VERTICAL BURN

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 Café, 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.