Firestorm

#1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen turns up the heat in this explosive new psychological thriller. This time a gifted arson investigator teams up with a mysterious operative to stop a killer raging completely out of control...

For Kerry Murphy, the inferno is never far away. The flames of that long-ago night still burn in her nightmares: the heat, the choking smoke, the helplessness. She can never run fast enough...

Now Kerry works as an arson investigator with her evidence-sniffing dog, Sam. Together they're a great team, but her life is about to change in the time it takes to strike a match. The deadly flames of her past are back, and from out of the ashes a stranger appears. Who is Silver? And why has he chosen her in the desparate race to find a killer determined to ignite hell on earth? Kerry and Silver may not have a chance against a psychopath as coldhearted as his method is red-hot. To save themselves and the innocent lives at stake, Kerry will have to do what she hoped she'd never have to do: fight fire with fire.

For Kerry Murphy, the inferno is never far away. The flames of that long-ago night still burn in her nightmares: the heat, the choking smoke, the helplessness. She can never run fast enough... In this explosive psychological thriller, Kerry Murphy, a gifted arson investigator haunted by her mother's death in a fire, teams up with a mysterious operative Silver to stop a psychopath determined to set the world on fire. Assisted by her loveable dog Sam, she soon discovers that in order to catch him, she must put her secret weapon to the test - a prospect that terrifies her more than anything.

Publishers Weekly

Two psychic firefighters confront a slew of dreadful deaths in this rip-roaring thriller by Johansen (Dead Aim, etc.). As a little girl, Kerry Murphy spent two years in a coma after losing her mother in a home fire. Kerry grows up to be a firefighter and then an arson specialist who uses her dog Sam as a cover for her remarkable psychic ability to telepathically sense fires. Kerry considers herself adjusted, at ease with her career and her talent, but she still suffers painful nightmares. Enter Brad Silver, who is also visited by terrible memories-he saw his older brother, a U.S. senator, and his brother's wife consumed by an explosion of fire as they stepped into their limousine. Like Kerry, Brad has psychic capabilities; in fact, he's known as a controller who can invade other people's minds. The president of the United States badly needs someone to locate and disarm a mad pyromaniac named James Trask, who was head of a scientific project funded by the Defense Department-until the project was scratched. Enraged, Trask disappeared and has begun to target his enemies with remote-controlled firestorms. Brad claims he can help Kerry come to terms with her mother's death if she will help him locate Trask. Fiercely independent Kerry demurs until the home of her beloved brother, Jason, is torched and his pregnant wife's longed-for baby dies. Trask himself blackmails Kerry into meeting him alone and her nascent relationship with Brad is sorely strained by her stubborn independence. Some of Johansen's plotting is far-fetched, but she ably captures the smell, the smoke and the terror of fire. This is a quick, easy read that just might increase the sale of fire extinguishers for the home. (Mar. 30) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

While Iris Johansen's style has evolved over the years, the same skill that made her "one of the leading authors of romance fiction" (Barbara Kemp) has helped establish her reputation in a broader field. As Catherine Coulter noted, "Iris Johansen is a bestselling author for the best reason -- she's a wonderful storyteller."