Smoke Eaters: A Thriller [Hardcover]

Christine Andreae (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 9, 2000

Three years after qualifying for high command in the Forest Service, Mattie McCulloch is finally assigned to her first big fire. She is the first woman to hold the job...Mattie is put in charge of the fire after the camp is plagued with racial troubles, but that is only the beginning of her problems...As the tension of the firefight heightens, readers also learn that there is a psychopath on the loose.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Andreae brings to her fourth thriller even more of the high tension, dark mystery and tight plotting that earned her a 1995 Edgar Award nomination for Trail of Murder. Set in the midst of a raging forest fire in the rugged mountains of Montana, this gripping tale pits a hard-boiled female firefighter against roaring flames, gender hostility, professional jealousy, political interference and a murderous, psychotic arsonist. Mattie McCulloch is the first female Forest Service firefighter to command a major firefighting effort. The Justice Peak blaze is out of control and so are some male co-workers, the media and a colony of gun-toting nudists. To add to her problems, Mattie's son, Jimmy, is on one of the hotshot fire crews, and the man she replaces as the on-scene commander hates her guts. Then Jimmy's crew is overwhelmed and wiped out by a suspicious wildfire, and tragedy turns to murder when arson is indicated and Jimmy's body cannot be found. Despite her best efforts to keep a stiff upper lip, Mattie is fired for political reasons, and her career is jeopardized. Undeterred, she vows to find the murderer and is aided by a wise, weatherbeaten state cop and a gimpy, tormented journalist whose life Mattie saved in a forest fire 20 years earlier. The arsonist is watching, however, and soon Mattie and everyone else is in grave danger. Packed with suspense, action, drama, convincing characters and, best of all, boasting a tightly woven plot with clever foreshadowing and no loose ends, this is the consummate nail-biter. Andreae is a skilled writer whose prose pounds the senses: flames leap, trees pop, heat sears and the smell of smoke suffuses the tale. (Feb.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Flame-haired Matilda "Matty" McCullough has never wanted anything but a career fighting fires. The daughter of two veteran firefighters and mother of another (Jimmy is a member of the elite Millville Hotshots), Matty lands the high command of the Justice Peak fire in Montana. Now in her forties and anxious to begin living her dream, Matty gets whisked into a volatile media circus when arson on a mountainside claims the lives of five young firefighters, one of whom may be Jimmy. Forced to swallow her grief and take charge, Matty unexpectedly and ironically falls in love. Journal entries kept by the arsonist are spliced between hair-raising chapters, building suspense and giving readers a quick glimpse into the sicko's mind. Andreae was nominated for the Edgar Award for 1992's Trail of Murder. Literate and fast-paced, this is a good choice for most fiction collections.
-Susan A. Zappia, Paradise Valley Community Coll., Phoenix
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (March 9, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312252064
• ISBN-13: 978-0312252069
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,346,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining, February 17, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Smoke Eaters: A Thriller (Hardcover)

The Justice Peak, Montana fire is raging out of control. In charge of putting out the conflagration out is Mattie McCullogh, the first female firefighter commanding a Forest service team. Already struggling with her male peers who demand the brass fire her and a hostile media expecting impossible miracles to occur, Mattie also worries about her son being in the front lines in the war with the inferno.

When her son's team dies in what is obviously arson, her superiors sacrifice Mattie to the public howling and fire her. To her surprise, her son's body is not recovered. Unable to sit back and accept being a scapegoat, Mattie begins her own inquires into finding a serial arsonist. She also plans to find out exactly what has happened to her son. Along the way she finds some help, but is unaware that her foe is watching and waiting.

SMOKE EATERS is a non-stop action filled plot that takes the readers on a wild ride from page one to the climax. The characters are fully developed and their reaction to the environment feels genuine to the point that the audience will swear they can smell, see, and hear the inferno. The taut story line will receive much acclaim from critics and fans as Christine Andreae has written one of the years top thrillers.

Harriet Klausner

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hard-to-put-down thriller, April 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Smoke Eaters: A Thriller (Hardcover)

A plot crackling with excitement, a determined and likable protagonist, complex characters, an atmospheric setting, and a heart-stopping climax make this story about fire and those charged with containing it a great read. Mattie McCulloch becomes the first woman given overall command of a fire team. She has to deal not only with the life-threatening blaze but resentment from her male colleagues, a sexual predator with a penchant for arson, a firefighting son who has problems with a mother as boss, and an attraction to a married reporter. As the plot picks up steam, its hard to put down, and when you have raced through to the end, you wished you had slowed down and savored the prose of a writer at the top of her craft. Ranks right up there with Nevada Barr's "Firestorm." Another good book in this genre is Judith Van Gieson"s "Hotshots."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and full of suspense, March 13, 2000

By 

Candace Gregory "memyselfandi" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Smoke Eaters: A Thriller (Hardcover)

Whether the reader is a firefighter who loves to read books about a fire setting or an avid mystery reader, this book will not let you put it down until you reach the last page.