No Safe Haven

The two authors are a mother and her teenage daughter, and they borrow from reality—Kayla, the teenager, has a rare nerve disorder that prevents her from regulating body temperature or sensing pain—in presenting the action-filled tale of a mother and daughter, Jenna and Andie Tikaani-Gray (with the same disorder), whose plane is sabotaged and crashes into Sultana, the formidable neighbor of Alaska's Mt. Denali. A seriously injured Jenna and Andie must decide whether to trust the other crash survivor, Cole Maddox, in a plan to survive, and Maddox doesn't seem especially trustworthy. The story has its fascinating bits— Andie's unusual disorder, survival in the Alaskan wilderness, the native Alaskan background of the two women—as well as not very original plot elements: Maddox's weepy backstory, cartoonish villains, the sage hospital chaplain. The evangelical Christian formula of accepting-Jesus-as-your-savior helps drive the plot, which some will like and others won't. This has page-turning potential, but is too predictable and emotionally manipulative to earn a large audience. (Mar.)