Wild Inferno (A WILD Mystery) [Hardcover]

Sandi Ault (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2008

Wild Indigo introduced rough and ready Bureau of Land Management agent Jamaica Wild. Now she returns-deployed to a wildfire on the Southern Ute reservation, where a puzzling plea whispered by a burning man points to a mystery more menacing than murder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The dramatic background—wild fires spreading near Colorado's famed Chimney Rock at the same time Pueblo people are gathering there for an important ceremony—and a smoother blending of plot and Native American lore and rituals make Ault's sequel to her impressive debut (Wild Indigo, 2007) a richer novel than her first. Jamaica Wild, the Bureau of Land Management agent known for her wolf companion, Mountain, and her ability to attract trouble, enters a fire area to locate an old Ute called Grampa Ned. Instead, she finds a smoldering firefighter who can only utter Save the grandmother before he collapses. Later, the discovery of Grampa Ned's burned body and an unusual artifact provides more mystery. Readers will share the author's obvious admiration for the skill and bravery of the fire teams (many composed of Native Americans) as they battle fires in such rugged terrain. Ault credibly charts Jamaica's education and indoctrination into the ways of the Pueblo people, leaving her poised for the next phase of her promising career. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Fans of Nevada Barr and Tony Hillerman will snap this up.”
—LIBRARY JOURNAL --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1St Edition edition (February 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425219224
• ISBN-13: 978-0425219225
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,645,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sandi Ault is the critically-acclaimed, award-winning author of The WILD Mystery Series. Her first in the series, WILD INDIGO, won the Mary Higgins Clark Award, the first time a debut novel has ever been nominated for that award. Her second, WILD INFERNO was named a Colorado Book Award finalist and won a WILLA Finalist Award from Women Writing the West. Both WILD INDIGO and WILD INFERNO received two starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. And WILD INFERNO was the only book of any kind to appear on both of these publications' Best Books of 2008 Lists. WILD SORROW, the third in the series, was featured in NEW MEXICO Magazine and COWBOYS & INDIANS Magazine and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly along with raves from the critics. The fourth in the WILD Mystery Series is WILD PENANCE. It releases in early 2010.
Sandi Ault lives and writes in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado along with loving companions: a husband, a wolf, and a Missouri wildcat. Visit Sandi Ault on the web at www.SandiAult.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Series, February 3, 2010

By 

J. Zimmerman "retired teacher" (Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wild Inferno (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries) (Paperback)

This series (Wild Inferno, Wild Indigo and Wild Sorrow) makes Nevada Barr look wimpy. I didn't think I'd want to read another mystery where the heroine gets the crap beat out of her, either by other humans or by nature, but Ault is different. Jamaica Wild acts a lot more humane toward both the wildlife and indigenous population in her BLM territory in New Mexico. Her relationships with animals and native americans are fascinating and this series is definitely worth the time and expense. I had to read each one twice to get every detail and description straight, because the first read of each one was virtually non-stop, high speed. The wolf survives, by the way.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Inferno is Hot, April 22, 2008

By 

Story Circle Book Reviews - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Inferno (A WILD Mystery) (Hardcover)

Throughout Wild Inferno, the haunting message that someone, or something must be saved shows clearly. But who is the grandmother mentioned by the burning man ("Save the grandmother"), and why did he risk his life to get the message out before slipping into a coma?

In this second book of the series featuring BLM agent Jamaica Wild, a wildfire erupts on the Southern Ute Reservation. We learn the dramatic stories of wildland fire fighters who give their all to save the forest and the native people. This glimpse into the life of firefighter teams is an amazing tribute to these unsung heroes. As liaison between the Native Americans and the fire fighting command center, Jamaica finds herself once again embroiled in a tug of war and a mystery. Honoring the ancient rituals and people of the various tribes can be trying when you have flames roaring at your back and people who don't want to leave a ceremony that onlys happen about once every eighteen and a half years.

Murder seems to be afoot, and Jamaica must find the grandmother mentioned in the cryptic message before more people are hurt. As if that and her duties of fighting an inferno were not enough, add Jamaica's wolf, Mountain, who makes his way into the fray with her adoptive Ute grandmother and adds delightful distractions. The frustration of learning things "the Indun Way" doesn't make it any easier when battling nature, investigating murder, dodging political bullets, evading an armed stalker, and trying to keep herself and her loved ones sane and alive.

This book has plenty of action and thrills laced with great background details, well developed characters, and a really fun who-dun-it to solve.

by Rhonda Esakov
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Burned Out, May 27, 2009

By 

S. Falling (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild Inferno (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries) (Paperback)

Although the first book in Ault's series was excellent, this was just too much information on the fire fighting world of the Southwest. While it is a critical subject matter for all those who live with the threat and destruction of fire, it was too much of the good stuff. Otherwise, the cultural insights were still on target and the characters interesting. Perhaps if I lived in an area impacted by wild fires this would have been more interesting. In my world we deal with tornados, flooding, and deadly ice storms - but to be fair, I honestly wouldn't want to read about those either.