Review: The Fireman

The Fireman The Fireman by Joe Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So I've read all of Joe Hill's books (other than some rare stories and some of the comics), and of course when The Fireman came out I had to get a copy immediately. It did take me a few months to get to it. I didn't know what it was about, except that it had something to do with a fireman. But I trust Joe Hill and he hasn't let me down yet.



So right away we were seeing that something was very wrong. The apocalypse was nigh, as we learned pretty early on that some dreaded disease was sweeping across America and Canada. Something called Dragonscale, which caused scaly marks to form on the skin. Sometimes they would smoke, and the victims would quite frequently burst into spontaneous infernos.



The pacing of this book is a comfortable, slow burn. It's really easy to sink in and become attached to the characters and their situations. It reminds me in several places of Stephen King's The Stand, though focused on a smaller group of point of view characters. I often suspected that these similarities were intentional as homage to King's book (and other works), as well as to other apocalyptic themed authors and stories.



I've found that it's very difficult to write a review for a book like this, one that packs so much heat in just over 700 pages. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so it's hard to go into the story that much. I will say that I love the main character, Harper, as she adapts to the changes in her life and the world she's forced to survive in. That being said, her story and that of the supporting characters, is highly recommended. As the winter sinks in, it might even help warm things up for a bit...





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