The kind of things you would expect from a book about a firefighter would be an arsonist, a fear of fire because of a traumatic experience, a romantic subplot, and a final confrontation with fear.
That's exactly what you get from Through the Fire.
Aidan O'Reilly is a firefighter with a gift of reading fires and knowing what to do in a tight situation. But this gift soon gets him overconfident, which leads to the injury of a rookie. Aidan is put on probation because of his negligence, but soon the station call him back because an arsonist is targeting the town.
Aidan teams up with a fire investigator to try to figure out what the arsonist wants-all while probing her for information about the fire that killed his father.
I thought the bit on the back cover about his probation meant Aidan would be an imperfect character. But to be honest, his probation didn't last that long; only a few chapters. Then the station called him back.
Aidan is one of those characters who is obsessed with his father and finding his father's killer. He considers his father's axe to be sacred and carries it everywhere.
While the dissolving of his engagement would be an original addition to the book, never fear, Shawn Grady had a replacement romance up his sleeve.
The main things saving this book from total mediocrity are the identity of the arsonist and the abnormally good writing style.
Though Grady pulled the ol' enemy-is-someone-you-know trick, it still remains to be slightly original.
Also, Grady's writing style is very good considering that this is his debut novel. It is very professional and could come from a seasoned author.
The best thing about Shawn Grady is that he actually served as a firefighter and paramedic for ten years before writing this book, so he actually knows what he's talking about.
All in all, I see great things for this author down the road.
3 stars
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