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Ladder One is called out of its district to a warehouse fire. Lots of smoke is showing but no flame. John Finney and his partner, Captain Bill Cordifis are told there might be someone in the building, so they go in. Only Finney comes out. Fingers point at him as having killed his partner. Finney, a 3rd generation Seattle firefighter, becomes obsessed with Cordifis' death. A wall had fallen, trapping Bill. John, suffering from broken bones and elevated body temperature, digs a hole through a wall, leaves his beeper by the hole, and struggles out to get help. He comes across two other firefighters in the hallway and sends them back for Bill. But they claim they never found him. Finney isn't sure what happened. Maybe he told them to go the wrong way? But he is sure that it wasn't his fault. Several months later. Another fire. Finney is trapped again. And again, he loses a partner. He is sure someone is setting him up. His father retired from the department after the warehouse fire, and is dying of cancer. His brother has made Captain, but John is still just a firefighter. The new Chief, who was last in his class at the academy, denies John's promotion to Lieutenant. John must fight to save his sanity and his job. This book has great firefighting scenes, sketchy characterization, some clunky dialogue, but if you liked BACKDRAFT or enjoy television shows like THIRD WATCH or LONDON'S BURNING, reading VERTICAL BURN is a good way to spend a few hours.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, April 2003
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