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VERTICAL BURN
by Earl Emerson
Ballantine, February 2003
390 pages
$7.50
ISBN: 0345445902


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

John Finney is a firefighter on top of the world. Until a fire at Leary Way kills his friend and partner, Bill Cordifis. It seems the evidence points to Finney leaving Cordifis alone, trapped underneath a wall, to go get help. But instead of getting people to help Cordifis, Charlie Reese and Robert Kub, who went in after finding Finney wandering around, just let Cordifis die inside the fire.

Months later, as Finney is investigating another house, set to be put on the dangerous list, it seems that his request is ignored. A day later, the house is burning, Finney's coat is recovered in the back yard of the house, and someone gets burned, who could possibly place Finney at the scene. The arson investigator is certain Finney set both fires, but one person, Diana Moore, one of the few female firefighters on Finney's crew believes in his innocence. That is until another fire is set at the Bowman Pork factory.

Finney is working with Gary Sadler, who is trying to keep John from getting killed, but instead dies in the fire. It seems Finney is jinxed, as that is two partners he has lost in a period of six months. Finney is even beginning to doubt his own confidence that there is something being planned at the Columbia Towers.

The last 100 pages are devoted to a big fire at the Columbia Towers, where Finney finally comes to grip with the facts that there is something going on which involves his being driven to the point of being regarded as crazy. Of course, the ending is a little over the top, but Finney, Diana Moore, and Robert Kub take a chance to help people trapped at the top of the building. I literally raced through this last part of the book as the suspense, the outcome, and the answers are revealed during a dramatic rescue.

Emerson weaves a unique tale of firefighters and fighting fires. He goes into the psyche of these people, especially, when circumstances and events seem to contradict what a person is seeing, and even thinking during this stressful time. This is the author of the Thomas Black, P.I. series, and the Mac Fontana, arson investigator series. In this book, he uses both elements -- mystery and firefighting knowledge to entrap the reader in a truly terrifying story.

Reviewed by Steven M. Sill, March 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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