The Fireman

Gotta love it when you find a great suspense novel that finds something that no one has really written about, and turn it into a 750 page novel that keeps you glued to your seat until the very end. Joe Hill, son of Stephen King has taken on his father's talents to weave something truly unique that will gain the readers attention from the very first page. Don't let the number of pages overwhelm you because this novel is so good and well paced it won't feel like it is too long to enjoy. For once a writer takes his time to weave a story so amazing you will be thinking about it long after you finish.

The Fireman is an apocalyptic futuristic novel that begins when a spore based fungus takes on the characteristics of black and gold metallic marks on the skin that is now referred to as "Dragonscale." Those that have it are incurable and within weeks to months those that have it, spontaneous combust into a ball of fire leaving nothing behind but their ashes to scatter on the prevailing winds. It is highly contagious and no one knows how it might be transmitted except by skin to skin contact. Hospitals are beyond overcrowded and even the CDC is at a loss on what to do to help contain it.

Harper Grayson is a nurse that is stretched beyond her physical limits to help. Her husband Jakob believes she is putting herself at risk working in close proximity to those who have it. Yet despite all the best precautions, she does develop Dragonscale and at the same time learns that she is pregnant. Jakob blames her and decides he has to move out to ensure he doesn't get it as well. The incubation time is 6-weeks to know if he will have it too, but Harper feels that she has learned more about Jakob's true character than she wants to. All she knows is Jakob has been hiding his own set of secrets and she has been played. Now he joins a self appointed posse hunting down those who have the disease and isn't at all concerned it will mean taking out Harper in the process.

She joins a group of people who have the disease that have hidden themselves away in a camp that has found a way to control the combustion of the spore lingering inside of them and some, like the man known as the Fireman, can even manipulate it into a weapon of destruction he can use at will to help protect those that would seek to destroy them all. Harper wants to learn how to control it so she can live long enough to have her baby and hopefully it will be born without the disease if only the Fireman will teach her.

I received The Fireman by Joe Hill compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers. While the novel is engaging it does contain quite a bit of profanity laced throughout the book which man offend some readers as well as some sexual content. However, the novel is well-thought out and keeps the reader so well hooked, you can't put it down until you see how it will all play out by the end. For me this one was a 4 out of 5 stars only based on the content and profanity which has been part of my own personal rating system.

For more information about The Fireman, Joe Hill or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Fireman by Joe Hill

You can find Joe Hill on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest novels.

To read more reviews on The Fireman, please visit William Morrow's website. 

NOS4A2

"Do you believe in a place called Christmasland??

What would YOU do for a lifetime pass to a place where every morning is Christmas Morning and unhappiness is against the law? 

Don't give up on wonder!

Don't give up on your dreams!

We're looking for Go-Getters who LOVE children and aren't afraid of adventure! Inquire about Special opportunities for our Security department. 

This isn't just a job...

It's a LIFE!

Christmasland is waiting for YOU!"

This was the ad that he couldn't wait to reply to and was hoping that this would literally change his life. Bing Partridge believed in something much more something just like this that would show people around him that he really was cut out for so much more than simply working for the last 18 years as a Janitorial Manager at NorChemPharm in Sugar Creek, Pennsylvania. All he simply needed now was a response to his letter of application to the 1949 advertisement in Spicy Menace.

Victoria McQueen or Brat as her father lovingly referred to her is about to discover something very special about her latest birthday present, a blue Raleight Tuff Burner bicycle. When she overhears a heated argument between her parents over the loss of her mother's diamond bracelet. She leaves the house, taking her bicycle out for a spin thinking all the time about how if she could just find the bracelet, it would end the fight between her parents. She soon learns that she has a special ability to time travel on her bicycle via the Shorter Way Bridge to find items that are lost. The Shorter Way bridge was a covered bridge that was seventy years old, three hundred feet long, and beginning to sag in the middle. When someone tried to drive his car across it, he went right through and brought down most of the bridge with him. What was left was demoed and it was that bridge that only appeared to Victoria when she rode her bicycle to look for lost things. When she decides to go looking for trouble one day, she finds Charlie Manx.

Charlie Manx was the only person who could take children to Christmasland. He saw himself as a bit of a savior rescuing children who he believed were unhappy and abused by their neglectful parents. He has taken over 200 children there including his own two daughters when he believed his wife was an unfit mother. Now Charlie spends his time looking for children to take to Christmasland in his 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith with the license plates NOS4A2. Victoria McQueen was the only child who he was never able to take to Christmasland and now he will stop at nothing to find her and make her pay. He lucks out when after all his years of trying to find her, he locates her son and soon learns that love makes for a very strong bait to lure Victoria to Christmasland after all.

In the horror novel, NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, the reader is definitely taken on one nightmarish adrenaline pumping ride. This is a hefty novel coming in at almost 700 pages in length. I must warn readers that this contains graphic sexual content, profanity, vulgarity and violence. The storyline is simply one I have never read before and literally had me wondering just how this would end. I didn't catch the vanity plate reference until I was more than half way through the novel and it makes complete sense when you consider it. I did find all the sexual references and profanity to be distracting and wanted to make sure I read this in its entirety to provide a fair review.

I received NOS4A2 by Joe Hill compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and have received no compensation to provide a fair evaluation. Based on my personal rating system, I'd have to give this a 3 out of 5 stars. Had the book removed the graphic sexual references, profanity and violence, I would have rated this story much higher based on the premise behind the novel. This is definitely not for the squeamish and is geared for those readers who love the Horror/Suspense Thriller genre. Considering who his father is, Stephen King, I had expected to read more horror and suspense content without all the extras to distract me from the meat of the story.

For more information about NOS4A2, Joe Hill or where to pre-order a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

You can also find Joe Hill on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest novels.