, in life and in fact. Wonderful characters, the rotten are truly out for themselves and the good are willing to sacrifice almost everything for those they love. If I have a criticism it is a very small one, this often verges on the melodramatic but the story, the characters and
The writing pulled it through for me. Hope it does for you too.
ARC FROM netGalley.
When I picked this book back up I was totally fascinated, hooked by the story of Wolf and his despicable father, and his five day stranding on the mountain with the three Devine women. This is a survival story, and the mountain, although there is of course an actual mountain they are lost and stranded on, also, has multiple meanings. Wolf has been hurdling mountains ever since his Mother's death, with his father, his aunt, his friend and his own existence.
This is written as a letter to his own son many years later and the reader learns all the perilous things that happened during those five days, when four went up but only three came down. Good survival story, in life and in fact. Wonderful characters, the rotten are truly out for themselves and the good are willing to sacrifice almost everything for those they love. If I have a criticism it is a very small one, this often verges on the melodramatic but the story, the characters and
The writing pulled it through for me. Hope it does for you too.
ARC FROM netGalley.
September 1, 2019
The beginning of this story grabbed my attention immediately.
There were a few lagging parts in the middle but picked up speed toward the end.
The 4 characters on the mountain only planned to be there a few ‘hours’.
Turned out to be 5 days.
I reflected on some stupid risky things I did on trails -[alone years ago]...when I use to begin hiking at 4am- always starting in the dark. I had no extra batteries for my flashlight.
My lights did go out one time. I had to sit and wait - in pure darkness for about an hour for ‘some’ light from the sky...before I could begin walking. I couldn’t see the ground.
I had no water... no identification on me...no cell phone...no food... and nobody knew where I was. I obviously had no brain.
Ha... I was little too confident and naive about my safety.
After an accident Paul had mountain biking - alone- that left him unconscious -( 4 men found him)...
I think about precautions today.
In this story....
we get much more than survival of the elements.
Coming of age, friendships, love, loss, and sacrifice.
I kinda wanted more atmospheric-storytelling
of the elements.
Yet... this is an enjoyable novel. I wanted to know how things would turn out.
What happens on the mountain stays on the mountain.....
Until....a father wrote a letter to his son...
✍️⛰
Present day & flashbacks... life leading up to that first day on the mountain.
3.7 rating.
There were a few lagging parts in the middle but picked up speed toward the end.
The 4 characters on the mountain only planned to be there a few ‘hours’.
Turned out to be 5 days.
I reflected on some stupid risky things I did on trails -[alone years ago]...when I use to begin hiking at 4am- always starting in the dark. I had no extra batteries for my flashlight.
My lights did go out one time. I had to sit and wait - in pure darkness for about an hour for ‘some’ light from the sky...before I could begin walking. I couldn’t see the ground.
I had no water... no identification on me...no cell phone...no food... and nobody knew where I was. I obviously had no brain.
Ha... I was little too confident and naive about my safety.
After an accident Paul had mountain biking - alone- that left him unconscious -( 4 men found him)...
I think about precautions today.
In this story....
we get much more than survival of the elements.
Coming of age, friendships, love, loss, and sacrifice.
I kinda wanted more atmospheric-storytelling
of the elements.
Yet... this is an enjoyable novel. I wanted to know how things would turn out.
What happens on the mountain stays on the mountain.....
Until....a father wrote a letter to his son...
✍️⛰
Present day & flashbacks... life leading up to that first day on the mountain.
3.7 rating.
December 9, 2015
I won a copy of The Mountain Story in a Goodreads Giveaway. This is my fair and honest review!
Rock Solid 4 Stars
July 19: A very impressive finish after a somewhat slow 100 opening pages … ramped up quickly and vigorously thereafter into a very strong close. Not sure ... 3.5 or 4.0? I need to sleep on it!
July 20: I slept on the story and this morning landed on a strong 4☆ rating! The author so masterfully ratcheted this thing up from a resolute, determined afternoon hike to a life and death struggle with the ever changing moods of Mother Nature compounded by the emotional demons within each of the hikers. Not the usual "hiker gets lost" story though.
I'll share more detailed observations when I have access to a PC - I don't dare write a full review on my phone. You'd end up reading a fat-fingered illiterate mess!
___________________________________________
July 28: I’m back from an absolutely fantastic vacation in the Evergreen State of Washington hiking in the Olympic National Park. How coincidental, or perhaps prescient, that I should be reading a story about lost hikers when I’m hiking in a mountainous and breathtakingly beautiful national park. I did not get lost on The Mountain!
The book opens with a letter to Daniel from his dad. Danny is now old enough to hear The Mountain Story, not in person but through a letter, this book. As a matter of fact, Daniel is now a student at Indiana State and older than his dad was when he got perilously lost on The Mountain. Was the timing right for Danny to hear the story? Or was now the time his dad was emotionally strong enough to relive the story? By book’s end the answer is crystal clear!
So opens this tale of survival for five brutal November days on the 10,000 foot mountain that explodes skyward from the desert floor in Santa Sophia, California. The 20 minute tram ride carries hikers from the “Mexican climate” at Desert Station at the mountain’s base to the “climate of northern Canada” at Mountain Station. From Mountain Station hikers make their way to the summit.
The day Wolf Truly sets out to hike The Mountain is his eighteenth birthday, the anniversary of his birth but also the anniversary of tragic losses, emotional trauma, missed opportunities and broken dreams, the day everything changed for him. His first time on The Mountain in a year, Wolf sets out alone, without food, water or his pack to come to terms with his emotions. He’s had a difficult life growing up in Mercury, MI and later in Santa Sophia, CA when his father Frankie uprooted him at age thirteen to live with Frankie’s sister Kriket in her double wide trailer in the Tin Town section of Santa Sophia on the edge of the desert. Frankie was very long on womanizing, gambling and drinking but short on employment, personal responsibility and parenting skills.
Frankie always said Wolf was a “noticer” and that day on the tramcar at Desert Station he notices Nola, Bridget and Vonn Devine. Was it fate, Wolf later wondered, that he was distracted by the Devine family and got lost with them on his way to Angel’s Peak? On his hike to the rogue trail Wolf’s best friend Byrd discovered with Wolf leading to the 20 foot outcrop they dubbed Angel’s Peak, Nola Devine approaches Wolf for directions to Secret Lake. Nola Devine has a very important and personal reason to get to the lake today. The lake is a hard 1.5 miles away and the clouds are getting low and heavy but Wolf, against his better judgement, agrees to guide them to Secret Lake anyway.
Nola is in her sixties, silver haired and well outfitted for a hike. She looks like she could be a park docent. Her daughter Bridget, in her mid-thirties, is fit and trim, wearing light clothing and expensive running shoes. She’s training for a triathalon. Vonn, Bridget’s daughter and Nola’s granddaughter, is wearing flip flops.
No one expected to be on The Mountain for more than a few hours that day!
The distraction from Angel’s Peak is both a blessing and curse for Wolf. Fleeing from a menacing swarm of agitated bees gets them off the trail, turned around and lost and a fall down a steep shrouded embankment gets them trapped on an outcrop above Devil's Canyon. From their precarious perch they could see the twinkling lights of Palm Springs far below but secretly Wolf knew no one gets out of Devil's Canyon!
The story is told by Wolf and moves between the current situation on The Mountain and Wolf’s past leading up to the fateful day of his hike to Angel’s Peak. While Wolf is the star of this story, The Mountain tells its own tale, revealing the courage, heroism, selflessness and compassion of the wandering hikers.
The writing felt like smooth, soft silk to me, a comforting style that kept me deeply engaged and engrossed in such a perilous and treacherous yet hopeful struggle for survival.
With each passing day, as hunger, dehydration and exposure to the elements take their toll and steadily break them down, the author skillfully peels back the emotional layers of their lives, revealing their fears and regrets, personal history and family secrets, hopes and dreams, and love found and lost. My senses tingled with life reading this book. I could smell the earth and fallen pine needles of the forest floor. I could feel the numbing cold of the snow and frigid night time air. I could taste those precious few drops of mountain water. I lived the fearful anxiety of frostbite, infection and death. I could feel the pain and suffering Wolf and the Devine family endured without graphic, gory descriptions of violence or injury. WOW! What a story.
The ending was unexpected and thought provoking, even ironic, but so satisfying and comforting.
All along I wondered about the connection between the events on The Mountain and the family’s last name. Coincidence? Was the author playing a game with me? Was The Mountain playing a game with the hikers? It’s something!
I love the outdoors and love to hike. But be clear, I am NOT a gritty, back country, off the grid type hiker. My wife and I favor well marked trails that are mapped and somewhat gentrified. But I have experienced the fear and anxiety of getting off the trail, turned around and confused. I felt this book. And since I was hiking the Olympic National Park while reading The Mountain Story, I took away a lesson from the book and stopped at Safeway on the way to Spruce Railroad Trail to buy some snacks for the pack … just in case we got lost!
The images in this review are photos I took on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State in July 2015. As I gazed at the natural beauty of my surroundings, all I could think about was The Mountain Story!
Enjoy!
February 5, 2016
Here's what first attracted me to this book. Many years ago, we spent a long, sweltering Labor Day weekend in the Palm Springs desert, and learned that the only enjoyable outdoor activity that time of year with temps around 114 every single day, besides sipping cocktails in the pool, was to take the tram up into the San Jacinto mountains. The tram ride (like a small train car dangling precariously from a cable, surrounded by rocks, cliffs, caverns, and crevices) terrified me--I think I had my eyes closed for most of the trip up--but the mountain itself was a cool 75 degrees, and we spent a great day up there. I wanted to spend the whole weekend in the park; forget our desert hotel with its a/c issues.
For the four characters in The Mountain Story, however, things did not go so great up there in the park. The tram was the least of the terror they would experience. Our narrator, Wolf, has written down all he remembers from the 5 days spent lost and stranded up there with 3 women, and this journal is for his only son to read someday. No one else knows all that they endured, the entire truth. A depressed Wolf had planned to take a flying leap off the mountain on his 18th birthday, while the women had their own agendas. Never planning to come out alive, he didn't bother to pack water or food. The women were ill prepared as well, the youngest in flip flops for crying out loud. So when they found themselves lost, Wolf felt needed and appreciated for the first time in a very long while. He really was an admirable, strong young man, given such a dysfunctional upbringing; but the wilderness with all its mysteries and surprises was the main character.
I think Lansens did a superb job bringing this all to life. Loved it to death.
For the four characters in The Mountain Story, however, things did not go so great up there in the park. The tram was the least of the terror they would experience. Our narrator, Wolf, has written down all he remembers from the 5 days spent lost and stranded up there with 3 women, and this journal is for his only son to read someday. No one else knows all that they endured, the entire truth. A depressed Wolf had planned to take a flying leap off the mountain on his 18th birthday, while the women had their own agendas. Never planning to come out alive, he didn't bother to pack water or food. The women were ill prepared as well, the youngest in flip flops for crying out loud. So when they found themselves lost, Wolf felt needed and appreciated for the first time in a very long while. He really was an admirable, strong young man, given such a dysfunctional upbringing; but the wilderness with all its mysteries and surprises was the main character.
I think Lansens did a superb job bringing this all to life. Loved it to death.
Read
December 28, 2019The Hook Feel a bit embarrassed that I won this book in 2015 and have just read it. My sincere thanks to Lori Lansens for the opportunity to read new novel.
The Line - ”Guess you're stronger than you think”
The Sinker - I picked the above quote as much of what this story is about comes back to this opinion. What do people do when faced with horrible odds but the will to live? In the case of the main character, Wolf Truly, this presents a stronger challenge as he sets out to The Mountain, without the spirit of survival, rather the opposite. What transpires will test him in ways he never imagined.
I'm a sucker for this kind of story. Wilderness, nature, survival, choices. There were a few missteps for me but I try to remind myself these are the author's decisions, not mine. It gives me something to think about, why an author chooses one path, one event, one wrap or outcome rather than another. All in all I enjoyed the journey.
The Line - ”Guess you're stronger than you think”
The Sinker - I picked the above quote as much of what this story is about comes back to this opinion. What do people do when faced with horrible odds but the will to live? In the case of the main character, Wolf Truly, this presents a stronger challenge as he sets out to The Mountain, without the spirit of survival, rather the opposite. What transpires will test him in ways he never imagined.
I'm a sucker for this kind of story. Wilderness, nature, survival, choices. There were a few missteps for me but I try to remind myself these are the author's decisions, not mine. It gives me something to think about, why an author chooses one path, one event, one wrap or outcome rather than another. All in all I enjoyed the journey.
October 6, 2016
I was surprised by this book. I was expecting a survival story, action/adventure, but it was so much more. Deeper, moving, and heartrending. The writing was lovely. Definitely a tale that sticks with you.
The book is written as a letter from Wolf to his son Daniel, as he prepares to leave for college. It's been twenty years since Wolf was lost on the mountain with three other people, and not everyone returned home. Wolf feels that Daniel is old enough now to know the truth.
The Mountain Story isn't just about surviving the harsh elements of nature, no shelter, going days with very little food or water, it's about Wolf managing to survive his entire difficult life.
Compelling blend of coming of age, friendship, sacrifice, loss, suspense, and of course, survival. I was quite surprised at the big twist at the end!!
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
The book is written as a letter from Wolf to his son Daniel, as he prepares to leave for college. It's been twenty years since Wolf was lost on the mountain with three other people, and not everyone returned home. Wolf feels that Daniel is old enough now to know the truth.
The Mountain Story isn't just about surviving the harsh elements of nature, no shelter, going days with very little food or water, it's about Wolf managing to survive his entire difficult life.
Compelling blend of coming of age, friendship, sacrifice, loss, suspense, and of course, survival. I was quite surprised at the big twist at the end!!
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
October 8, 2015
For me this was book was good not great. I liked the premise that this book is really a letter written by a father to his son. I had read many reviews on the book and had very high hopes for it. Maybe my hopes were too high. I do like how the story unfolded and we learn about each character in this coming of age story. Each character is unique and Wolf's back story is told throughout the book. There is a reveal at the end but even that didn't have too much flash or zing for me.
December 31, 2014
I was quite excited to receive the ARC for this book as I loved Rush Home Road and The Girls. This book disappointed me - the writing is not up to her previous efforts and could have been edited much better. While the characters are compelling, I never quite believed them as real people or the situation on the mountain to be real. I finished the book to find out what happened on the mountain. There was just too much that caused me to question the story line.
April 11, 2015
A fantastic, brilliantly plotted survival novel. A beautifully written coming of age story. An amazing character exploration. Each of these is rare enough, but imagine finding all three rolled into one book? That's what Lori Lansens' The Mountain Story was to me. I'm a longtime fan of Lansens', from the time I picked up "The Girls" on a whim at an airport before a flight. (By the way, aren't those the absolute best surprises...when you know nothing about a book, buy it and fall in love with it?). I think this is her best work to date.
June 6, 2017
My take - if this is your favorite genre - I think this book is a good read and you should add it to your list!! This is not my favorite genre, so when I read this type of general fiction/light thriller I really expect to be blown away....I know, I know it's a really high expectation, LOL! But, I'm keeping it!
This book started out pretty riveting - you get a little background of the main character Wolf, why he's at his current hiking spot, you are introduced to the group that is with him, and the plot sets up nicely. I was so dialed in!! Once the group has realized they are lost and the flashbacks start, it did just level out for me. I found myself uninterested in the group of ladies, hating Wolf's Dad, I always need something to root for...I wasn't sure what! But I loved Wolf and I loved his relationship with Bird. So overall, it was good, I was entertained..learned a few things, which I always love!!!
This book started out pretty riveting - you get a little background of the main character Wolf, why he's at his current hiking spot, you are introduced to the group that is with him, and the plot sets up nicely. I was so dialed in!! Once the group has realized they are lost and the flashbacks start, it did just level out for me. I found myself uninterested in the group of ladies, hating Wolf's Dad, I always need something to root for...I wasn't sure what! But I loved Wolf and I loved his relationship with Bird. So overall, it was good, I was entertained..learned a few things, which I always love!!!
May 29, 2016
I’m a nature girl, so I was greatly anticipating this read. In the end, it was a good, solid story. The characters have interesting backgrounds, the setting is ripe for adrenaline-pumping action. Toward the latter half of the book, the author does a tremendous job of whisking the reader through pages of intense emotion and danger.
And yet for me personally, there was a bit of disconnect to the situation and the characters, themselves. I didn’t begin to engage until the halfway point, and even then I wasn’t able to get fully under the characters’ skin.
What’s more, I felt I had to draw heavily upon my ability to suspend disbelief in order to continue reading. Maybe I’m a little too familiar with natural settings and wildlife to have bought the reality of several situations that, while entertaining, caused me great pause. In the end, I really did care about the outcome – and was surprised by a few revelations – which made this a good, not great, read.
The language in this novel is straightforward and easy to read (sometimes, I wondered, reminiscent of a YA novel?). As a result, I admit to being a bit disappointed by the details of the natural setting; I had hoped to be transported with sensory detail that allowed me to smell and taste and feel the surroundings (I generally reserve my 4 and 5 star reviews for those books that can transport me with language).
I must mention that I appreciated the author's respect and treatment of Native American culture and enjoyed the blurred lines between the spiritual/supernatural/hallucinatory events of the novel.
The verdict: Every reader experiences books differently. What may be my favorite may be one you loathe. And clearly, on this one, I’m in the minority with a “good” rating vs. a “really liked it” or an “it’s amazing” rating. It was good -- solid as I said earlier. And for those who like endings with closure that include some sunshine and roses mixed with clouds … Read up!
Sidenote: In the hardcopy version, the cover art is so symbolic of a particular scene -- which was such a great show of artistry by the designers (who clearly READ the book and appreciated the intensity of that scene). As well, the interior sections (divided into days vs chapters) include wonderful artwork as well: a panoramic view of a forest. A nice additional touch!
And yet for me personally, there was a bit of disconnect to the situation and the characters, themselves. I didn’t begin to engage until the halfway point, and even then I wasn’t able to get fully under the characters’ skin.
What’s more, I felt I had to draw heavily upon my ability to suspend disbelief in order to continue reading. Maybe I’m a little too familiar with natural settings and wildlife to have bought the reality of several situations that, while entertaining, caused me great pause. In the end, I really did care about the outcome – and was surprised by a few revelations – which made this a good, not great, read.
The language in this novel is straightforward and easy to read (sometimes, I wondered, reminiscent of a YA novel?). As a result, I admit to being a bit disappointed by the details of the natural setting; I had hoped to be transported with sensory detail that allowed me to smell and taste and feel the surroundings (I generally reserve my 4 and 5 star reviews for those books that can transport me with language).
I must mention that I appreciated the author's respect and treatment of Native American culture and enjoyed the blurred lines between the spiritual/supernatural/hallucinatory events of the novel.
The verdict: Every reader experiences books differently. What may be my favorite may be one you loathe. And clearly, on this one, I’m in the minority with a “good” rating vs. a “really liked it” or an “it’s amazing” rating. It was good -- solid as I said earlier. And for those who like endings with closure that include some sunshine and roses mixed with clouds … Read up!
Sidenote: In the hardcopy version, the cover art is so symbolic of a particular scene -- which was such a great show of artistry by the designers (who clearly READ the book and appreciated the intensity of that scene). As well, the interior sections (divided into days vs chapters) include wonderful artwork as well: a panoramic view of a forest. A nice additional touch!
October 28, 2015
Lansens does well with dialogue and the interior thought processes of her main protagonist in this story about three generations of women lost on a mountain with an 18 year old that's gone there to commit suicide. Unfortunately the descriptions of the physical environment are poor and the overall story feels like something cooked up to meet a creative writing class project deadline at the eleventh hour. While I very much wanted to enjoy this book, Lansen just didn't pull it off for me.
November 10, 2015
Survival, coming of age, sacrifice, friendship, suspense,a hint of mysticism-mid year and this is my favorite read of 2015.
March 19, 2016
Give me anything that is outdoorsy, about Nature, about hiking and I'm there. However, this one was far beyond that.
Lori Lansens gets beneath the skin of her main character, Wolf, and we are absolutely along for the ride. Young Wolf has had a childhood sauteed in neglect, rejection, and bottomless grief. His father, Frankie, wears his ineptness like a badge of honor. His idolized mother died when he was very young and her memories are angelic with the fragrance of lemons and wrapped simply in a flowing white dress.
Wolf is determined to climb to the top of a peak in southern California to deal with the life he has been given. But his path, literally, is crossed by three strangely unique women who will share a life-changing experience with him that he could never have predicted.
The Mountain Story engages us in the lives of these characters and digs beneath the surface to reveal the rawness that festers there. Yes, the ending seems to wrap everything up in a tidy bundle, but the ride was so well worth it. I'm sure that they are signing movie contracts even as we speak. It would make a really good movie with all the right actors in place.
I like Lori Lansens' style of writing. One of my favorite parts in the book was when Wolf and Frankie get to Aunt Kriket's deplapitated Tin Town trailor and Wolf meets all the little pantless tikes for the first time.
An enjoyable book and I'm looking forward to more from this talented author.
Lori Lansens gets beneath the skin of her main character, Wolf, and we are absolutely along for the ride. Young Wolf has had a childhood sauteed in neglect, rejection, and bottomless grief. His father, Frankie, wears his ineptness like a badge of honor. His idolized mother died when he was very young and her memories are angelic with the fragrance of lemons and wrapped simply in a flowing white dress.
Wolf is determined to climb to the top of a peak in southern California to deal with the life he has been given. But his path, literally, is crossed by three strangely unique women who will share a life-changing experience with him that he could never have predicted.
The Mountain Story engages us in the lives of these characters and digs beneath the surface to reveal the rawness that festers there. Yes, the ending seems to wrap everything up in a tidy bundle, but the ride was so well worth it. I'm sure that they are signing movie contracts even as we speak. It would make a really good movie with all the right actors in place.
I like Lori Lansens' style of writing. One of my favorite parts in the book was when Wolf and Frankie get to Aunt Kriket's deplapitated Tin Town trailor and Wolf meets all the little pantless tikes for the first time.
An enjoyable book and I'm looking forward to more from this talented author.
February 24, 2020
I have just read this over the weekend while i was house/pet sitting and had time to sit in the sunny window and get lost on the mountain with them,well for a bit.I am not a camper,hiker, rock climber but i did love this wild setting ,the mountain right in the middle of the desert. The Characters were great some calm some hysterical some accepting of their fate.cannot say too much but it was quite a harrowing climb through the mountains .
September 19, 2015
This is my first Lori Lansens book and it won't be my last. I thought this was a great story that combined coming of age, grief, getting lost on a mountain, regrets, love and the ultimate sacrifice.
January 3, 2016
I won this book from Goodreads first reads. This was a mountain top experience. Memories, ghosts and reality all mixed together in this adventurois story.
Nola, Bridget, Vonn and Wolf ride the tram to the mountain top. Plans were to spread ashes of Nola's departed husband. Plans changed. They were fighting with the elements for survival. 5 days on the mountain. Search and rescue found them except one member of the family . Great story. I highly recommend it.
Nola, Bridget, Vonn and Wolf ride the tram to the mountain top. Plans were to spread ashes of Nola's departed husband. Plans changed. They were fighting with the elements for survival. 5 days on the mountain. Search and rescue found them except one member of the family . Great story. I highly recommend it.
April 27, 2016
This book is ostensibly about 4 characters who get lost on a mountain and what they endure to survive, but there is a 5th character, and that is the mountain itself. All 5 characters come alive in this story, aptly named The Mountain Story. It is told by Wolf, as he is finally telling it to his son. There are a lot of flashbacks to his backstory, which is tragic at times, interwoven through the story of his and the Devine women's survival story on the mountain. Nola, Bridget and Vonn are 3 generations of Devine women who set out on a sentimental journey on the mountain and find themselves lost with Wolf, who is on the mountain for very unsentimental reasons. They band together, fighting against all odds to survive the elements, wild animals and their own bad luck and some stupidity to try to survive while they hope against hope that someone is looking for them. Most of their experience is very realistic to the point of being painful to read (except for one incident regarding the crevice. It just strains credibility. You'll know it when you read it. 'Nuf said.)
All the characters are fully fleshed out, including the mountain. You get to know each person very well, even though the story is completely told from Wolf's POV. The mountain and other locales are written with a perfect sense of place. You feel the inherent despair and squalor of Tin Town. You hear the howl of the wind on the mountain.
You know by reading the jacket blurb that 4 people get lost on the mountain, but 3 make it home. Throughout the book you are wondering who doesn't make it. This book was a 4 star read until I got to the last couple of chapters. Then...WOW!
I'm not going to spoil it for you, but read it for yourself.
An absolute recommend.
All the characters are fully fleshed out, including the mountain. You get to know each person very well, even though the story is completely told from Wolf's POV. The mountain and other locales are written with a perfect sense of place. You feel the inherent despair and squalor of Tin Town. You hear the howl of the wind on the mountain.
You know by reading the jacket blurb that 4 people get lost on the mountain, but 3 make it home. Throughout the book you are wondering who doesn't make it. This book was a 4 star read until I got to the last couple of chapters. Then...WOW!
I'm not going to spoil it for you, but read it for yourself.
An absolute recommend.
July 18, 2015
This book starts out a bit slow, but it really picks up in the last quarter. It's the story of Wolf, who goes up the mountain with no intention of coming back alive. It's about his best friend, Byrd, and the relationship Wolf has with his father. On the mountain, Wolf meets 3 women who are lost. Stranded together, they form a very close bond, borne of the hardest circumstances endured together.
I kept thinking what a great movie this would make! I didn't read "Wild", but saw the movie. If you liked that, you'll also want to read this.
I loved Lori Lansens' book, Rush Home Road too. She's an author I'll read more from.
I kept thinking what a great movie this would make! I didn't read "Wild", but saw the movie. If you liked that, you'll also want to read this.
I loved Lori Lansens' book, Rush Home Road too. She's an author I'll read more from.
February 6, 2017
whoa this book. who knew you were so incredibly good, lori lansens?
June 14, 2023
UPDATE: this held up as a reread! Just as rich and beautiful, if not more so. LOVED IT. (reread for my book group)
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I'd actually abandoned this at the start because I didn't think I'd care for the storytelling manner. Then I couldn't stop thinking about it. Not sure why I'd not heard of it until receiving my librarian's personal recommendation. I loved it!
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I'd actually abandoned this at the start because I didn't think I'd care for the storytelling manner. Then I couldn't stop thinking about it. Not sure why I'd not heard of it until receiving my librarian's personal recommendation. I loved it!
September 14, 2017
So this is a good page turning read, but too melodramatic and preachy for my taste. I didn't find it to be anything other than an entertaining story.
Lansens is full of emotional writing and contradictions: "You'd think that one of us would have cried or freaked out or laid blame" she says about two pages AFTER Bridget yells at Wolf for letting them get lost and Vonn defends him by noting that Bridget is the one who ran unexpectedly because of the bees. A bit later (page 106), when Wolf is telling the story of how he met Uncle Harley, he asks "Are you Uncle Harley?" and then on the next page he is surprised to note that he is talking to Harley. Both of these are sloppy and I would have expected they would have been caught by editing.
She also tries too hard with reveals. It was about page 60, after they have already gotten lost that Wolf discovers not only that the women are hiking together, but that they are related. I get that teenagers can be aloof and that Vonn might be slightly separated from her mother and grandmother, but really? They would have sat near each other or talked to each other or given some subtle body language that would indicate they were a group PRIOR TO THIS. This was just Lansen trying to surprise attack the reader. It was also rather silly that at this point (after ignoring each other for 60 pages) they start spewing a bunch of their backstory. It just didn't work for me.
I am also not a fan of crediting God with every little thing. I was not surprised that after several days without enough food and water and in stressful conditions Wolf would start hallucinating. However, the fact that he also starts praying and attributing things to God's intervention was irksome to me.
Finally, the big reveal at the end: "there was something about him being religious. That doesn't sound right, but I think there was also something he said or did. Glory Be. Glory something....Glory Always" was total bullshit. I get that it was a set up and certainly the facts align, but it was also so unnecessary and ridiculous. Vonn is a pretty level headed girl. Having a one night stand could be understood, but she doesn't seem like the type to fall under Frankie's spell given her penchant for anger at Bridget's flightiness when it comes to men. Further, the whole set up that she doesn't remember anything as a way to explain why he has never told this story to his son's mother (who turns out to be VONN) was too convenient and silly.
I guess I just felt like Lansens was trying to be tricky and spring all these surprises, but instead she just comes off as an unreliable narrator toeing the line very carefully between lying to the reader and hiding information to reveal later in very implausible ways.
Overall it was entertaining and easy. I recommended it to my 15 year old who just got back from hiking in Alaska and is slightly overwhelmed with homework and needing an easy page turner. It will probably be appreciated more by nature enthusiasts and less critical readers than I.
Lansens is full of emotional writing and contradictions: "You'd think that one of us would have cried or freaked out or laid blame" she says about two pages AFTER Bridget yells at Wolf for letting them get lost and Vonn defends him by noting that Bridget is the one who ran unexpectedly because of the bees. A bit later (page 106), when Wolf is telling the story of how he met Uncle Harley, he asks "Are you Uncle Harley?" and then on the next page he is surprised to note that he is talking to Harley. Both of these are sloppy and I would have expected they would have been caught by editing.
She also tries too hard with reveals. It was about page 60, after they have already gotten lost that Wolf discovers not only that the women are hiking together, but that they are related. I get that teenagers can be aloof and that Vonn might be slightly separated from her mother and grandmother, but really? They would have sat near each other or talked to each other or given some subtle body language that would indicate they were a group PRIOR TO THIS. This was just Lansen trying to surprise attack the reader. It was also rather silly that at this point (after ignoring each other for 60 pages) they start spewing a bunch of their backstory. It just didn't work for me.
I am also not a fan of crediting God with every little thing. I was not surprised that after several days without enough food and water and in stressful conditions Wolf would start hallucinating. However, the fact that he also starts praying and attributing things to God's intervention was irksome to me.
Finally, the big reveal at the end: "there was something about him being religious. That doesn't sound right, but I think there was also something he said or did. Glory Be. Glory something....Glory Always" was total bullshit. I get that it was a set up and certainly the facts align, but it was also so unnecessary and ridiculous. Vonn is a pretty level headed girl. Having a one night stand could be understood, but she doesn't seem like the type to fall under Frankie's spell given her penchant for anger at Bridget's flightiness when it comes to men. Further, the whole set up that she doesn't remember anything as a way to explain why he has never told this story to his son's mother (who turns out to be VONN) was too convenient and silly.
I guess I just felt like Lansens was trying to be tricky and spring all these surprises, but instead she just comes off as an unreliable narrator toeing the line very carefully between lying to the reader and hiding information to reveal later in very implausible ways.
Overall it was entertaining and easy. I recommended it to my 15 year old who just got back from hiking in Alaska and is slightly overwhelmed with homework and needing an easy page turner. It will probably be appreciated more by nature enthusiasts and less critical readers than I.
January 26, 2016
so, probably 4.5-stars. i was completely caught up in this story! i find lansens to be a beautiful writer - she takes on really tough themes, is great at weaving her storylines together, and sustains a very lyrical quality to her prose. lansens is an author i adore, and she is skilled at breaking my heart, yet filling it up again -- without teetering into the schlocky or (badly) sentimental. at its heart, a survival tale, the mountain story was harrowing at moments. but the heart and sensitivity lansens brings to her writing made for such a terrific read. against crazy odds, in life and on the mountain, survival and redemption are possible. (i am still mulling two acts within the story... not sure if they totally worked for me, though they didn't take away from things too much for me. but it's what's holding me back for a full 5-stars. after a year of fairly 'meh' reading, this book has definitely been a bright spot!!)
November 7, 2016
Love Lori Lansens and this book reminded my why! Jansens excels with description. Whether she is giving us visuals or characters she instinctively knows how to allow the reader to see, hear, smell and sense what her characters are experiencing. This is the first time I am reading her writing from the perspective of a male character, and she did so well!
This is a gripping story of a teenage boy, living with very dysfunctional family members and how he survives both his upbringing and also being stranded and lost on a mountain near Palm Springs. Both story lines are tense, but there is also so much descriptive writing that allows this book to be much more than a thriller.
As much as I loved the descriptions of place what really stood out for me where the characters and how they interacted. We sometimes only get a few words about someone, and yet those few words manage to convey the sense of a person and their whole lifetime. Really engrossing read!
This is a gripping story of a teenage boy, living with very dysfunctional family members and how he survives both his upbringing and also being stranded and lost on a mountain near Palm Springs. Both story lines are tense, but there is also so much descriptive writing that allows this book to be much more than a thriller.
As much as I loved the descriptions of place what really stood out for me where the characters and how they interacted. We sometimes only get a few words about someone, and yet those few words manage to convey the sense of a person and their whole lifetime. Really engrossing read!
May 13, 2016
The Mountain Story is a story of survival and so much more. On his 18th birthday, Wolf heads to a mountain to take his life. His plans are thwarted when he tries to help 3 women find their way to the Secret Lake and they become lost in the wilderness. The survival story is riveting, but Wolf's backstory is also riveting. I have been a huge fan of Lori Lansens since reading "The Girls" 2 years ago.
February 6, 2015
Each of Lansens' earlier novels, I have greatly enjoyed - starting in 2009 when I read The Girls. My anticipation for this latest novel is pretty high, too, considering it has been three years since the release of The Wife's Tale. On its face, this is a survival story of five days in the mountain above Palm Springs, CA. The book is framed around a letter from Wolf Truly to his son, Daniel, as he goes away to college and Wolf feels like he can finally share the true story of all that transpired when he and three strangers found themselves lost in the wilderness of the mountain. And there are plenty of details of their survival from thirst, hunger, wildlife and injuries - all set in a beautiful backdrop that perfectly combines the horror with the beauty of it all. But it is a lot more than just a survival story. It is a coming-of-age story, too, for the narrator, with plenty of flashbacks into Wolf's previous eighteen years of life. All of the characters quickly come to life and there are some scenes - like Wolf's first meeting with his best friend, Byrd, that are downright hilarious. But there is sadness, here, too and plenty of genuine emotion and beauty. It's also a lot about family and the bonds of love that both constrain us and can give us wings. This book is beautifully and tightly written. My only minor complaint is that I wish there was a bit more to the after... I just didn't want this one to end! Still, I absolutely loved reading it and sincerely hope that it won't be another three-year wait before this talented author publishes another book!
June 28, 2019
I thought this was an excellent story. It is very, very tense as five people are lost on a mountain for four days with no food and water and inadequate clothing. The book is written in the form a letter from father to son so it contains a lot of back story and explanation as the father tells the this story to his son for the first time. The author's sequencing of the story is really well done, it just doesn't slow down or let up for a minute. It is scary, fascinating, heart-wrenching, full of love and redemption. It is quiet on the mountain or it is roaring with wind. Nature is a forceful character here! The human characters are magnifique. The author is a powerhouse of a writer.
I recommend this book.
I recommend this book.
June 13, 2015
Dear Daniel,
A person has to have lived a little to appreciate a survival story. That's what I've always said, and I promised that when you were old enough, I'd tell you mine. It's no tale for a child, but you're not a child anymore. You're older now than I was when I got lost in the mountain wilderness.
Five days in the freezing cold without food or water or shelter. You know that part, and you know that I was with three strangers, and that not everyone survived. What happened up there changed my life, Danny. Hearing the story is going to change yours.
By way of prologue, The Mountain Story opens with this letter – penned by Wolf Truly to his son as he departs for college – which explains that what follows is Wolf's long withheld account of what happened up on the mountain; a story that young Danny had only vague information about; a story that even Danny's mother had never fully heard. There's genius in this opening: not only do we instantly know that not everyone survived this ordeal, but also, if learning the story is going to change Danny's life, too, just what did Wolf get up to on that mountain? The tension that this creates made for a suspenseful and enjoyable read.
The reader gets the impression that Wolf never told his son much about himself before and we quickly learn that Wolf's was not a happy childhood: a dead mother, criminal father, and an unhappy uprooting as they moved from Michigan to a trailer park in the California desert – called “Tin Town” – that sat in the shadow of an unnamed mountain. Wolf alternates between his survival story and his personal history, and both are equally compelling – just as we're eager to learn which of the strangers is going to die, we're eager to learn more about Wolf; just what brought him to hike alone on the mountain that fateful day? And we don't just wonder who dies but how: will it be a reaction to a bee sting, or will someone unwittingly walk off a cliff, or will it be the coyotes, the mountain lions, the dehydration, the cold? There is so much danger, without seeming gratuitous, that I honestly had no idea who wouldn't be making it down alive until it happened.
Author Lori Lansens writes in spare prose here, cataloguing the facts of a life in the same way that she notes the botanical and geological variety of the mountain, but even though the writing was never florid, I'm left remembering so many vivid scenes; so much emotion. And although there may be some twists towards the end, they weren't cheap tricks – everything is set up along the way. That's all I'm going to say – because any spoilers would be a shame for this story – and will end as Wolf did his letter to his son:
Remember our family motto – there will be sway.
Oh, but one small complaint: I read the edition with a yellow canteen on the front, and if it's important in the story that everyone scratched their names into the yellow enamel coating, why use a picture of a tin canteen with a yellow canvas covering? Details matter!
June 11, 2015
“Dear Daniel, A person has to have lived a little to appreciate a survival story. That’s what I’ve always said, and I promised that when you were old enough, I’d tell you mine.”
So begins the letter from a father to his son telling the story of Wolf Truly’s life and the five unforgettable days and nights he spent on the (always unnamed) Mountain.
Life had never been kind to Wolf and when it became more cruel than he thought he could bear Wolf intended to climb to Angel’s Peak at the top of the Mountain and jump. It was the day of his eighteenth birthday. Not planning on returning from his excursion he left his backpack at home leaving him with no food or water. Almost as equally unprepared were Nola, Bridget and Vonn, the Devine women – mother, daughter and granddaughter – one with a mission, one with a grudge and one with a secret. When the paths of these four people cross it begins an unfortunate series of missteps. They find themselves stranded – their only hope of making it off the Mountain alive being their wits and each other.
This story is the ultimate “you can’t get there from here”. Wolf and the ladies can always see the lights of the city below and even the local trailer park named “Tin Town” and they look so close, so achievable and so inviting. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving and not only when speaking of landscapes. The book cover states, “The trial they undergo together is thrilling and heartbreaking, funny and nail-biting and profound.” No false advertising there. It certainly is all those things.
Lori Lansens has been on my “must read author” list since Rush Home Road. Her books have never disappointed me and that carries on with “A Mountain Story”. She gives me characters whose lives are far from perfect, who question themselves and their motivations … who often stop and ask “why me?” … then they persevere placing one foot in front of the other, like we all have to do in real life. Ms. Lansens’ writing takes the readers on every painful step right along side of the characters from the gut-wrenching ride on the tram to get partially up the mountain through to the cold, hard rocks, and the hunger and thirst being endured to try and get back down.
Excellent writing! An amazing setting! A great story! Another wonderful book by Ms. Lansens.
So begins the letter from a father to his son telling the story of Wolf Truly’s life and the five unforgettable days and nights he spent on the (always unnamed) Mountain.
Life had never been kind to Wolf and when it became more cruel than he thought he could bear Wolf intended to climb to Angel’s Peak at the top of the Mountain and jump. It was the day of his eighteenth birthday. Not planning on returning from his excursion he left his backpack at home leaving him with no food or water. Almost as equally unprepared were Nola, Bridget and Vonn, the Devine women – mother, daughter and granddaughter – one with a mission, one with a grudge and one with a secret. When the paths of these four people cross it begins an unfortunate series of missteps. They find themselves stranded – their only hope of making it off the Mountain alive being their wits and each other.
This story is the ultimate “you can’t get there from here”. Wolf and the ladies can always see the lights of the city below and even the local trailer park named “Tin Town” and they look so close, so achievable and so inviting. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving and not only when speaking of landscapes. The book cover states, “The trial they undergo together is thrilling and heartbreaking, funny and nail-biting and profound.” No false advertising there. It certainly is all those things.
Lori Lansens has been on my “must read author” list since Rush Home Road. Her books have never disappointed me and that carries on with “A Mountain Story”. She gives me characters whose lives are far from perfect, who question themselves and their motivations … who often stop and ask “why me?” … then they persevere placing one foot in front of the other, like we all have to do in real life. Ms. Lansens’ writing takes the readers on every painful step right along side of the characters from the gut-wrenching ride on the tram to get partially up the mountain through to the cold, hard rocks, and the hunger and thirst being endured to try and get back down.
Excellent writing! An amazing setting! A great story! Another wonderful book by Ms. Lansens.
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