Book Review: The Fourth Angel

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Fourth Angel     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Suzanne Chazin
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Firefighting / Firefighters   Thriller
Series: Georgia Skeeham # 1
Putnam, Feb 2001, $24.95, 352 pp.

New York City Fire Marshal Georgia Skeeham examines suspicious looking fires. She became an investigator out of homage to her father, a firefighter who died in the line of duty as did her partner. It is not easy being a female amidst the testosterone dominated department, but she accepts the garbage because she enjoys her work and more important has to support her child.

The Spring St. inferno is Georgia's worse nightmare coming alive as hundreds of people die in the blaze. Going over the heads of her superiors, Georgia finds a tie between this deadly blaze and several other nasty fires that leads to her concluding the city has a serial arsonist on the loose. Georgia is placed in charge of the task force trying to capture the fiery killer. Wading through corruption in the department and the city, Georgia seeks to stop THE FOURTH ANGEL before he enflames one of Manhattan's most beloved buildings, a place where her mother and her son happen to be visiting.

This is the first novel in what appears to be a dynamic new series. Suzanne Chazin shows she has researched firefighting as she cleverly incorporates firefighting techniques into her plot so that the reader feels ready to fight a fire. Thus, the novel needs a warning label: "leave firefighting to the trained professionals". The story line is fast-paced and filled with action and is a chilling thriller that is so frightening because Ms. Chazin makes it seem so real.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner