Overview
"Twenty-eight paces. John Finney counted his steps as he fought his way for help from inside a Seattle warehouse burning on Leary Way. And when he reached his rescuers, he told them where his partner lay waiting - twenty-eight paces away. But they didn't reach Finney's partner until the building had cooled." "Now, six months after that tragic day, no one remembers Finney giving the directions that pinpointed his partner's position. No one can remember anything about Finney except that he left his friend to die. For Finney, the son of a fire chief, losing his reputation and the trust of his fellow firefighters is a bitter blow. But Finney doesn't believe the fire was an accident. And he doesn't believe the campaign against him is one either." Trying to reconstruct the events at Leary Way, Finney uncovers suspicious actions by men at the scene. With only one person at his side - a firefighter who is herself an outcast in the department - Finney begins to piece together an astounding conspiracy that will turn friends into suspects, good men into conspirators, and every man inside the department into a potentially deadly enemy. And the most horrific fire is yet to burn.Synopsis
Earl Emerson is the poet laureate of men and women who make their living where the heat is, bringing to life the terror of a burning building and the moments of solitude, solace, and camaraderie that happen in between.
Publishers Weekly
Seattle fireman Emerson, of Shamus Award$winning Thomas Black detective series fame, returns with his 12th novel"a tale of arson, intrigue and sublimated rivalries among Seattle firefighters. John Finney, son of a retired fire chief and brother of a 21-year veteran, is haunted by the fire that killed one of his colleagues and placed him under departmental suspicion. Finney thinks the fire was arson, but can't prove it"until two other fires erupt under even more suspicious circumstances, killing another one of his partners. In short order, the mistrust of Finney's colleagues flares dangerously close to criminal prosecution, while a mysterious rogue fire engine tries to run him down. Finney starts up his own investigation of the fires, and even manages to spark up a romance with Diana Moore, the department's only female firefighter. But when Finney's amateur sleuthing turns up a crooked business tycoon and an arson insurance scam involving Seattle's tallest tower, Emerson turns up the heat. The novel is, as expected, long on details of firefighting and its incipient hazards, though there is little mention of the real and enduring conflicts between the investigative arm of firefighters and law enforcement. Newcomers to Emerson's work who enjoy thrillers like Suzanne Chazin's The Fourth Angel should find little to complain about; as an example of the genre, however, in plotting and dialogue ( I ain't seen nothing but this goddamn smoke. Thought maybe my first wife was in there cooking dinner. ) this is at best a two-alarmer. Major ad/promo; 10-city author tour. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Earl Emerson is a lieutenant in the Seattle Fire Department, so perhaps it's not surprising that the Shamuse Awardwinning author has crafted a searing thriller about a Seattle firefighter falsely charged with arson. Devotees of Emerson's Thomas Black detective series will recognize the vivid characterization and sly plot shifts. The fire scenes, though, will still take your breath away.Publishers Weekly
Seattle fireman Emerson, of Shamus Award$winning Thomas Black detective series fame, returns with his 12th novel"a tale of arson, intrigue and sublimated rivalries among Seattle firefighters. John Finney, son of a retired fire chief and brother of a 21-year veteran, is haunted by the fire that killed one of his colleagues and placed him under departmental suspicion. Finney thinks the fire was arson, but can't prove it"until two other fires erupt under even more suspicious circumstances, killing another one of his partners. In short order, the mistrust of Finney's colleagues flares dangerously close to criminal prosecution, while a mysterious rogue fire engine tries to run him down. Finney starts up his own investigation of the fires, and even manages to spark up a romance with Diana Moore, the department's only female firefighter. But when Finney's amateur sleuthing turns up a crooked business tycoon and an arson insurance scam involving Seattle's tallest tower, Emerson turns up the heat. The novel is, as expected, long on details of firefighting and its incipient hazards, though there is little mention of the real and enduring conflicts between the investigative arm of firefighters and law enforcement. Newcomers to Emerson's work who enjoy thrillers like Suzanne Chazin's The Fourth Angel should find little to complain about; as an example of the genre, however, in plotting and dialogue ( I ain't seen nothing but this goddamn smoke. Thought maybe my first wife was in there cooking dinner. ) this is at best a two-alarmer. Major ad/promo; 10-city author tour. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.Library Journal
Emerson's 24 years as a Seattle firefighter and the assurance gained from writing 11 previous novels merge into a complex tale of smoke, flame, and murder. After John Finney, a second-generation Seattle fireman, leaves his injured partner in a smoke-filled warehouse to seek help, he finds himself suspected of cowardice. When he believes he has uncovered a large-scale internal plot to divert the city's 200 firefighters to various false alarms in order to torch a major skyscraper, even his crew mate doubts his sanity. Emerson vividly portrays the physical hardships of racing fire and heat while encased in cumbersome protective garments and carrying 50 pounds of gear. He develops both male and female characters well, writes with assurance, and skillfully juggles a complicated plot. This departure from his previous two series, one centering on Seattle P.I. Thomas Black (Million-Dollar Tattoo) and the other featuring arson investigator Mac Fontana (Morons and Madmen), should appeal to anyone wanting a good mystery plus a painless inhalation of a great deal of firefighting lore. Recommended for public and academic fiction/suspense collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/02.] Roland Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.Kirkus Reviews
Time was when veteran Seattle firefighter John Finney was unequivocal about his feelings for his job. He loved climbing on Engine 10, loved the ever-dependable rush he got from anticipated danger. He prided himself on being a natural, the way his father had been before him. All that changes, though, inside the building on Leary Way. At first glance, the blaze appears no more menacing than thousands of others Finney has fought. The fire, while fierce, seems readily manageable-until Finney and Captain Cordifis go in and are suddenly engulfed. A sound like a gunshot tells them walls are collapsing, one of them half-burying Captain Cordifis. Barely functional, staggered by smoke inhalation, Finney knows he has to find help, and he feels certain before losing consciousness that he's succeeded. Yet somehow Captain Cordifis isn't rescued. What went wrong? Finney asks himself obsessively in a painful aftermath that sends his career to the ashes. It takes hard sleuthing, but by following the money he eventually uncovers an ugly conspiracy of fire department people in high places, ruthless people intent on discrediting him and his investigation. Soon enough, however, he realizes the conspirators have focused on a new objective: to silence him any way they can. Emerson, himself an experienced firefighter, is a veteran storyteller as well (Catfish Cafe, 1998, etc.). His charismatic protagonist is both believable and admirable, and if he's also a tiny bit predictable, no matter: you'll root for him anyway.From the Publisher
“Earl Emerson gives the reader enormous insight into the grueling and dangerous life of firefighters. Vertical Burn is a riveting story of conflict, deceit, murder, and redemption.”–JOHN SAUL
“Earl Emerson’s plotting is original, suspenseful–so well done that the richness of his writing seems almost a bonus. . . . [He] has taken his place in the rarefied air of the best of the best.”
–ANN RULE
“Earl Emerson is a writer’s writer. In every book he tries something new, and he always comes up a winner.”
–AARON ELKINS
“Emerson writes with the richness and grace of a poet.”
–ROBERT CRAIS