The Fireman by Joe Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A new plague has begun in the world and the scientists are baffled as to how to stop it. Millions are infected with no antidote in sight. The scientists have named it the Draco Incendia Trychophyton but the rest of the population is just calling it Dragonscale. It’s highly dangerous and highly contagious marking those infected with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies before causing them to burst into flames.
Harper Grayson was a school nurse before the plague broke out but when the call went out for help in the local hospital she couldn’t sit back and do nothing. Taking every precaution Harper works with those with the virus everyday but never really expected that one day she would end up sick herself. She and her husband, Jakob, had made a pact to end it if they were to become sick, there’s only one problem now that the day has come, Harper is now carrying a new life inside her.
After reading a wonderful review from Kim @ By Hook or By Book of The Fireman I couldn’t help but want to pick this one up and check it out myself. I’m one that loves a good dystopian type of novel which Joe Hill has managed here with this book along with a mix of horror, science fiction and even a touch of romance in the midst of all the chaos.
Harper was a wonderful character from start to finish. She’s dedicated her life to helping others even at the point it turned to her life in danger. She’s always had a thing for Mary Poppins and prides herself on staying calm to deal with anything tossed at her and a bit of a nurturing side that comes with being there for others.
Our Fireman in the story is a new character to get to enjoy in this read. A regular man that has now made it his mission to help those infected he has also studied the effects of this disease and learned to use some of the side effects to his advantage.
Harper’s one wish came down to wanting to live long enough to try to give birth to a healthy baby but along the way she has many obstacles to overcome. A husband that is determined to end her life now that she’s sick. A world full of those that are trying to wipe out the plague by killing those infected. And stumbling into a cult like environment trying to escape.
A definite page turner from start to finish that I’d definitely recommend checking out.
Carries Book Reviews 
Woo Hoo! You loved it Carrie! I’m doing my happy dance!👯
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Haha yes, took most of the weekend reading it but you know it’s a good one when it ends and you wouldn’t mind continuing on reading even after that lengthy of a book. 🙂
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Yes! That’s the way I felt at the end!
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Thanks for the push to read it I’m glad I did. 🙂
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Do you feel like it needed all, what, 700? pages to tell its tale, or is Hill a bit much like his dad?
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Actually, as long as it was I didn’t find that it had a dull spot in the entire read. I know what you mean by King’s overly descriptive writing style and as much as I’ve loved some of his tales it can get a bit dull and think it could have been shorter. This one is done in sections and each goes onto a different thing in the story and flowed rather nicely. At the end I would have happily kept reading about these characters and where they go from there.
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Good to know. Thanks 🙂
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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This is on my short list – I really want to read this one. But I had a friend recently who couldn’t stand it when he started it, although he normally likes Joe Hill. But there have been so many excellent reviews. Aggghhh – I will have to read it.
Rebecca @ The Portsmouth Review
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Rebecca – I’d definitely say give it a try for yourself. I actually hadn’t read anything else by Joe Hill before so I can’t say how it compares to his others but think he did an excellent job with this one. 🙂
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