Book : The Challenge A Novel - Steel, Danielle

-Titulo Original : The Challenge A Novel

-Fabricante :

Delacorte Press

-Descripcion Original:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In this thrilling novel from Danielle Steel, a small community is tested when their children go missing while exploring a dangerous local peak, forcing them to band together during the crisis. Fishtail, Montana, is home to Anne and Pitt Pollock, local royalty, high school sweethearts, and owners of the successful Pollock ranch. The sprawling foothills of the Beartooth Mountains surround the town, overlooking the Pollocks’ property and the nearby ranch belonging to Bill and Pattie Brown. The two couples have known each other since childhood. Their sons Peter Pollock and Matt Brown are also the best of friends. When they and two other local kids meet Juliet Marshall, new to town after her parents’ bitter divorce, the five of them are soon inseparable, spending their summer days swimming, horseback riding, hiking, and fishing. But one August afternoon, their latest adventure takes a dangerous turn-and quickly escalates into a battle for survival-when they find themselves trapped on Granite Peak. Fear reverberates through the town as their parents grow ever more desperate to hear word that their children have been found. They must place their own trials aside amid a massive search-and-rescue operation. As they come to lean on one another for support, a media frenzy ensues, heightening tensions and testing some already fragile relationships. In the aftermath of this one fateful event, devastating secrets are revealed, new love appears on the horizon, and families are forced to reconsider what they once held dear. In The Challenge, Danielle Steel deftly weaves a story that is a portrait of courage and a striking tale of the bonds of love and family. About the Author Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world’s bestselling authors, with almost a billion copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Beautiful, Invisible, Flying Angels, The Butler, Complications, Nine Lives, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Expect a Miracle, a book of her favorite quotations for inspiration and comfort; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the childrens books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter 1 The day after his fourteenth birthday in July, Peter Pollock still had to do all his usual morning chores on his parents’ ranch in Fishtail, Montana. Fishtail was in Stillwater County, in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains, an hour from Billings, Montana. The closest mountain to them was Granite Peak, with an elevation of 12,807 feet, the highest mountain in Montana and the most challenging to climb. The town itself was at 4,466 feet and had a population of 478 people. Peter had grown up in Fishtail and loved his life there, except for his morning chores. He was a good-looking boy, tall for his age. He looked like his father, Pitt, with straight blond hair and sky-blue eyes. His mother, Anne, was blond too, petite and fine-featured, and a stunning rider. She had won blue ribbons at all the local horse shows and rodeos in her teens. She and Pitt had been high school sweethearts since freshman year, when they were Peter’s age. They’d gone to the University of Montana together, and got married in June after they’d graduated. Peter was born in July of the following year, when his parents were twenty-three years old. They were thirty-seven now, and had always said they wanted five or six children. Anne was an only child and had wanted a big family, but she had never gotten pregnant again. They’d gone to see a specialist in Billings, and another one in Denver. The doctors they saw marveled at the fact that they’d even managed to have Peter. A defect in Anne’s fallopian tubes made it almost impossible to conceive, a