The Truth About Fire: A Novel [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Hartmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2002

Surveillance becomes a dangerous two-way street for the women at the center of this powerful literary debut probing the underworld of neo-Nazism in America's heartland. Told through the braided narratives of two women, who unwittingly hold each other's lives in their hands, this suspenseful novel reveals the explosive results when sinister secrets are sought by advocates of tolerance, and personal secrets stolen from them are turned into weapons of hate. Gillian Grace—a professor of modern German history, mother of a biracial teenage daughter, and political researcher into modern fascism—has long promoted pluralism in a multicultural world. Meanwhile, Lucy Wirth is trapped within the extremist realm of the Sons of the Shepherd, a sect with ties to German neo-Nazis. Gillian agrees to help graduate student Michael Landis infiltrate the Sons, whom he suspects in the murder of a Native American friend. But soon Gillian herself becomes an object of their surveillance, for Lucy has been coerced into an affair with the Sons' pastoral leader, then blackmailed into spying on Gillian and her daughter. Through the dangerous journey that follows, the truths of each woman's life poignantly resonate in the world of the other. At stake is the outcome of a biological terror plot that the Sons of the Shepherd are preparing to launch. Gillian and Lucy must choose whether to change their role from passive observers to engaged participants in the unfolding story, so that they may prevent their own lives, and countless others, from burning up in the Sons' flames of terror.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two unlikely heroines who converge to expose a bioterrorist plot inspired by neo-Nazis and implemented by cultists on Michigan's Upper Peninsula are the protagonists of this absorbing first novel by nonfiction writer Hartmann (Reproductive Rights and Wrongs; A Quiet Violence). Gillian Grace, a history professor raising her troubled mixed-race teenage daughter alone, has the family and security that Lucy Wirth, the abused wife of a recovering alcoholic, yearns for; both women are struggling for emotional independence. Gillian's graduate student Michael Landis unwittingly brings them together by infiltrating the Sons of the Shepherd ministry, a radical right-wing militia and religious sect where Lucy's husband, Hank, blindly follows the dictates of its leader, called simply Reverend, even condoning the Reverend's coercive sexual relationship with Lucy. Michael suspects the group of murdering his best friend, a Native American forest ranger. Drawn into Michael's research by the global implications of his discoveries, Gillian finds herself tracing connections from the group to neo-Nazis in Germany, while Michael follows a trail of terror to Chicago and Lucy makes her way to Gillian's daughter. Probing the international network allows Gillian to put off decisions about her marriage (she and her husband are separated), just as pretending to obey the Reverend gives Lucy time to hatch her own plot; meanwhile, suspense builds as the time to thwart murderous plans runs out. Hartmann's expertise on women's issues and insights into the problems of the poor serve her well in her fictional debut. Lucy is particularly interesting, so wily in her submissiveness we don't know if once she asserts herself she will save lives or destroy them. Over the course of her compelling tale, Hartmann proves herself an able storyteller, creating fearless, idealistic, knowledgeable and opinionated female characters who make difficult choices and reluctantly get involved in dangerous enterprises to protect themselves, their families and their communities. Agent, Linda Roghaar.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This politically charged thriller unfolds through the perspectives of two very different women enmeshed in the same terrifying situation. Gillian Grace, a German history professor interested in modern fascism, has just taken a job at Keweenaw University in the isolated Upper Peninsula town of Houghton, Michigan. She is fleeing a stalled marriage, accompanied by her withdrawn, angry teenage daughter. Lucy Wirth is a local woman whose husband is involved in a religious group called Sons of the Shepherd; she senses that they are up to something but is powerless against the abusive men of the group. When one of Gillian's students asks for her help investigating neo-Nazi activity in the area, which he believes is linked to a murder, she agrees against her better judgment and stumbles across the sinister plans of the Sons of the Shepherd. As Gillian falls deeper into the investigation, placing herself and her daughter in danger, Lucy finds the courage to act to save them. These well-drawn women lend real drama to a tense, multilayered story. Carrie Bissey
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; 1St Edition edition (March 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786710217
• ISBN-13: 978-0786710218
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,821,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful suspense novel, June 19, 2002

By 

Martha E. Crites (Seattle, Wa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Truth About Fire: A Novel (Hardcover)

Gillian Grace is a professor of modern German History who ends up teaching in rural Michgan to avoid her separated but un-divorced husband--with her troubled mixed- race daughter in tow. A graduate student talks her into helping him as he pursues the Far Right who may be responsible for the murder of his friend. Alternates with sections written from the point of view of Lucy Wirth whose husband has unwittingly allowed the Sons of the Shepherd to use his sporting goods store to stage their arms build up and plans for biological warfare. Interesting parallels between her relationship with her husband and with the graduate student--where the tables are turned and she now becomes over involved with a student. Fascinating development as she realizes that the student is as crazed as the neo-nazis he pursues. The bioterrorism angle seems too far removed from the action of the story for me to really care, but the characters and the struggle to understand evil are compelling enough to make up.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read, February 12, 2003

By 

Melissa S. Alvin (Glen Ellyn, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Truth About Fire: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is a wonderful read. It has a slow start, but, once you get in the heart of "The Truth About Fire," you're drawn into the story and it's hard to put it down. The romantic story intertwined in the main plot makes for a welcomed addition to story.

5.0 out of 5 stars A chilling novel about Neo-Nazi acts of biological terrorism, June 7, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Truth About Fire: A Novel (Hardcover)

Elizabeth Hartmann's The Truth About Fire is a chilling novel about Neo-Nazi acts of biological terrorism taking place in modern-day America. A young college woman becomes drawn into the web of an extremist group, and becomes situated on the crossroads of history as she resolves to foil a deadly plot that threatens the destruction of America. The Truth About Fire is an engaging and suspenseful story that firmly hooks the readers total attention from first page to last.