LoveReading Says
Tales of overwhelming pandemics striking our world are like buses: you wait for ages and all of a sudden, like a plague, they all emerge at the same time. Recent months have witnessed, among others, the Cronin trilogy reach its conclusion, Emily St John Mandel's Station Eleven and Ezekiel Boone's The Hatching and now here is a veritable doorstep of a catastrophe book by Joe Hill (son of Stephen King, who himself penned The Stand...). And it's an undoubted winner; one of the more original examples to hit the genre. A new disease sweeps the globe, infecting people with Dragonscale, which eventually has them self-consume in flames. Frightening enough but where Hill ups the odds is not just in his evocation of a world in overdrive to destruction but in creating a gallery of truly memorable characters like doughty, infected and pregnant nurse Harper and, of course, the eponymous Fireman whose superpowers and unusual talents might well hold the key to mankind's survival. Breathless adventures, pulsing emotions, things that go bump in the night and so much more, with surprises lurking on the corner of every page: a major achievement in a genre that many had thought had nowhere further to go. Will provide you with nightmares and epiphanies in equal share.
Maxim Jakubowski
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Joe Hill Press Reviews
'I would put money on this being huge. Can't put it down' Sam Baker, The Pool
'I devoured this book as if the pages themselves were on fire...an end of the world tale with a blazing heart of hope at its core. A contender for book of the year' Sarah Pinborough, author of 13 MINUTES
'Joe Hill really could set the world on fire with this book: cleverly imagined and a compulsive read' Katherine Cowdrey, The Bookseller
'Joe Hill has always been good, but he's created something incandescent here, soaring and original. He's a master storyteller who writes with fire in his veins' Lauren Beukes, author of Broken Monsters
'This is a book that starts with a bang and then relentlessly builds. Joe managed to make my skin crawl in the first chapter, turning what should be a time for celebration into something decidedly creepy. At the mid-point of a lengthy book it became near un-putdownable, in that horrifying 'can't look away from a car crash
kind of way. Although the details are dark and even horrible, the narrative pull is relentless and unstoppable.' -- Mark Yon SFFWORLD.COM
'Very well-drawn characters, some serious shocks, a great sense of humour and a willingness to break hearts as well as raise pulse rates.' SciFiNow
About Joe Hill
Joe Hill is a recipient of the Ray Bradbury Fellowship and the winner of numerous literary, fantasy and horror awards. His short fiction has appeared in literary, mystery and horror collections and magazines in Britain and America. He lives with his wife and family in New England.
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