Frightening story about skier trapped in historic snow storm

Thunder Snow is a harrowing story that will keep you reading to find out if 28-year-old Brandon Chase lives or dies.

This is Monmouth resident Thomas Torrington’s third novel, and it is a terrific tale. Chase snowshoes up the back side of Saddleback Mountain to tent out and ski down one of the trails the next day. Saddleback has been closed for years so no one else was there.

And Chase was shocked by the historic snowstorm which hit him before he got to the top of the mountain. He managed to get his tent up and by the next day it was totally covered in snow. He had to cut his way out of the tent and he lost his skis.

And then the story goes from bad to worse. Chase is severely injured and, what’s worse, no one knows where he is. He told his girlfriend that he was going to have this adventure on a mountain but he didn’t tell her which mountain. The initial search for Chase focused on Sugarloaf and not Saddleback.

I don’t want to give away the ending but I can tell you that Torrington’s characters are very real and he’s exceptionally good at writing dialogue. From Chase’s girlfriend to the lady who delivers weather reports on TV 6, this book moves you very quickly forward.

I had to hustle to finish it on Friday night before our son, daughter-in-law, and two young granddaughters arrived for the weekend. I knew the granddaughters would keep me busy and I had to know how the book ended before they arrived. Luckily I did.

I guarantee you will enjoy this book. And you will race through it, as I did.

You can learn more at www.thomasjtorrington.com.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.