Customer Reviews

Chasing Fire

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

Well - I remember last year when Nora Robert's The Search came out there were several reviews complaining that it was an overly long dog training manual. At the time I thought it was kind of harsh because I LOVED the dogs and the descriptions of dog interaction.

This book, in a similar vein, is obviously heavily researched, this time in the topic of "Smoke Jumping." Much like The Search, there is a huge amount of information dump on the reader concerning the professional career of the main female character. The training, the equipment, fire after fire in various locations where they do things like stamp out spots and fight the head. I don't know about everybody else, but for me it made the book overly long and in parts tedious. For me the difference between this book and The Search is I like dogs. The subject matter here didn't interest me nearly as much. There were many points were I was just like "Yeah, Yeah jump out of the plane, more burning trees" click click click on the eReader next page button trying to get past it. Once, I almost missed a near death experience because of it.

The good part. I really liked both the main characters in this novel, in spite of their really odd names. Rowan is smart, independent and strong and she isn't afraid to be in charge. Gull is tough, intelligent, well read and between the two there is a banter of word play that is quite amusing to read. I wish that would could have had about 50% less forest fire education and much more relationship between the two because they were just the type of characters that you like to read. There is also a nice secondary romance in the book between Rowan's father and a local school Principal.

Since this is Nora Robert's annual "Suspense" novel there is a murder mystery involved in the story with the attendant danger not only to Rowan, but also to all of her co-workers. I felt that the resolution of mystery was fairly mundane given that nearly every other potential suspect was eliminated throughout the book by various characters standing around saying: "Wow! I really don't think he/she could have done that because ......."

So overall, more than a little draggy in places but certainly worth the time spent reading.

It seems like we have another Kindle Price controversy brewing so I'll just add my 2cents. Kindle.Price.Way.Too.High.

Rowan Tripp loves being a smoke jumper and fighting fire with her fellow jumpers. But this year things are different. Last season her jump partner died in a fire and his death is not so easy to deal with. And then there's Gull Curry, a rookie smoke jumper, who seems to be seriously interested in Rowan. Normally she doesn't mix work and play but Gull is not that easy to discourage and pretty tempting. When a murder happens and Rowan is in danger, she realizes that maybe leaning on Gull and letting him into her life might be not such a bad idea.
Will Rowan and Gull's relationship make it through the fire season and will they be able to stop the murderer before he kills one of them?


When I get a new book by Nora Roberts I always feel a bit like a kid in a candy store. She is my favourite author and once again created an amazing novel. "Chasing Fire" is about a group of smoke jumpers and after reading the book I think that what they do is amazingly brave and absolutly crazy.

At first I needed some pages to get into the language used between the smoke jumpers because it's a bit different from Nora Robert's usual style (there's a lot of ribbing and the tone between the jumpers is casual and blunt). But after the first ten pages I appreciated the way the book is written because I felt that it fit to the smoke jumpers and the constant danger they are in.

I loved reading about the main characters Rowan and Gull. Rowan is strong woman, she is hard but also fair. She is a good trainer and team leader. I loved the scenes in which she trained the new smoke jumpers. The way she supported them and joked with them was admirable.
Gull is a hero after my own heart. He's intelligent, interested in a lot of different things and seems to live his life exactly the way he wants to. Together he and Rowan make a wonderful pair. Their banters were very entertaining and I loved the scenes in which Rowan let him into her heart.
I also liked that there is a second, smaller love story between Rowan's father and a woman he meets. Their relationship is so sweet and shows that you are never too old to find love.

Besides the two main characters I especially loved reading about the camaraderie of the smoke jumpers and about their missions. The smoke jumpers are like a small family, they love to rib each other and there are a lot of funny scenes between them. To read about them fighting the fire was thrilling and made this book a fast read. I was always interested in reading about their operations and I was impressed that with every jump into the flames they risked their lifes.

The suspense part of the book fits to the fire theme. The first murder is like a spark that sets the murderer on fire and makes him unpredictable and dangerous for everyone. I had a suspicion about who the killer might but was never sure about it.

covers
I like both the UK and US cover, they fit to the fire theme and look interesting.

final appraisal
"Chasing Fire" has everything a great romantic suspence novel needs. The story is thrilling and fascinating, there are two wonderful love stories in the book, the camaraderie between the smoke jumpers is amazing and their fight against the fire is breathtaking.

Amazon, I have 3 Kindles in my family. One of the reasons I bought the Kindle was for the convenience. The other, the price of the books. I'm on notice right now that I WILL NOT EVER PAY $15 for an ebook. You just lost a sale. I, too, will go to the library and pick up the book and in the sweet by-and-by, when the price goes down to where it should be for an ebook, I'll pay the $7.99 for it. I'm sure this is a great book. I love Nora Roberts. But no author is worth $15 for an ebook. My 2 cents' worth.

Lately Nora Roberts' hardcovers have been total misses, and Chasing Fire is no exception. This book was all about smoke jumpers in Montana. Though I have respect for the brave men and women who do this, I learned more about putting out fires than I ever wanted to know. The storyline, plot, murders were also very predictable and unsuspenseful. I guessed "who done it" way before I should have been able to. The worst part of this book however, was the relationship between the two main characters Gull and Rowan. Their was absolutely no chemistry between the two and the book failed to even develop a moderately realistic relationship. Also, I was not crazy about Rowan's character or any of the secondary characters in this book. Usually my favorite part of reading Nora's books is the depth she puts into her characters, but this book did not show that talent off. Furthermore, what the hell was up with all of these crazy names? Gulliver? Dobbie? Yangtree? L.B? I mean honestly. In conclusion, Chasing Fire was a total let down and I sincerely hope that Nora gets her act together regarding these hardcovers. Not worth the time spent reading. However, if you are new to Nora Roberts do not let this book put you off all of her other wonderful novels. Check out a few others and you will see what I mean.

Nora is my favorite romance author, but this one just didn't do anything at all for me.

The heroine, Rowan, was all casual bravado, fierce temper, and super-physical-perfection without having any sympathetic qualities to her at all. Whether she was puffing on a cigar, drinking the entire flight crew under the table, or kicking the crap out of an offensive bar patron (all the while, we are told, smelling like peaches and sunshine rather than stale cigars and tequila), I found her thoroughly annoying rather than strong and capable which I have to believe is what the author was going for.

The hero, Gull, was the usual charming, equality-minded, sexy, deeply caring hero Roberts writes so well.

The subject matter -- fire-jumping -- was obviously researched thoroughly and then used to bludgeon the reader into a coma between romance plot developments. There was some small relief from a romance between Rowan's father and a local woman, but beyond that the firefighting descriptions just took over and obliterated everything else. Add to this unbalanced mix a murder mystery with a bad guy I saw coming from about page 10, and things just weren't working well at all.

Roberts evidently researched fire-jumping to the nth degree and then put everything she ever noted down into the book. But when that subject matter has the reader skipping over entire pages, multiple times, to get back to the boy-meets-girl and who's-the-murderer? storyline (because this is supposed to be a romance novel, right?) something is way out of whack.

I know she can do so much better. Two stars.

I have become quite disappointed in Nora Roberts lately. This novel, like the Search, just had too much technical information- I found myself skipping chunks of pages. I have been a Nora Roberts fan for quite a while and now I feel that she is losing her touch in writing the suspenseful novels that used to hook me from the get-go. The identity of the bad guy was clear from the very first and there was no buildup or suspense.
These book had all the characters similar to a previous novel, Birthright, but that was WAY better.
I feel like she's rehashing the same characters and instead of plots, we have technical manuals.

Her last book, The Search, was all about dog training, this is all about fire jumping. The details and fire jumping scenes were excruciating. Many scenes should have been cut. The book is too long. The murder mystery doesn't begin until page 206. (I struggled to get there) Although Roberts gives us many suspects, I guessed who the killer was early on. Not good. I didn't like Rowan at all. She was just one of the guys except for that peach smelling body wash. The only reason I liked her was the line on page 309 "Nothing's better than a Coke first thing in the morning..." I completely agree! The side story about Rowan's dad falling in love is not relevant and it added nothing to the story. It would have been better if Rowan struggled more with it. A secondary love story among the other fire jumpers would have been great. Since every character was a suspect, it could have created more tension, drama and mystery. Roberts just didn't go there. So much of the book was boring to me. Rowan's love interest, Gull (Gulliver), works at an arcade during the off season. An arcade? Really? I was scratching my head with that one. Not appealing for a romance novel. He should have been a cop or doctor during the off season.

The only really good part was the ending! Roberts last book had a lackluster conclusion; the conclusion of this book was very exciting and a little sad. Of course, the endings are always happy.

I felt like I was in Firefighting 101. Much too long, boring, tough to get through. I think I should have given it up after the first 30 pages. I am not sure what Nora Roberts did to spin this tale out for almost 500 pages. I may not waste my time with her books again.

I usually enjoy reading Nora Roberts - it is brain candy for me. However, this book was way too dry. I know a lot more about smoke jumpers than I care to know about. While I do enjoy the fact that I learn something from all her books, this one had way too much detail for a romance novel. The fire scenes are WAAAAAY too long! Also, I could not relate to Rowan at all. Usually there is something about the lead female character that I can relate to - this one - not so much. I thought she was crass and not at all appealing. There just wasn't enough about Gull and Rowan's relationship. Also, like another reviewer said, not much about Gull at all! I found Lucas' relationship more interesting than Rowan's! Oh well - not worth the wait. If you are still waiting, don't rush out and pay premium price for this book.

This was my first ebook purchase for my new Kindle. I chose Chasing Fire because Nora Roberts is typically a good read and I enjoy reading stories about smoke jumpers. At Kindle ebook prices (especially this one), I can't afford to purchase a dud.

I thought the story was kind of ho-hum. The book appeared to be well researched, as others have said, but there wasn't anything new or any events regarding the fires or the work the smoke jumpers were doing that really held my interest. As time went on, I actually found myself skimming over these portions of the story. There wasn't anything so suspenseful that I couldn't stop reading. The relationships seemed typical for her work and were more interesting to me than the rest of it. As far as smoke jumping goes, I enjoyed the book by Nicholas Evans on this subject much, much more.

I have read many Nora Roberts books more than once. This title, however, won't be one of those. I have also learned that, for me, buying ebook fiction for my Kindle will probably not be happening very often because it's too expensive and kind of wasteful. I can see that the Kindle might be useful for traveling or when it's 2 AM and I'm desperate for a book and nothing's open. The convenience factor might then make up for the cost. I don't like that I can't share this book or trade it in at the used bookstore or do anything with it at all since I don't plan on reading it again. Just because I didn't like the book doesn't mean that someone else won't enjoy it.