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Drop Out
Nathan Cruz enjoyed the perfect life until the morning of September 11th 2001. Barely surviving the twin towers collapse he loses everyone he loves in the disaster. Devastated, he flees from human contact to live in isolation aboard a houseboat in the Florida Keys. Years pass, but his crushing grief does not diminish with time.
Forced to the mainland by a category 4 hurricane he unwittingly seeks shelter in the home of Miriam Kanter, a young woman with terminal cancer who has come to the islands to die. Miriam’s unwavering enthusiasm for life changes everything Nathan ever thought about the meaning and what may lie beyond. She gives Nathan the answers he needs to mend the fractures of his shattered world and heal wounds cut deep into his soul. With the clock ticking toward the end of Miriam’s life, Nathan never figured the perils he would face knowing the most horrible knowledge one can know.
Read what Kindle Nation Daily called “the sleeper hit of the year” what Kindle Fire Department called, “riveting, touching, and deeply heartwarming, a book that will stay with you forever”.
Forced to the mainland by a category 4 hurricane he unwittingly seeks shelter in the home of Miriam Kanter, a young woman with terminal cancer who has come to the islands to die. Miriam’s unwavering enthusiasm for life changes everything Nathan ever thought about the meaning and what may lie beyond. She gives Nathan the answers he needs to mend the fractures of his shattered world and heal wounds cut deep into his soul. With the clock ticking toward the end of Miriam’s life, Nathan never figured the perils he would face knowing the most horrible knowledge one can know.
Read what Kindle Nation Daily called “the sleeper hit of the year” what Kindle Fire Department called, “riveting, touching, and deeply heartwarming, a book that will stay with you forever”.
- GenresEbooks
110 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 3, 2011
20 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Neil D. Ostroff
13 books69 followersRaised in a rural town outside of Philadelphia, Neil D. Ostroff has been a published author of dark, noir thrillers, romance thrillers, and middle grade sci/fi and paranormal novels for more than twenty years. He is an avid poker player when not working on his novels. Neil also enjoys fishing, hiking, and all things outdoors. He's been interviewed in such publications as PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE, THE PHILADELPHIA INTELLIGENCER, TIMES PUBLISHING, and THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.
To read more about him and his books, please check out his blog: ALWAYS WRITING
http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com
To read more about him and his books, please check out his blog: ALWAYS WRITING
http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 7, 2011
I enjoyed this very much. How fitting to read it this week - the week of 9/11. It was hard to put down - following Nathan through the collapse of the Twin Towers and then more adventures in the Florida Keys. It will certainly put your own problems in perspective.
March 16, 2013
Wonderfully descriptive book, full of emotion and genuine feeling. Explained the true horrors of 9/11 and its aftermath for one individual with startling clarity. I came out of it feeling renewed!
August 14, 2014
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book draws the reader in from the very first page. It’s September 11, 2001 and Nathan Cruz is on an elevator in Tower #1 on his way to meet with his pregnant fiancée and their families for a celebratory breakfast. When the building shakes and the elevator stops and begins filling with smoke, the passengers know they must get out. They do, but unfortunately for Nathan, there’s no way up to his loved ones and he is forced to evacuate the building, giving aid to all he can on the way. When the building collapses, Nathan loses everyone he holds dear. He survives and is deemed a hero, but suffers severe scars physically and psychologically. Cut to ten years later. Nathan now lives the life of a hermit on his boat in the Florida Keys. When he once again loses everything he has, he meets an extraordinary young woman who will change his life forever. Their short, but emotionally moving and tender relationship, reminds the reader of how precious our lives are and that in the limited time we have, we need to live every moment to the fullest. I enjoyed this story very much and it was a wonderful reminder to never waste a day on what might have been.
August 19, 2013
Wow! My literature professors always said that a novel is praiseworthy if it inspires in the reader strong emotions, and Neil Ostroff's Drop Out certainly does that. I was, in turn, scared, horrified, revolted, depressed and warmed by this graphically depicted novel of disaster, tragedy, death and rebirth. Drop Out opens with haunting, pictorial scenes from the World Trade Center bombing where our hero barely escapes the horrors of inexpressible gore and death, loses all his friends and family, and is left not only jaded and guilt-ridden but unrecognizably disfigured to resume his lonely life. He subsequently battles a vividly and realistically portrayed hurricane off the coast of Key West to meet a dying woman, whose innovating love and spirit reminds him that happiness isn't only for the beautiful or carefree, and ultimately cures his irremediable depression. In this alarming novel, I confronted fear, revulsion, depression, loneliness, and mortality right along with the hero.
Elly Michaels
Author: For Love of a Cause
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DX6IV0E
Elly Michaels
Author: For Love of a Cause
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DX6IV0E
August 26, 2014
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This book touched me in so many ways and on so many levels. It makes you feel, and to me that is exactly what a book should do. The story flowed well and the two main characters were very well developed for a novella. It captured me from the first page and made me cry several times. You will need a box of tissues. It deals with so many issues, loss, love, compassion and faith. We all need to have faith in something, don't we? Having recently lost my Dad, I really needed this book. It came to me at the perfect time, perhaps it was supposed to happen that way, you know. A gift from someone special. This book is a gift to read and experience. If this book doesn't make you feel, well, I guess I will pray for you. An amazing story! I can't wait for his new release that is coming out at the end of the year. BELIEVE!! What a gifted storyteller! Amazing! Thank you
August 21, 2014
A captivating and jaw dropping story. The author effortlessly invokes intense feelings and emotions dealing with deep and very touchy issues. There are powerful revelations about life and love. A truly inspiring piece!
June 28, 2013
This was a good read. Gave me a better understanding of 9/11 and the impact on this survivor. Incredible! I agree with Linda (below) - it puts any of my perceived problems into perspective.
January 13, 2014
Free book for free review
Nathan 36 years old survives 9/11 while losing his entire family including his fiancée (who was 3 & 1/2 months pregnant with his son. He "drops out" of life and flees to the Florida Keys where he survives through yet another near death experience (in the form of a hurricane) and is taken in by a 27 year old woman named Miriam who is dying of pancreatic cancer (with many of her own skeletons in the closet) and is trying to get every last second of her life lived to the fullest she can. There lives connect. Him giving her a wonderful ending and she giving him a new beginning. Each of them helping each other heal and move on to the next phase of there lives.
What I loved about this story was you read so many things now about 9/11 but nothing transported me there like this book did. I felt as though I was there with Nathan fighting to survive. It was just so powerful. I cried from beginning to end. A definite must read!
Adriana D'Apolito
Nathan 36 years old survives 9/11 while losing his entire family including his fiancée (who was 3 & 1/2 months pregnant with his son. He "drops out" of life and flees to the Florida Keys where he survives through yet another near death experience (in the form of a hurricane) and is taken in by a 27 year old woman named Miriam who is dying of pancreatic cancer (with many of her own skeletons in the closet) and is trying to get every last second of her life lived to the fullest she can. There lives connect. Him giving her a wonderful ending and she giving him a new beginning. Each of them helping each other heal and move on to the next phase of there lives.
What I loved about this story was you read so many things now about 9/11 but nothing transported me there like this book did. I felt as though I was there with Nathan fighting to survive. It was just so powerful. I cried from beginning to end. A definite must read!
Adriana D'Apolito
July 26, 2015
This is an excellent story of a man who was a survivor from 9/11. His journey of coming to terms with survivor's guilt, losing his family that day. He was able after many years of grief to meet someone who was able to help him to move on. The story is very authentic and believable. The setting is also realistic and riveting. For those of us who watched these events play out on TV and documentaries, it is very eye opening and gives a realization to the human side of the immense loss of life and how it changed so many people.
April 19, 2016
A gripping storyline that captured me immediately with memories of the horrors of 9/11. Some great writing, vivid word pictures and a satisfying storyline. The only thing that needs correcting is the name of the hurricane. I lived through Hurricane Charlie in 2004 and Francis and Jeanne as well; the hurricane in this book is supposed to happen in 2011 and is named Hurricane Charles. There was no such hurricane that year - easily found online that it was Hurricane Cindy. Apart from that one factual error, this is a terrific book. I look forward to reading more by this author.
January 16, 2016
I was captivated by this book and read it in just a few sittings. With excellent character development and carefully crafted pacing, Ostroff tells a poignant yet heartwarming story with scenes so well constructed that you will feel like you are there. Get ready to engage in a compelling journey with Nathan Cruz on his discovery of the meaning of life.
April 2, 2017
Excellent and heart breaking!!
This was quite an earth shaking story. The writer is terrific. The characters were so well drawn that I felt like I knew them. The spirituality was beyond the beyond. So worth reading.
This was quite an earth shaking story. The writer is terrific. The characters were so well drawn that I felt like I knew them. The spirituality was beyond the beyond. So worth reading.
June 25, 2017
I've had this book on my tablet forever. I don't even remember how I came to have it, except a vague notion I bought it at some online event.
I'm not going to rehash the plot points, only say that while the author had a great grasp of telling action sequences in a way that catches the reader up, the same can't be said for the plot as a whole.
I worried for a while whether Nathan was ever going to come out of his funk and do something productive with his life, or if he was going to whine it all away. Yes, his story was heartbreaking, but I want to read about people who get over it.
The way he finally came around was interesting, though, and not what I might have expected. It made me up my rating to 3 stars from 2. It might have even climbed up to 4 stars except for the sex scene.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not opposed to sex in a book, but I thought the book could have been just as strong, or stronger, without the sex scene. It felt rather contrived, and rather disturbing that a) the character would "go there" and b) that the author would.
For me, it left a sour taste in my mouth.
I did finish Drop Out, unlike the last two books I tried reading from the depths of my Google library, so that's saying something. Would I recommend it? Well, if tragedy and overcoming it interest you, you'll find Drop Out a nice way to burn some time.
I'm not going to rehash the plot points, only say that while the author had a great grasp of telling action sequences in a way that catches the reader up, the same can't be said for the plot as a whole.
I worried for a while whether Nathan was ever going to come out of his funk and do something productive with his life, or if he was going to whine it all away. Yes, his story was heartbreaking, but I want to read about people who get over it.
The way he finally came around was interesting, though, and not what I might have expected. It made me up my rating to 3 stars from 2. It might have even climbed up to 4 stars except for the sex scene.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not opposed to sex in a book, but I thought the book could have been just as strong, or stronger, without the sex scene. It felt rather contrived, and rather disturbing that a) the character would "go there" and b) that the author would.
For me, it left a sour taste in my mouth.
I did finish Drop Out, unlike the last two books I tried reading from the depths of my Google library, so that's saying something. Would I recommend it? Well, if tragedy and overcoming it interest you, you'll find Drop Out a nice way to burn some time.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews