11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An exciting story, February 2, 2007
This review is from: Inferno (Mass Market Paperback)
I possibly can't find the right words to explain the thrill of this story. It's exciting, keeps you sitting on the edge of your seat, makes you lose sleep trying to find a place to stop for the night and has all the elements of a great, fun story. And there's even the expected romance which comes as no surprise from their first meeting. It was just plain exciting and entertaining. I loved the description of the area of Montana------it sounds so breathtakingly beautiful. Remote and yet a community of great friends banding together making it feel like a safe haven to live. However, if there's a fire----not so sure of the safety anymore. A page turner 'till the end. I highly recommend this book.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Scary and exciting thriller; some research issues, February 13, 2008
This review is from: Inferno (Mass Market Paperback)
If there is one thing that really scares me, it's fire ... and wind; if there are two things that scare me, they are fire and wind ... and, well, before this turns into a Monty Python sketch, let's just leave it at that. I grew up in rural Montana during the "drought years" of the 1980s and I know just how scary an out-of-control fire can be, as when I was around 11 or 12 one started not too terribly far from where I lived and it literally took weeks to get it completely out. And we lived in the Eastern side of the state, which is flat-land and high desert prairie, not the timber and mountain detailed in this book.
Karen Harper does a good job building suspense (and relationships) throughout the book, creating a truly destructive and horrible antagonist in Evan Durand, "The Boy Next Door" arsonist. Brad, the FBI arson specialist on the case, is earnest and brings his own baggage, and Lauren, a widow who lives with her son in the isolated community of Vermillion, MT after her husband was killed in a wildfire in California, behaves in a, I believe, fairly realistic manner when faced with danger to herself and her son - which is to say, she doesn't become hysterical, weeping and wailing and running around in circles; she plans out what to do and she does it, no matter how scared she may be. She was a good character and I enjoyed, overall, this book.
Now, the reason I marked this 4 stars rather than 5 (you can skip this paragraph if you prefer to avoid semantics). Ms. Harper may have enjoyed her sojourn into the mountains of Montana, but she didn't spend much time getting to know the people if she thinks that women in Montana are going to freak out over the sight of a man carrying a gun. More than likely, they will be carrying a revolver or pistol of their own. It's just the way things are in Montana, and especially in a community that is a) as isolated as Vermillion is described and b) in an area where one is likely to run into ... shall we say - somewhat hostile wildlife, such as bears, mountain lions and/or rattlesnakes. You simply do not run about unarmed up there. Secondly, she may or may not have actually spent time riding in a small aircraft, I don't know, but I can wager she did not try sticking her arm out the window to find out exactly why Brad didn't stick his arm out to wave at Red before dropping his package out of the airplane. My brother is a pilot and several times I've flown in his 2-seater Taylorcraft with the doors off ... and forgotten myself and tried to wave at someone on the ground. The airspeed will just about rip your arm off, and that's at fairly low velocity. </end semantics>
Small details, perhaps, you may say - but as someone who grew up in Montana and has experienced some of the things written about - I just feel it is best to set the record straight. That will not stop me from recommending this book to anyone who likes a good suspense novel with a dollop of romance on the side.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 stars, February 3, 2007
This review is from: Inferno (Mass Market Paperback)
All across that nation, fire investigators are baffled by the unsub known as the Boy Next Door (BND), who has so far killed four women and set ten fires. The cases hit especially close for FBI agent Brad Hale, whose father was an arsonist. The authorities have virtually no clues on which to go until a call from Lauren Taylor summons them to the sleepy, wooded, little town of Vermillion, Montana. A recent passenger seems off to her, and the young widow thinks he might be tied to the case. However, knowing who the BND is does not help much. Annoyed by the diminutive title, he is planning a blaze of glory that will make a new, respectable name for himself. In the process, he can also settle some old scores. Lauren and Brad find themselves trapped on the road to hell on Earth as they race to beat literal and figurative flames.
*** Despite the fact that you know who the killer is for most of the story, there is a high degree of tension as things play out. If you enjoyed Blue Smoke, you will probably want to add this to your shelf. ***
Amanda Killgore
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