On the Precipice

I've had the pleasure of reading a few books by Reardon and "On the Precipice" is one of their best. While this is the third in a series following Nathan Bartlett, the reader is quickly clued into any major events from the previous books that may inform the story. This can work as a standalone novel. Nathan is taking a year to get some work experience and apply to graduate schools. This takes him to a tiny town that is home to Drew Madden, the center of a lot of town gossip for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he is in a wheelchair after a hiking incident. The two men are broken in very different ways and challenge the other to do better when it comes to how they handle their emotions. It's clear Reardon has done quite a bit of research about disability throughout the novel. This is admirable and informative, particularly since it does look at the challenges and realities of what it is like to be a person with a disability and the partner of someone who is disabled.

Two men meet. Fall in love. Work out a few snags and live happily ever after.
Except it’s not that simple. On the precipice goes far beyond a few snags. It is rich in its depth of personal growth and psychological understanding as each man comes to grips with their own past traumas before being able to move on together.
Nathan, freshly minted psychology degree in hand, takes a gap year to research graduate schools and ends up near Bar Harbor Maine working for an addictions treatment center close to Acadia National Park. Two of the loves in his life are hiking mountains and wanting to work someday as an addictions counselor. He wants a third love, another man to share his life with, but is he ready if he meets someone?
After a spinal cord injury incurred while saving a child’s life on a precipitous mountain trail, Drew now uses a wheelchair. He has several chairs to meet his needs for convenience, adventure and speed. Except, no chair can work on the steep narrow trails he so loved to hike and climb before his accident.
Mentoring a teenage addict, Nathan realizes the advice and help he is providing also applies to himself. He is forced to go deeper into how the losses in his life have affected him and any potential relationship. Likewise, Drew, who remade himself as an active, independent paraplegic, must come to grips with some of his remaining issues before he can enter into a meaningful bond.
Author Robin Reardon pens an excellent, thought provoking novel, with depth and understanding, not only of human nature, but also addictions. She made the book even more realistic by involving wheelchair user, Stevie M. Jonak, as a consultant. Stevie writes the forward. Though this is the third book in the series involving Nathan, I read it first. I can’t wait to go back and read the first two. Outstanding. Deep. Thoughtful. Realistic.