Fireproof: A Maggie O'Dell Novel [Hardcover]

Alex Kava (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 10, 2012 | Series: Maggie O'Dell

New York Times bestselling author Alex Kava returns in a blaze of glory with a gripping, action-packed thriller featuring special agent Maggie O'Dell,who is leading the search for a serial arsonist whose crimes threaten Maggie dangerously close to home.

When a building bursts into flames on a cold winter night in D.C., investigators see a resemblance to a string of recent fires in the area. There is one difference, however: This one has a human casualty. The local team insists they're looking for a young white male, suffering from an uncontrollable impulse to act out his anger or sexual aggression. But when special agent Maggie O'Dell is called in, everything she sees leads her to believe that this is the work of a calculating and controlled criminal.

Jeffery Cole, a reporter looking for his big break, is also at the scene of the crime and decides to make Maggie part of his news piece, digging up aspects of her past that she would rather forget. Maggie's brother Patrick is also back in DC where he is working for a private firefighting company and is frequently called in as these fires continue to light up around the city.

As the acts of arson become more brazen, Maggie's professional and personal worlds begin to collide dangerously. The killer may be closer than she imagines.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Fireproof

"A serial arsonist is torching empty warehouses in areas of Washington, D.C...in bestseller Kava’s strong 10th Maggie O’Dell novel (after 2011’s Hotwire)...Amid a barrel full of red herrings...the suspenseful plot builds to a finale that offers an irresistible lure to Maggie’s next outing." - Publishers Weekly

Praise for Hotwire

"A sizzling plot, achingly real characters, and government officials working their backsides off to save their backsides, all strike as lethally as lightening." —Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

"The question of how such wildly disparate outrages might be connected is ingenious." —Kirkus Reviews

"The ninth in the Maggie O'Dell series is a strong entry that's just plausible enough to leave readers wondering about the line between truth and fiction." —Booklist

About the Author

ALEX KAVA is the author of ten novels, including the internationally bestselling mystery series featuring FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell. Her novels have been published in over twenty countries around the world. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and divides her time between Omaha, Nebraska, and Pensacola, Florida.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; First Edition edition (July 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385535511
• ISBN-13: 978-0385535519
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.4 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ALEX KAVA's two stand-alone novels and seven novels featuring FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell have been published in more than twenty countries, appearing on the bestseller lists in Britain, Australia, Poland, Germany, and Italy. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. Alex divides her time between Omaha, Nebraska, and Pensacola, Florida.
Photo credit Deborah Groh Carlin

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sure to keep you guessing until the end July 24, 2012

By Bookreporter

Format:Hardcover

Alex Kava has been offering the reading public well-crafted books for well over a decade, each exponentially better than its predecessor, while continuing to hone her abilities to the extent that her prose is as sharp and as tight as you are likely to encounter. Kava does not fill the page with a surplus of bells and whistles; she simply makes each and every word count, as if she is writing with a calculator on one side of her desk and THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE on the other. One page flows to the next, thanks to relatively short chapters and dialogue that never goes for too long. Her characters are always interesting, though none more so than FBI Special Agent Maggie O'Dell, a complex, flawed, troubled and ultimately sympathetic character.

FIREPROOF is Kava at her absolute best. O'Dell, still recovering from wounds sustained during the course of last year's HOTWIRE, is assigned to the investigation of a Washington, D.C. warehouse fire, which has been deliberately set and is initially thought to be the work of a pyromaniac. O'Dell sees a more calculated motive behind the blaze, particularly when a woman's body is discovered by the warehouse, and the human skull of another person is found within. The fire is quickly followed by another, and yet another, as the doer seems keen on both escalating his presence and taunting law enforcement by seemingly acting in plain view.

As the fires increase in number and severity, O'Dell finds herself under increasing pressure from above to solve the case. But her ability to function in the investigation is hampered, not only by the residual effects of her injuries but also by a news network crew that has chosen to make her the subject of a feature story, dragging her all-but-estranged mother into the mix.

At the same time, the subject matter of the investigation hits close to home for O'Dell, given that her father was a firefighter who passed away in the line of duty and that her half-brother, whose existence she learned of only recently, has chosen a similar career path to their father. Meanwhile, O'Dell is being stalked by a shadowy figure whose motives are anything but honorable and who may be connected to the series of fires, or to something equally as nefarious.

FIREPROOF stands on its own, with a beginning, middle and definite ending, but there are enough secondary plot threads and cases left hanging to provide for another book or two. Also, a bit of warning: the novel contains some graphic descriptions of the aftermath of sudden and violent death. If you do not like this type of thing or are not used to it, you may find your stomach doing a flip or a flop, particularly when you drive past a Sonic or pizza joint for a week or so. The gastric upset, though, will be more than worth your encounter with the tantalizing mystery contained therein, one that will keep you guessing (primarily between two characters) practically to the end of the book, not to mention beyond.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Fireproof October 6, 2012

By J. Upton

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Was very disappointed. Very slow. Lot of filler of nothing. You knew in the middle who the fireebug was but nobody else did! Then all if a suden he confessed and it was over. I'll never be able to get the time back I spent on this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Kava's Maggie O'Dell Series IS Fireproof! August 21, 2012

By Joshua Albritton

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Once again, Kava writes another gripping edition to the Maggie O'Dell series. From serial killers to bioterrorists to serial arsons, Kava keeps the reader on their toes to see what lies ahead for O'Dell.

Fireproof is yet another prime example of how enthralling psychological suspense novels can be. I highly recommend this book and all of Kava's other masterpieces.