Customer Reviews

Into the Inferno

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Earl Emerson is my favorite author. His newest endeavor is only his second stand-alone novel. The writing is crisp, funny and totally enthralling. The lead character is not your typical problem solver. He thinks of himself as a jerk (especially to women) and not very bright. It's actually quite refreshing. It's highly entertaining to read a novel wherein: the reader in captivated by the plot, entrigued by the characters, and can appreciate the fine points of the author's style. Emerson can have a character who was brought up in a religoius cult say that he thinks his parents concept of heaven sounds "boring as hell." This novel is never boring!

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Amazing how the man can write such a dark tale about a man facing an imminent, ugly, and irrevocable end (brain death), and still find so many ways to make me laugh. Swope, our "hero" if he can be called that, is one of those guys who in real life makes my eyes cross, he's so inept and cowardly in his personal relationships, and so sure that the trip wire in those relationships could never have been put there by him. Yet he's drawn so finely by Emerson that Swope's flaws are part of the attraction -- you just can't help liking the idiot! He's flesh and blood and so very human.

The plot -- you can read about that in the professional reviews. Suffice it to say, this is one fabulous page-turner. Swope is running against the clock, and the short chapters -- every single one contributing to moving the plot forward; no wasted words here! -- seem to add to the quick pacing.

As for Emerson's prose, it's always been very, very good, but in this book I think he has taken his work to a new level. In his hands Crude American Vernacular becomes Sheer Poetry, and I'd love to provide examples but I doubt if amazon.com will print those words. Just... the letters MF now have a whole different connotation than the common street profanity I've always heard!

This is a beautiful book, filled with both honesty and humor (I mean laugh-out-loud funny). More than a simple thriller, we get the inside scoop on a man's self-examination when facing the total devastation of his life. How Swope comes to grips with his own sins, and the sins of others, is as fascinating as the fires and aid calls that Emerson describes to perfection. And yeah, I might even have got a bit wet around the eyes at the end.

And I want Mel Gibson to play Swope in the movie...

And one last note: The best, I mean THE VERY BEST chapter titles yet!

This is a typical Earl Emerson mystery, which means it's a wowzer of a story, with plausible characterization, wry humor, good misdirection and nonstop action scenes--but this one goes even farther. Jim Swope, the firefighter hero, will become a vegetable unless he discovers an antidote for an unknown poison that he and several others handled during a highway fire, and that quest gives this novel the flavor of a near-future sci-fi medical thriller.

I love Emerson's chapter titles in his Mac Fontana and stand-alone firefighting novels, which often make references to sci-fi books or movies (like "Stephanie Gets Into Donovan's Brain" in this book), so I figure it was only a matter of time before my favorite fireman would cross the line and slip a sci-fi element into his plot! More! More!

I read this book in one night. I could not put it down. I can't wait to read his other books.

Being cooped in up the house in this storm, I've had plenty of time to read in the evenings. A novel I just finished was Into The Inferno by Earl Emerson. Looking at the cover, it would appear to be a firefighting story of some sort, but in actuality it's a medical thriller that has a firefighter as the main character. One day they are called to an accident scene involving a number of cars and some overturned cargo from a semi. Nothing appears to be suspect in the load, and everything is cleaned up with no problems. But five months later, the members of the fire station involved in the response start dying off and/or going brain-dead over a week when they start to show symptoms of an unknown disease. The main character recognizes that the source must be from the cargo spillage, and he races to find out the killer substance that is going to render him brain-dead in seven days unless he can solve the mystery. When he finds out the true source, the question becomes whether the condition or a gun will kill him first.

A good read for something that I picked up at the library just scanning through the shelves. Pleasantly surprised and pleased, even though it wasn't the type of book I thought it would be...

Earl Emerson's experience as a firefighter is evident in this fast-paced, page-turning thriller. The plot is slightly implausible, but overall the plot is so suspensful that any implausibility can be forgiven. Emerson is a first-rate writer.

Jim Swope is a nervous firefighter in the Earl Emerson's new novel "Into the Inferno." Swope works in Washington State's North Bend Fire and Rescue Company, and this group of paid and volunteer firefighters have run into some serious trouble. One by one, the North Bend firefighters have either become seriously ill or died in violent accidents. Are these events coincidental or is there something more insidious going on?

Swope is terrified when he begins to experience the same symptoms as his fallen colleagues. With the help of Stephanie Riggs, the sister of one of the victims, Swope starts investigating the "North Bend Syndrome" and what he and Stephanie find out is shocking and horrifying.

Earl Emerson sustains the reader's interest throughout this unusual novel. I loved the character of Jim Swope, an individual whose childhood traumas have left lasting scars, especially in his ability to relate to women. Jim is also a loving father and a courageous man who is willing to learn from his mistakes. I liked the character of Stephanie Riggs, as well. She is a tough and intelligent doctor who is dogged in her pursuit of the truth about the syndrome that has destroyed her sister.

Emerson balances the book's humorous and serious aspects skillfully and he maintains a high level of excitement throughout the novel. I recommend "Into the Inferno." It works both as a thriller and as a quirky psychological study of a beleaguered man who is pushed to his limits.

This was my first Earl Emerson book. The local librarian recommended it, and I'm sure glad. This was an exciting, suspenseful page-turner; and I really didn't know whether I should laugh or cry as I read it. Jim Swope, a firefighter, is facing the fact that in 7 days he will probably be reduced to a vegetable in a nursing home. His sense of humor was awesome, and I laughed out loud many times. At the same time, there were some very tender moments, especially with his daughters, that made me so sad. It made me glad that I am a reader.

See book summary above.

This is the first title I've read by Earl Emerson, and I am duly impressed. This is not so much about firefighters as it is about one mans race against time. A race to save his own life, as well as others. The suspense is here as is the character development. A first rate thriller.

Highly recommended.

I am always impressed by Emerson's talent, and I wonder after each new book when he finds the time to write--given his full-time job as a firefighter. But it's his first-hand experience as a firefighter that informs the best of his work and Into the Inferno is no exception. With fully drawn, exceptionally well-conceived characters, Emerson takes us along on a death trip with deeply conflicted womanizer Jim Swope. While Swope's view of himself is not a pleasant one, the reader cannot help but like this fellow because he's just so utterly likeable--particularly in his interaction with his two daughters. Given that I picked out the villain of the piece right away, it's a testament to Emerson's narrative gift that I stuck with the story, waiting for Swope's "aha!" moment. And it's delivered very well. There's so much action that there's scarcely breathing room--either for the characters or for the reader. There are also some very profound observations on life and what is, and isn't, valuable. Yet these observations are delivered within the context of the character and ring very true. For sheer entertainment value, Emerson's hard to beat.
Highly recommended.