The Fireman by Joe Hill – Audio Version
Book Blurb:
No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it’s Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.
My Review: 4.5 stars
The Fireman was a sci-fi, dystopian thriller so out of my usual comfort zone and for the record; I’ve got no regrets! For those of you who know me, you know I don’t mind thriller, but I’m a big fat baby when it comes to horror. I had NO idea when I started this hugely hyped book that Joe Hill is the son of the horror master, Stephen King. I can only imagine the bedtime stories shared in that house.
I had a 4-hour drive, each way, taking my son back to school and figured I’d try it, especially since Kate Mulgrew (Red from Orange Is The New Black and Captain Janeway from Star Trek) was performing the narration. And what a performance she did. She took on so many dialects, men,women and children, and it was brilliant.
Complicated, well fleshed out characters full of any bits of life that’s left in them as most of the world has burned away. An amazing protagonist whose nice demeanor in the face of disaster is actually likable, not nice like vanilla, nice because she embodies the meaning of it fully. Let’s just say Mary Poppins is her go to heroine.
On the other side of the coin, there is also pure evil. Characters that spew hate and reek of wickedness. For some them, they start out this way, but for others, it’s a journey turning into these types.
Imagine Lord of The Flies and the psychology that’s at play that brings together or divides the community and the laws set in place multiplied by one hundred. In this small camp of survivors, there are so many small factions that seem to comply until well, they don’t.
Beyond the twists and turns of this book, there were a few standout points for me. First, the 80’s music references were welcome blasts from the past and added some welcome levity. Also, the eclectic book titles mentioned were lovely bits of normalcy in an absolutely abnormal world in which these characters were surviving.
I probably won’t read more of Joe Hill because from what I understand this really didn’t compare to his usual brand of horror books, but I loved THIS story. Even some reviews state they didn’t care for this book because it was so benign. I don’t know, being covered in ‘dragonscale’ and highly combustible was scary enough for me.
Quotes I liked:
There’s something horribly unfair about dying in the middle of a good story, before you have a chance to see how it all comes out.”
-“There are two infections running rampant. One is the Dragonscale, and the other is panic.”
“Your personality is not just a matter of what you know about yourself, but what others know about you. You are one person with your mother, and another with your lover, and yet another with your child. Those other people create you–finish you–as much as you create you. When you’re gone, the ones you’ve left behind get to keep the same part of you they always had.”
-“You could just tell she was the best kind of trouble.”
-“There are no unselfish acts. When people do something for someone else, it’s always for their own personal psychological reasons.”
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This review is right on the money. I too am not a big reader of horror stories. But this one had an intensity that I enjoyed. I really liked the characters as well.
So glad you agreed with my review! It really kept me hooked!! I loved Harper and have grown quite fond of the name. Considering I’m an empty nester with no more kids on the way…maybe for my next puppy!