Customer Reviews

A Spark Of Heavenly Fire

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At a time when readers are already concerned about the prospect of nuclear, chemical and bio-terrorism, Pat Bertram tells a story that's so plausible, it's easy to wonder if it's already happened somewhere and has been covered up.

In "A Spark of Heavenly Fire," Colorado residents begin dropping dead with little or no warning from a fast-moving, flu-like disease called the "red death." The red comes from the fact that just before they die, the victims of this growing pandemic throw up a lot of blood.

It doesn't take long for martial law and a state-wide quarantine to be declared and for an alphabet soup of armed, merciless agencies from FEMA to the U.N. to arrive to make sure nobody tries to get in or out of the state wanders into the wrong place at the wrong time.

The dead are carried away and their houses are marked with neon paint. Food and other supplies begin to run out, overcrowded medical facilities can only offer only slight comfort, and lawless gangs threaten the countryside with the same fervor as the troops. The red death appears to have no cure and nobody's safe.

Into this hopeless mix of circumstances, we find the mild-mannered clinic worker Kate Cummings, reporter Greg Pullman and other newspaper staff members, a weather girl, a movie star, the police, merchants, the homeless, and the researchers. Each will be tested in numerous ways, each will have a mission to fulfill, and each will learn something important about the qualities of humanity that bring people together for common purposes or send them apart out of greed and fear.

The movie star and the weather girl want to run, Kate wants to help others, and Greg wants to find out whether the red death is really a severe influenza strain or an engineered bio-weapon that was either handled improperly or purposefully deployed.

As lame as it sounds to say it, this book is a page-turner; it's the kind of story you find yourself reading at 2 a.m. because you couldn't stop yourself from reading just one more chapter. A native if Colorado, Bertram knows the territory, the kinds of facts that give the reader a true sense of place. She also knows how to make an "it-can't-happen-here" disaster story so real, that by the end of the book, the events sound down right probable.

And if it happens, what will you do then? There are heroes in the book who make "A Spark of Heavenly Fire" a very compelling story and, should the need arise, who will also serve as very good role models.

This is an absolutely amazing book!

I was blown away with her first book that I read, Daughter Am I, but thought I now knew a little about this writer...not so! A Spark of Heavenly Fire...surprising, exciting, realistic, scary, and wonderful all at the same time...

OK, here's the basic storyline...

Kate Cummings works at a clinic, where she is the first to talk to patients, finding out why they are there and gathering information from them. On a personal level, she has lost a loved one and finding that she is still very much depressed over the loss. One of her methods of getting back on track is jogging. But this day two things happen: a man falls dead in front of her and she meets another interesting man to whom she is attracted.

Unfortunately the man who died gushed blood all over Kate, which turns out to be dangerous to Kate since he is only one of the thousands that are dying from what is soon being called the red death! And before very long, the entire state of Colorado is quarantined!

Greg Pullman was a reporter for the Denver News and he was also the other jogger on that fateful morning. We soon find that he is practically engaged to be married, but when Greg is supposed to meet her to formally propose, she has left with an actor who has been working in the state.

And at that time, two paths are there in the middle of the story... Which one would you take?

Jeremy King and Pippi O'Brien, as new lovers, went on the run, trying to escape Colorado. Through their story you will see where some residents had been imprisoned, how those at the stateline would not allow anybody to leave the state, how food was scarce and thieves were on every road, waiting to steal, and kill, if they had to...

Kate was older than Greg, knew she couldn't even begin to compete with Pippi in looks, but nevertheless was willing to enjoy Greg's company, especially since both were interested and determined to find out exactly what kind of virus was causing the deaths. As Greg made as many contacts as he could, and conducted research to determine where the virus had begun and who was working with research of this kind, Kate found herself in an entirely different situation.

Appalled by the "preparedness" of the government to take over, control the food, and control the people by killing those who were presumed to be causing riots, but were oftentimes just a group of friends having a little bit of fun, she watched as food became scarce, only one restaurant remained open, and the homeless were totally cut off.

And then it was determined that it was a chimera, a man-made virus, probably created for biological warfare that was causing the deaths. Just who and how many knew exactly what was happening in Colorado?

But another discovery was made--practically all of the regular customers at the one open restaurant had not become ill. And through the "spark of heavenly fire" people started working together to help each other based upon what they had learned...

Parts of this book are realistically scary, because readers know that the fear, the lawlessness, the greed and danger of a major epidemic would be very like what the author portrays. In the sad commentary of today's world, where terrorism, biological warfare, and hostage situations are handled by strict interpretation of governmental officials' orders or, worse, ignoring them, what happens when good people are confronted in the midst of such chaos... I loved this book!

May more and more Americans find that spark! A must-read recommendation from this reviewer!

Book received via
Facebook's Reviewers Roundup


G. A. Bixler

I tried using Google today. I wanted to find the author of some half-remembered books that I enjoyed as a teenager. And amazingly enough I succeeded. It seems even I can successfully ask ill-defined questions of the internet and get a well-defined answer.

The author's name is John Creasy, and I loved all his books, but the ones I was trying to remember were the Dr. Palfrey series. They were among my first "adult" borrowings from the local library when I was a kid. I couldn't believe real grown-ups read the sort of stories I enjoyed, with science gone wild, governments failing to act, and Dr. Palfrey trying to pick up the pieces.

The half-memories were inspired by reading Pat Bertram's A Spark of Heavenly Fire, a book that's entirely too much fun for a middle-aged woman like me. How can a "patient representative," of a certain age, be the main character, and how can she be so neat to know that I want to be just like her? But science has gone wild again, the government might even be the enemy, and young Greg, the investigative reporter, is burying despair in investigation while Kate picks up the pieces.

Along the way, poor Kate gets thrown up on, frequently, and puts her own life back together while healing the hurts of a world full of assorted strangers, plus Greg. Lots of people die, and Kate and Greg are determined to find out why, while the government quarantines the state, and the rich and famous throw their money around in their efforts to escape.

A Spark of Heavenly Fire is a good tale well-told. It's got tons of fascinating information and great characters. It defies convention and the pigeon-holes of genre. And I love it. Thanks Pat. I hope you're writing more.

Who says you can't squeeze romance into a thriller? And while you're at it, how about weaving in a deeply moving story about human redemption?

Author Pat Bertram says you can. And she'll convince you before you can say chimera - the lethal combination of virus, bacterium, fungus, and human genes that causes the rapid spread of the "red death," a bio-engineered weapon threatening the entire state of Colorado.

Kate Cummings is trying to deal with the loss of her husband, who drove his car off a mountain after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis. She passes by his bedroom without daring to enter, and slogs through life in a solemn daze, feeling guilty for every time she waited a few extra minutes to answer his summons, or for each time she became angry. His loss haunts her, and although her work at the Bowers Medical Clinic is fulfilling, it can't heal the hole in her heart.

When a jogger stumbles into Kate with red eyes blazing, he vomits blood on her and dies instantly. A rash of similar deaths follows, decimating the state. Orange paint markers on front doors - signifying a "red death" in the marked homes - begin to appear with frightening regularity. Panicked parents discard their red-eyed children, fearful of contagion.

Enter Greg Pullman, reporter for the Denver News, who's engaged to the ditzy beauty, Pippi O'Brien, local TV weather girl. But when he bumps into Kate after Pippi heads for the border in search of safety, things change. Together, Kate and Greg investigate and unearth the shocking source of the horror that has shut down their state and caused a rogue wing of the military to terrorize Colorado's remaining citizens. Basic human amenities - so often taken for granted - become grounds for murder. And the streets are no longer safe to walk unescorted.

In addition to a killer story line, smooth writing, and phenomenal characterization, this page turning thriller features fine examples of charity through glimpses into Kate's huge heart. The remarkable heroine opens her home to survivors who are homeless and hungry. Soon, partnered with a destitute woman named Dee, Kate's home becomes a refuge for survivors. And in the midst of the massive deaths, terror, and horror, Kate finds salvation.

The tension in A Spark of Heavenly Fire is electric. Taut suspense pulls you along at a rapid pace. This reader was up way past his bedtime three nights in a row. And yes, it was that good.

"Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him." ...William Faulkner.

I read this book...reluctantly. I hate these kinds of books. I got off to a bad start with it because it is not my genre. To me they are hard to get into.

The setting was out of the ordinary...so I thought this might be better than I thought. I read so much about it on the Second Wind Publishing and on Facebook.

It captivated me. If anyone really read this book, they would have reported rolling in laughter by the eighteenth chapter. Your desire to see Jeremy get his comeuppance leads you to predict what could possibly happen and you dare to hope...and it does. Delivery of customer satisfaction!

No scene was wasted because everything moved at a pace where you could study the reasoning. It got to the point and moved on but it didn't move like a modern day video. I can't write like this. I would love to have this ability.

Editors, this book broke all the rules and it worked! A previous review has said it all but I want to add that this is all I wanted in a book but was afraid to ask. From start to finish the author poured their talent in this. I agree it does not conform to modern writing in every aspect and probably would be considered something of a hybrid but it breaks the mold and I expect it to cause some controversy.

Whitley Strieber...Art Bell listeners get out your conspiratorial X-file theories and buy this book to compare your ideas with Pat Bertram.

What? You disagree? Bring it on to the discussion boards of Amazon. I'm ready.

A spark of heavenly fire.
The red death epidemic has hit the state of Colorado and there is a quarantine and Marshall law. Along with merely staying alive; three women manage to thrive and show how strong they really are in the face of adversity. Kate, Dee and Pippy show what it takes to get through the worst. That indeed is a spark of heavenly fire. Kate and Dee work tirelessly to provide for the homeless and a purpose and merely try to save people. Pippy, miles from home must find a way to get back home after escaping illness. Meanwhile her fiancé is researching the epidemic and what caused it. Is it a bona fide illness or did it come from somewhere else, he wants to find out before it kills every one.
Ms. Bertram has written some very strong characters that have the strength in the worst of times. She keeps the reader on the edge while writing a riveting story and a the same time give us all hope that we to can have such moxie when we need it the most. Congrats to the author. I give this book five gold stethoscopes.

I just finished reading A Spark of Heavenly Fire. It was great. The characters really pulled me in. A page turner. I'd like to see more from this author.

A quote on the back cover of A Spark of Heavenly Fire reads "...interesting characters you will not soon forget." Having read Pat Bertram's novel a month ago, I concur.

Main character Kate Cummings is a young widow who's coping with guilt from her belief that she failed her late husband during his long-battled illness. When a fatal flu spreads through Colorado, Kate's courage and strenth are once again put to the test. Amidst the chaos that becomes a quarantined Colorado, Kate rises to the challenge and reaches out to those in need. By opening her home to bereft strangers, Kate shakes aside her lonely existence and in the process opens her heart to a younger man.

Greg Pullman is a reporter trying to uncover the truth about the new strain of flu ravaging the state. As the facts he learns chill him, he is drawn closer to Kate, who he befriended at the onset of the pandemic. In Kate, Greg finds comfort in a world gone mad, and sees her courage before she sees it in herself.

Kate and Greg 's mutual admiration for each other grows, providing a solid foundation for their relationship to move from trust to lust. While their love story--as well as some interesting secondary characters---are bonuses, it is Kate's humanity that will live in readers' memories long after the final page is read.