Customer Reviews

Through the Fire

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THROUGH THE FIRE opens with Aidan O'Neill, a Reno firefighter, struggling with the loss of his father, who was also a Reno fireman. Then Aidan's reckless confidence nearly kills the rookie assigned to him. Then his fiancee leaves him. And then, to top it off, an expert arsonist begins terrorizing the city. That may sound like a paint-by-numbers summer read. But it isn't.

Shawn Grady takes several familiar plot elements and shapes them into a new and powerful story. This book earns five stars because of two things: (1) Shawn Grady's strong, lyrical writing and (2) his deep understanding of fire and the men and women who fight it. Look for Grady to have a long career in Christian fiction.

Since his father's death in a fire, firefighter Aiden O'Neill is determined to find out who the arsonist was in that fateful fire. Aiden has a gift of being able to read fires, but after he caused a fellow firefighter to be seriously injured during a fire, he seems to have lost his gift.

An arsonist is on the loose, causing major fires and death in his wake. Aiden and Julianne, a fire analyst, are teaming up to discover who is behind the fires. I guarantee the end will surprise you.

I enjoyed the story line, but some of the writing was out of character of the rest of the book. There were paragraphs that were almost poetic~ but forced and did not reflect the other parts of the book. I also got confused in several places as new characters were introduced. The parts about God and Christianity seemed forced and put in as an afterthought.

Aiden O'Neill is haunted by his father's death, struggling to hold onto a fizzling relationship with his fiance, and fearing that he has lost his sixth sense for fighting fires. When a careless move almost causes a rookie's death, Aiden's life seems to crumble around him--until a series of fires terrorizes the city of Reno. Could there be a connection between the arson and his father's tragic end?

Reno firefighter and debut novelist Shawn Grady weaves a fast-paced story of dedication, courage, mystery, and God's ability to bring answers. As a citizen of Reno I enjoyed seeing familiar locations pop up on the page. But you need not be a local to enjoy this story. Most of all I got caught in the author's amazing gift for words, characters, and bringing the reality of fighting fires to life through a plot that often left me wondering if I could have my son make dinner just one more time. It's hard to belief this is a first novel.

The novel was good, if a tad predictable. It has several sub-plots to keep things entertaining. My problem is the "Man comes back to Christianity for strength" sub-plot. It's not expected in a suspense novel, and in this case goes way beyond what is needed to flesh out the characters or set a scene. The different writing style for these sections seemed quite preachy, and sort of kicked one out of the story. The increasing frequency of the preachy tangents in the last half of the book had me skipping pages a lot just to try and get back to the main story.

The Kindle edition has several layout issues with lines of text not aligning, which also interrupts the story.

If you don't mind a random preachy Christian tone/message in your suspense novels I think this is a good read.

First off, full disclosure: I work with Shawn, and knew him as a Paramedic with the local ambulance service prior to him becoming a firefighter. While I have a great amount of respect for him as a firefighter and as a great guy, I will attempt to keep this review as objective and honest as I can.

I should also mention that this novel is definitely Christian fiction, and that I am an entrenched, militant agnostic.

That being said this is a wonderful book, & I enjoyed the hell out of it (no pun intended).

We have some of the most finely tuned BS detectors around in the fire service. Shawn knows that (and knows he'd be answering to his firepals if he was off base on anything) and I believe kept that in mind while writing this. As a result, he has, in my opinion, very accurately captured about as much of the spirit of the fire service (and RFD, in particular) as is possible in one book. In this respect I would say that it's a bit like "Report From Engine Company 82", Reno style. Forget the crap you see in "Backdraft" and "Third Watch", if you want to get an idea of what it's like inside, and why we go in, read Shawn's book.

About the only thing that even made the needle on my BS detector twitch a little was Aidan's perception and personification of the smoke and flames / fire behavior; but I think that can be excused under the cover of artistic license and personal perception on the part of the protagonist, and I also think it added an entertaining dramatic / mystic touch to the novel.

The narrative / Shawn's writing style is powerful and vivid. Shawn paints details that I didn't even think about until I read this book, like the sound of a pumper when you put it into pump gear, or the look of the firepoles at the old Station 1.

When I first started the novel I feared at first that he was going to lay it on too thick / be overly dramatic; but that was just the hook, once it was set he settles down and reels you in. I read this book in two days, taking that long only because I fell asleep at midnight reading it since I couldn't put it down. The characters are real, believable, and easy to relate to.

The other thing that Shawn captures well is the internal struggle that so many of us in the fire service go through with regard to our religious beliefs, lack thereof, or often both. It is difficult to be in a profession that is widely regarded as doing God's work, and yet see and experience things that make it difficult to reconcile with any belief in God (ask anyone who's worked a SIDS call how they feel about God afterward). Shawn very accurately, and honestly examines this issue; and it is, for me, what made the (subtle) religious overtones of the novel for the most part tolerable and relevant. I say for the most part because there were a couple of times that for me, not being a person of faith, the religious references did feel a bit awkward / like dead weight, however this was the exception, not the rule, and it was easily carried by the powerful narrative and plot.

This is a mystery / suspense / love story that happens to have a Christian element in it, not the other way around.

If you are in the fire service (or law enforcement, EMS or other first responder) you will find this book authentic, real and entertaining. If you are not, in addition to the things I just mentioned you will also find it an insightful window into the real fire service, even though it is a work of fiction.

If, like me, you are not a person of faith, I think you'll find the Christian aspect non-preachy and relevant to the very real issues raised in the book. If you are a person of faith, particularly Christian, I think (speculating here...) that it will most likely add a very deep and profound aspect to an already good novel.

Either way and in any case I highly recommend this book to any and all; it is a very solid, fine piece of fiction that can stand on it's merits in any context.

(Ditching the objectivity here..)So in addition to Shawn being a great guy and solid firefighter, I can also say that he's a hell of an author as well, and I'm proud to know him.

Rumor has it that his next novel is centered more on EMS, no doubt drawing from his experiences as a Paramedic riding the "box", and I'm very much looking forward to it's release.

Good job, Shawn!

Review by Jill Williamson

Firefighting is Aidan O'Neill's life, but his overconfidence puts a rookie's life in danger. Aidan is suspended and goes home to discover that his fiancé is leaving him. Life stinks. But an arsonist is keeping the Reno fire department busy and Aidan gets called back to work. He partners with fire investigator, Julianne, to get to the bottom of this arson case before people start to suspect him.

What an impressive book! It was one thing after another for poor Aidan. His life fascinated me. In the perfect example of "write what you know," former firefighter Shawn Grady's characters were flesh and blood. I felt like I was one of the firemen riding on that truck. Both character and plot sucked me in and I couldn't put the book down. (Love that!) Great cover too. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves a great suspense story (girls, too, even though guys will love the action.)

Aidan O'Neill is a third generation firefighter in downtown Reno. Fighting fires is more than second nature, it's first. That is until an accident land him on suspension and worse, a rookie firefighter badly hurt. However, the suspension is cut short when a serial arsonist begins attacking not just Reno, but Aidan's section in particular. What worse, is this arsonist is no hack; whoever it is, they are leaving virtually no evidence behind. As Aidan works with the fire investigation team (including the intriguing Julianne), he begins to piece to together this new string of fires and the one that killed his father. The truth is something that Aidan never saw coming.
Grady is, indeed, a promising writer (as the 2008 Mt. Hermon Writers Conference boasts). His characters are pretty good and the story is interesting. I often felt that his real life experience as a Reno firefighter got in the way as he could so accurately describe the fire fighting procedure and equipment used that at times I felt lost. However, the uses of tones in the course of the novel was pretty good and added to the anxiety of being a firefighter and having to drop everything. As a side note, living in Reno myself, it was interesting to read about some of the major fires in the novel and thinking "I remember that". Where the book lost major points for me was in the sometimes random and often dropped sub-stories. In the beginning Aidan has a fiancée who pretty much drops away. It starts with a note, then a fight, Aidan sees her in the car of his best friend, and she reappears later and cruelly demands her apartment keys back and that's it. The relationship between her and the friend is dropped along with everything else. Now of course this doesn't take away from the main story, but did leave me feeling unsatisfied, as though the author was tired of writing before he finished the book.
Overall, I think this is a fair debut novel. Grady has potential, as long as he doesn't force things and lets his well developed characters play out to their own potential. This novel is alright, but the next one will better.

Obviously Grady knows from experience what fighting fires is like, because this exciting book is completely realistic. Reading it is like actually being involved in the action. I was afraid I wouldn't like the book because it would be more of a "guy" thing, but it has character development and just enough romance so women will enjoy it too. The religious aspects are also realistically part of the story and the book is not one of those cram-Jesus-down-the-reader's-throat types at all. It's mainly a thrilling action adventure. Often I figure out mystery plots, but this one kept me guessing until the answer was revealed by the author. I read it all in one evening, because I couldn't put it down.

Shawn Grady, with more than a decade's experience as a firefighter and paramedic, brings authenticity to every page of this debut novel about a troubled firefighter, seeking to solve the puzzle of his father's death while battling his own personal demons. Grady has a great ability to paint word pictures, and although the technical language and details seem a bit daunting at first, I soon found myself caught up in the struggle between man and that most primitive and powerful of forces: fire.
Unapologetically Christian in its viewpoint and message, the novel marks a promising start to a writing career for which I predict significant success. I'll certainly be waiting to read Grady's next book.

I'll be honest. When Shawn Grady's "Through the Fire" first hit the shelves, I thought it was a publisher's attempt to capitalize on the recent success of the "Fireproof" novelization. Silly me, right? After reading Grady's "Tomorrow We Die," and realizing this guy knew how to write fast-paced, twisting stories, I decided to go back and give his debut a chance.

"Through the Fire" is told first-person through the eyes of Aidan, a firefighter with shame and loss in his past. His own father died in the line of duty, and Aidan has yet to know the full details or cause of that incident. When a new string of fires in Reno, Nevada hint at an arsonist, the department head suspects a newly released arsonist is once again at work. Aidan and his fellow firefighters are soon caught up in the life and death struggle, even as Aidan faces his own fears and renewed guilt. Meanwhile, his personal life is suffering the consequences, and his girlfriend of six years wonders if it's time to call it quits.

Grady gives us a smokin' pace in this story. Some of the scenes feel unnecessary to the plot, including a sidetrip to Mexico, but Grady gets things back on track as he lets us deeper into the emotions and inner turmoil of Aidan. He works in some scriptural parallels that are important in Aidan's final confrontation with his father's killer and with the truth. It's a nice twist on a strong debut. His second book was even better, and I look forward to reading his third, "Falls Like Lightning."