“Students,” Principal Benson said, “Although I want to first assure you that you will be safe and secure, it appears that we have an emergency on our hands.”

A tanker train has derailed on the East side of Missoula, Montana and two chlorine gas tankers are in danger of puncture. As Mr. Benson begins to describe the evacuation plan, Ami Gibb cannot accept her unrelenting misfortune. Having lost her father in a car accident four months earlier, she needed no more bad news. But the bedlam of an evacuation isn’t the bad news for Ami. The bad news is that her ten year old sister sits across town, alone and within a mile of the derailment. With their mother on vacation in Toronto, it’s up to Ami to save her sister.

When the Light Goes Out is the story of Ami’s crosstown journey to rescue her sister. What she finds is that the greatest danger doesn’t always lie within the natural disaster; it lies within the chaos of the unknown.

I love a book that gets straight into the story, and this is exactly how Shawn Bartek begins “When the light goes out”.

The derailed train carry the chlorine gas, and the evacuation of the town causes anguish in Ami as she is responsible for her sister Dana who is at home in the area of the derailment. Not only is she alone, but she is also only 10 years old! So Ami and friends embark on the rescuing of Dana which becomes a nightmare.

The author puts us in the picture and mood of the anxiety and fear that Ami and her friends felt, also the panic that swept through the town. As I read through the book, these emotions really came through.. Shawn Bartek got the reaction of how Ami, her friends and people they met along the way, behaviour off to a tee, it wasn’t normal behaviour but put in the extreme situation personalities change and survival instincts kick in, really well written.

The storyline was a good theme and overall I could imagine myself there. The teenager characters were true to life, very modern day youth.

It was an easy read and the plot unfolded well, speeding up nicely as the intensity of the plot thickened. I found I was reading to quick at one point and reread a couple of chapters to make sure I’d taken it all in.

When the Light Goes Out kept me reading and guessing, I didn’t predict how the story would end. The gentle romance that was budding through the book was an added bonus.

The books was really enjoyable and would definitely recommend this book.

Shawn Bartek was born a poor pseudonym and grew up on the mean streets of Missoula, Montana. When not giving back to the community by handing out free turkeys on Thanksgiving, he spends his time mentoring those who suffer from affluenza. He likes long walks off the beach, and likes his whiskey literally on rocks.

All fiction aside, Shawn has a sincere creative impulse to tell stories that entertain and emotionally move fellow human beings. When the Light Goes Out is his first novel.