Customer Reviews

Inferno

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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

First let me say I appreciate the lack of profanity in this secular book (I never feel a lot of profanity adds to the story.) I also appreciated the lack of explicit sexual scenes. After one has read so many secular books with both of the above this was a nice and refreshing change. The characters were all pretty much likable (outside of the villain) and you were rooting for them to catch the arsonist-killer and have some "happy ever afer days". I always enjoy a book with a child who makes for some humor and Nick was a fun character. It's not rocket science, just a fast and enjoyable read. Almost half of the book is the fire and the different characters trying to survive and put out the fires and that seems to drag a bit and seemed that part could have been a bit shorter. It's not a book to put on my bookshelf. Our library has a paperback book exchange and that is where I picked up this book and will return it so someone else can read it.

As always her books keep you intrigued from start to finished. The suspense was just perfect and the romance too.

Even Durand is a thrill arsonist. He loves to watch anything burn including humans. Nothing is sacred to him, not even his own father. He loves to find women living alone as his favorite subjects. He thinks he is a `ghost' and cannot be seen. While watching his last bit of arson, he hid on a rooftop very near the fire. Oh how he was enjoying this sight--but--what was that movement from that window in a part of the house he was on? He thought there was no one upstairs in that house. Maybe I better get out of this area and try elsewhere in case that person saw me enough to give the slightest detail of my appearance.

Lauren Taylor is a bush pilot flying freight and/or humans in and out of a remote area of Montana where she lived. The entire area was a tinderbox due to lack of any rain. Her now deceased husband, Ross, had been in the fire service and was killed several years before while in action. Lauren has never been able to get over his death but she plodded on through life for her son, Nicky, trying to be mother and father for him.

Lauren had to pick up a passenger to bring back to her area. This passenger was Rocky Marston who made the flight back a bit strange since he kept so quiet. Lauren figured his quietness was due to taking in the breathtaking scenery as they flew but then he started asking some strange questions for a visitor. He commented about how dry everything appeared as one of his few communications with Lauren as they headed into Vermillion, Montana. He asked about various buildings and what they were used for and how many people were there. Lauren just passed it off as being a different type of person. When they landed, Rocky took off from the landing area and disappeared apparently never stopping at any store to purchase supplies or food for his stay in the area.

The police had made a composite sketch of the man the woman had seen on her roof and told them how goofy acting he was as he tried to get away from the area. The drawing was released nationwide including the Montana area in which Lauren lived. When she saw the drawing she called the FBI office in Denver immediately to report the possibility that she had flown the man in the picture into her area. FBI Arson Investigator, Brad Hale, became interested at once and came to the remote Montana area to investigate, not knowing if the report of this monster being in the area was true or not.

Nicky was always fascinated in Indian ghost stories. Anyone could hold his attention while telling such a story. The area contained many Indians in years gone by and their `spirits' still existed according to some. Nicky had an Indian-like tent in his backyard where he spent hours playing. Rocky Marston had camped up the hill from Lauren and Ricky's house and noticed the boy and the tent. He decided to play the kid pretending to be an Indian ghost as he came gaining trust from Nicky to the point that Ricky would sneak food into his tent for the Indian.

When fires started to erupt in the area all knew that this Rocky Marston was the arsonist and had come for some reason to bring grief to their area. Many of the townsfolk assisted in the investigation all they could. The town sheriff, fire department, and most all of the citizens near and far joined to help the FBI trap this arsonist. Their town was too valuable to allow him to destroy it.

Nicky's trust in the ghost assisted him in obtaining far too much access to the town. Rocky was too smart to be caught--or so he thought. Inferno goes on with many adventures of chasing, cornering, flying in and out of fire areas, love between people in the town, and Brads bosses at the FBI bringing more help to the area, despite Brad's objections. He felt a large group would give away too much to the arsonist. There is no lack of action, romance, evading and controlling fires, and much more in this book. It is a good fast read that I enjoyed immensely.

I read this book based strictly on the reviews listed on the back cover and inside page. I was attracted to it because of their promise of a suspenseful novel. I did not know, however, that Harper was primarily a romance writer. Being male, I had never read a romance book before and don't intend to again. I did finish this one, though, so it couldn't have been all bad. It was rather sophomorically written, but it does have some genuine suspense. The romantic interludes did nothing for me. But, for fans of the romantic genre, this may be just the book for you.

This was a story with potential, but the author kept jumping around to 3-4 different "casts" of characters. Right in the middle of an exciting scene she'd jump to another boring plot line. She also had odd statements that made no sense for the scene, as when the two characters were running for their lives from a fire and she said "they held hands like kids." Just not a very sophisticated writing style, so I found it distracting and disappointing. The final insult came when the cheating husband got an apology from the wife. What's with that!!

In Vermillion, Montana, widow bush pilot Lauren Taylor raises her two sons by herself since her firefighting spouse Ross died trying to put out a wildfire blaze two years ago. Though not easy, she has adjusted to being a single mom.

However, she becomes very concerned when she flies in Rocky Marston, who upon landing seems to have vanished. She becomes concerned later when she sees a picture of the notorious Boy Next Door Arsonist killer who is the media's "darling" as the BND and on the FBI most wanted list with four dead due to his infernos. She thinks her charter Rocky is BND so Lauren uses the federal hotline to report her belief. FBI arson investigator Brad Hale comes to Vermillion to investigate because the agency takes any tip on the whereabouts of this arrogant serial arsonist-killer seriously. As the evidence mounts that Evan is the culprit and planning something nasty and big, Lauren and Brad team up to prevent another tragedy caused by this ruthless murderer while their attraction to one another remains simmering as stopping Evan remains the top objective.

What makes INFERNO a fascinating police procedural romantic suspense in spite of the overused serial killing arsonist villain is the isosceles "triangle" that forms between Lauren, Brad, and BND. Whereas Lauren and Brad are dedicated individuals who fall in love, BND is a lunatic who is obsessed with deadly infernos. Though everyone knows Evan is BND and that he is insane, he remains sly and elusive as he continues to evade his adversaries while torching anything and anyone who tries to douse his fire. Karen Harper provides a tense action-packed thriller.

Harriet Klausner

This novel hooked me right from the beginning and the suspense kept building and building and building making it impossible to put down!

Lauren Taylor and her young son, Nicky, live alone in the small town of Vermillion, Montana where Lauren makes her living flying a small Cessna, ferrying people in and out of town to the larger settlement of Kalispell. Lauren's husband and his partner were killed two years ago fighting a fire which Lauren always believed was suspicious as her husband was a well-trained fire specialist.

One day she flies a stranger into her isolated hometown but little does she know that she may be responsible for the fires being set in Vermillion which eventually become a raging inferno!

FBI agent Brad Hale hesitantly flies into Vermillion after Lauren phones in her suspicions, but Laura seemed so intent on the phone that agent Hale couldn't refuse her. After his arrival, Lauren's young son Nicky goes missing which turn the tables for agent Hale. Perhaps Ms. Taylor is right about the stranger she flew into Vermillion?

Together, agent Hale and Lauren set out to find the mysterious stranger who seems to have literally disappeared but little do they realize that they themselves may be caught in the raging inferno!

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone. Karen Harper is a skilled author who knows how to build characters and has the ability to keep the suspense going, only releasing a small clue at a time making you want to keep going headlong into the story.