The Blaze
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
"In Dundas' assured hands, one man's search for answers makes for a lyrical, riveting meditation on memory."--EW
One man knows the connection between two extraordinary acts of arson, fifteen years apart, in his Montana hometown--if only he could remember it.
Having lost much of his memory from a traumatic brain injury sustained in Iraq, army veteran Matthew Rose is called back to Montana after his father's death to settle his affairs, and hopefully to settle the past as well. It's not only a blank to him, but a mystery. Why as a teen did he suddenly become sullen and vacant, abandoning the activities and people that had meant most to him? How did he, the son of hippy activists, wind up enlisting in the first place?
Then on his first night back, Matthew sees a house go up in flames, and it turns out a local college student has died inside. And this event sparks a memory of a different fire, an unsolved crime from long ago, a part of Matthew's past that might lead to all the answers he's been searching for. What he finds will connect the old fire and the new, a series of long-unsolved mysteries, and a ruthless act of murder.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Army veteran Matthew Rose, the hero of this exceptional thriller from Dundas (Champion of the World), returns to his home town of Missoula, Mont., to settle the affairs of his estranged father, who recently committed suicide. Due to a brain injury Matthew suffered while stationed in Iraq, he has forgotten much of his childhood, including the falling out with his father, a poet and former community leader, and the breakup with his high school sweetheart, Georgie Porter, now a reporter who picks him up at the airport. Through Georgie, Matthew learns that he went from being a golden boy in academics and sports to being a withdrawn, unambitious teenager and a risk taker a quality that he carried through to his military tour. Witnessing a house fire in which a college student is killed triggers Matthew's memory of another fire that happened 15 years earlier. Looking into the new fire, Matthew is in danger as more murders and fires occur. Matthew and Georgie find a link to the old, unsolved fire that leads to a couple of unsolved crimes that may have haunted his father. Dundas's insightful look at a former soldier's attempts to reenter civilian life elevates this poignant, action-packed story. The plot soars with each believable twist and realistic characters worth rooting for.
