Deer running through a ghost neighborhood. A boy trapped in a basement for eight years. Three young people locked in a violent sex triangle. Come inside. Already caught between the ambition and alienation of life at an Ivy League school, Jon Danfield must come face to face with a revelation about his small-town past. His journey will take him away from the halls of privilege and into the heart of the monstrous forest fire threatening his childhood home. On deserted suburban streets lined with perfect houses, Danfield must confront an American dream corroded by unspeakable acts of cruelty.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Fires is a striking work reminiscent of James Salter (A Sport and a Pastime) in its combination of a cool unforgiving eye and a hot intensity of feeling and sensual immediacy. --John Crowley, author of Little, Big
Fires is fantastic. It s often dark, often startlingly beautiful, and it s crammed with a smoky, foreboding atmosphere that kept pulling me along, thrilled and a little scared, toward the end. --Scott Heim, author of Mysterious Skin and the forthcoming We Disappear
Fires is a novel full of creeping menace and near-apocalyptic lunacy . . . the book is a blast to read. --Victor LaValle, author of The Ecstatic
Fires is fantastic. It s often dark, often startlingly beautiful, and it s crammed with a smoky, foreboding atmosphere that kept pulling me along, thrilled and a little scared, toward the end. --Scott Heim, author of Mysterious Skin and the forthcoming We Disappear
Fires is a novel full of creeping menace and near-apocalyptic lunacy . . . the book is a blast to read. --Victor LaValle, author of The Ecstatic
About the Author
Nick Antosca lives, works, and writes on the east coast of the United States of America. He was born in the state of Louisiana
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
See what's behind the mask,
This review is from: Fires (Paperback)
Nick Antosca has created a compelling, oftentimes brilliant look at humanity--its suffering, its cruelty, its love, and its healing. The other reviews point out that this is a "good debut," but that's dismissive; it's just plain good, and sometimes frighteningly so. That this is a first novel just inspires awe at a new writer's prowess.
The novel is short, yes, but it lingers long after it's been read and set aside. That kabuki mask on the cover keeps staring at you, reminding you of where you've been and what it meant. Structurally, Fires unfolds like a boxing match against a seasoned pro who initially toys with you, throwing light jabs here and there to tease and play, but who gradually starts battering the bones with increasingly brutal and merciless blows until he finally has you against the ropes, and you're just hoping that some shred of humanity remains behind those lead-smelted fists. The images, the metaphors, and all the elements of the novel's language become increasingly feverish and passionate towards the end, as if exacting some revenge you never expected or thought you warranted--not at all unlike what happens in the actual plot. And the plot, you will see, contains a startling relevance to recent events in the news, as if the author possessed amazing prescience to unleash his work on the public at exactly the right time. Questions that this country has been puzzling over for weeks are addressed with cogency in Fires. This is the first, I hope, of many novels by this exciting new author. I'm eagerly awaiting the rest.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous debut novel,
This review is from: Fires (Paperback)
Nick Antosca has a precociously forceful voice, a magnetic narrative sense, and a sharp eye for telling detail ("A little boy's cap lies flat in the sand, as if he's down there too"). This is a spark plug of a book; a thoroughly enjoyable novel from a talented young writer.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
more like two and a half,
By Bella (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fires (Paperback)
A plot so threadbare even the Salvation Army wouldn't take it. A master weaving of innuendo, depressing sex, and an emphysema patient's worth of cigarettes, the novel is more style than substance. But what style! Worth the very small amount of emotional and temporal investment required.
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