Avarice

Linda Kertchbaum has been released for duty by her doctor and it is her first day back. Her position as Deputy Chief has been eliminated, and since she did not have enough seniority to be a battalion chief, she had to become a captain on 32 Truck, which is fine with her.

An hour into her shift there is a report of an explosion and chlorine leak at the University Inn. Battalion Chief Rick Smith is the first on the scene and calls for 32 Truck and Engine on a Haz Mat response, stating that Deputy Chief Kertchbaum would be in charge.

During the course of the incident, Linda discovers that a one ton chlorine cylinder for the swimming pool had been deliberately punctured, it is not an accident, it is murder. She calls in Lieutenant Stan Jaworski to investigate the murder.

A few hours later, a restaurant where a billionaire is having lunch is bombed. Linda and Fred Mandelman must respond to that incident and crawl through the debris and under the ceiling looking for victims, knowing the ceiling could fall on them at any second, killing them

Later the same day, there is a third explosion, a firebomb in Linda’s district, and she is the first captain on the scene and is put in command. This is her first shift

Linda and Stan Jaworski are summoned to the Mayor’s office. Someone has sent him a CD stating he planted the bombs and if they do not pay him two million dollars for each explosion, he will continue to blow up buildings at the cost to the city of two million per building. They have eight days to pay.

Jaworski must find out who the bomber is and catch the bomber before he can strike again. He must also figure out how the billionaire that died in the second bombing figures in to this case.

Avarice is a novel combining the action of fire rescue with police procedures and mystery. It is about greed and what someone will do for money. If you enjoy action/adventure, police procedural or who done it, you will like Avarice. It is the fourth book in the Linda Kertchbaum series.