Book Review: Into the Inferno

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Into the Inferno     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Earl Emerson
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Firefighting / Firefighters   Thriller
Ballantine, Mar 2003, $23.95, 352 pp.

On I-90 near North bend, Washington, two trucks collide on the icy road. Rescue workers arrive to help the injured. Afterward, six of the locals including Jim Swope help one of the drivers, Holly Riggs clean up the mess inside her vehicle.

Holly and Jim saw each other for awhile, but that relationship ended. When Holly tries to commit suicide, her sister Stephanie, a doctor, blames Jim and harasses him. Three others from that rescue team of six have either died or become a vegetable and a fourth knows he is on a seven-day countdown to either kill himself or turn mindless. Jim persuades Stephanie to believe him as his countdown begins. As he seeks the truth and a cure to whatever contaminated him and the others, he worries what will happen to his two little girls if he fails.

INTO THE INFERNO is an exciting suspense thriller that never slows down as Jim counts down the days until he either is a vegetable or dead. The fast-paced story line keeps the reader on the edge of their seat wondering if Jim will find the remedy in time. Though his two daughters are too adult in attitude, Earl Emerson has spun a powerful thriller that will garner him new converts.

Harriet Klausner

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