The Fourth Angel [Paperback]

Suzanne Chazin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 29, 2002

This highly acclaimed debut novel introduces readers to Georgia Skeehan, New York City Fire Department marshal. Her mission: stop a brilliant serial arsonist before he ignites Manhattan in a cataclysm of flames.

"A red hot debut." (USA Today)

"Will do for firefighting what Patricia Cornwell did for forensic science." (Lee Child, bestselling author of Echo Burning.)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Suzanne Chazin's harrowing thriller follows rookie fire marshal Georgia Skeehan's efforts to solve a series of baffling high temperature fires that look to her like the work of a serial arsonist. The blazes have already incinerated more than 60 victims and threaten to claim the careers of many of Georgia's colleagues.

Still suffering guilt over her failure to save her partner in an earlier fire, Georgia knows she won't win any popularity contests when she's promoted over more senior members of the department and put in charge of the investigation. There are plenty of reasons for their resentment. Not only is she a woman in a milieu that's still determinedly masculine, but she's also too dedicated to the department's mission to comply with the code of silence that's concealed the fact that these seemingly unrelated fires are not only connected but may have been started by someone inside the NYFD. It takes a long time for Skeehan to trace the relationship between the self-styled Fourth Angel--the madman who announces his intentions in letters rife with biblical allusions--and the real perpetrator of the arsons. Before she gets to the bottom of things the reader is drawn into the backroom politics of the department, the unimaginable bravery as well as the locker room bravado of its members, and the technical details of how to reduce a skyscraper to ashes with ingredients almost anyone can assemble.

The wife of a NYFD firefighter, Chazin's access to the firehouse culture and firefighting technique gives this well-written story its verisimilitude. Her skills at character development make Georgia a complex heroine who can carry the series her creator expects to build on this debut. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

First-time novelist Chazin dramatizes her husband's real-life firefighting vocation in what Putnam is eagerly touting as a new series, with the adage, "He fights them, she writes them." At the start of this straightforward first thriller, fire marshal and single mom Georgia Skeehan is shanghaied onto the fire commissioner's special task force to investigate a string of suspicious, superhot fires so destructive they can melt steel and fuse concrete into glass. Thrown headlong into the cutthroat world of New York Fire Department politics, Skeehan (the lone female firefighter in the department) spunkily stands up to her sneering male colleagues and gives them something to chew on when she unearths evidence of a coverup connected to the fires within the department. Unassisted by her kvetching, retirement-age partner, she networks with contacts within the firefighting community, from Jimmy Gallagher, the strapping smoke-eater whom her live-in mother is dating, to Walter Frankel, a wheelchair-bound forensics expert. Is the arsonist really an FDNY employee, or is a slick, philanthropic real estate millionaire involved? Skeehan's worst fears are confirmed when a blaze engulfs a building next to a firehouse while all its firefighters are getting sloshed at a keg party off-premises. Her contacts begin turning up dead, and she herself becomes a target. Chazin's depiction of the rough Irish-Italian world of the FDNY is informative, and her descriptions of a superhot fire's potential for destruction in crowded New York City are frighteningly vivid. Her gradual revelation of a harrowing event in Georgia's past is convincing and makes up for more shallow portraits of supporting characters. With time and seasoning, Skeehan could prove to be a refreshing new face in the growing legion of female investigators. Agent, Matt Bialer.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Jove (January 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515132497
• ISBN-13: 978-0515132496
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,676,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sizzling!, March 20, 2001

By 

"launge" (New York, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fourth Angel (Hardcover)

Suzanne Chazin's new suspense novel "The Fourth Angel" is the best page turner I've read in quite a while. As a busy mom, I usually reserve reading for evenings after the kids are tucked in. But I toted "The Fourth Angel" around with me for the three days it took me to finish it, sneaking in a few pages every chance I had.

The best part of the novel for me, is the endless twists and turns of the plot. Just when I thought I 'd "figured it out," another surprise popped up. The scientific and technological detail woven into the book makes the journey all the more riveting and real. For those of us not connected to the world of fires and firefighters, it is a revealing and frightening peak into a dangerous world.

In addition to the great fire adventure are some terrific characters. Georgia Skeehan, fire marshal, is not an instantly loveable heroine, but rather a person that grows on you as you get to know her. Her relationships with the rest of her department are not static, but develop in interesting, unpredictable ways. The flames in a budding romance are almost as hot as the fires she investigates.

Chazin's characters, her knowledge of the job and her New York City settings all make for a brilliant and thrilling climax to a novel that is bound to satisfy!

I highly reccommend this book and look forward to the next in what deserves to be a long series of suspense novels.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A phenomenal new heroine and a riveting story line, February 15, 2001

By 

K. vK Bomben "Kristin von Kreisler" (Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fourth Angel (Hardcover)

Here's one I'm glad I didn't miss. It's got everything a good thriller should have: picturesque writing, sharp-edged dialogue, a riveting plot that kept me guessing, a gritty, accurate sense of place, and most of all, a character I truly cared about.

A Manhattan loft burns to the ground in only 20 minutes, 50 people are dead, and Georgia Skeehan, an investigator with the New York City Fire Department, finds herself unwittingly thrust into the center of one of the biggest arson investigations in New York City history. She's an underdog in every sense of the word: a rookie, a woman in a macho job where men hold all the power, a single mother, and a former firefighter plagued by self-doubt. Danger lurks around every corner: Are the fires the work of a serial arsonist? And if so, why is her own department undermining her at every turn? Great forensic detail and intelligent twists make the story a page-turner, the supporting cast is rich, and Georgia makes such a dynamic and empathetic heroine, you want to savor every scene.

I couldn't put this book down, and I didn't want to finish it. That says it all.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red-Hot Debut!, March 11, 2001

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fourth Angel (Hardcover)

The Fourth Angel's first chapter is so riveting and compelling, that once you start reading this terrific new thriller, you won't be able to put it down. Rookie fire marshall, Georgia Skeehan, is put on the task force to solve an inferno that leveled a New York City skyscraper in minutes, killing fifty-four people. With unprecedented temperatures of almost 3000 degrees, nobody had a chance to escape and those caught in the building practically melted to death. Because she's a rookie and a woman, the task force basically ignores her, giving Georgia grunt work to keep her out of their way. But when she stumbles over clues that link this fire with several others and letters that prove this may be the work of a serial arsonist, the task force begins to take her more seriously and show her some respect. As evidence and bizarre details mount and point to unlikely suspects, the task force is unsure who to trust and Georgia and her team race against the clock to find the answers before the promised final catastrophe..... Suzanne Chazin has written a spectacular debut mystery/thriller that has it all...a tight, suspenseful plot, smart, tense writing, vivid scenes that come alive on the page and memorable, well-drawn characters. It is obvious that Ms Chazin has done her homework on the world of firefighting and this indepth knowledge really adds credibility to the story. This is the first of what should be a terrific series with a great heroine. The Fourth Angel is a winner and a book mystery/thriller fans shouldn't miss.