The Fireman: A Novel by Joe Hill (Epub)

Description

No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it’s Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.

Harper Grayson, a compassionate, dedicated nurse as pragmatic as Mary Poppins, treated hundreds of infected patients before her hospital burned to the ground. Now she’s discovered the telltale gold-flecked marks on her skin. When the outbreak first began, she and her husband, Jakob, had made a pact: they would take matters into their own hands if they became infected. To Jakob’s dismay, Harper wants to live—at least until the fetus she is carrying comes to term. At the hospital, she witnessed infected mothers give birth to healthy babies and believes hers will be fine too. . . if she can live long enough to deliver the child.

Convinced that his do-gooding wife has made him sick, Jakob becomes unhinged, and eventually abandons her as their placid New England community collapses in terror. The chaos gives rise to ruthless Cremation Squads—armed, self-appointed posses roaming the streets and woods to exterminate those who they believe carry the spore. But Harper isn’t as alone as she fears: a mysterious and compelling stranger she briefly met at the hospital, a man in a dirty yellow fire fighter’s jacket, carrying a hooked iron bar, straddles the abyss between insanity and death. Known as The Fireman, he strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who has learned to control the fire within himself, using it as a shield to protect the hunted . . . and as a weapon to avenge the wronged.

In the desperate season to come, as the world burns out of control, Harper must learn the Fireman’s secrets before her life—and that of her unborn child—goes up in smoke.

User’s Reviews

Review “Original and gripping, a page-turner.” — George R. R. Martin on THE FIREMAN“[A] superb supernatural thriller . . . a tremendous, heartrending epic of bravery and love set in a fully realized and terrifying apocalyptic world, where hope lies in the simplest of gestures and the fullest of hearts.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on THE FIRMAN“Hill has a talent for depicting fascinating characters caught in terrible situations. . . . With a full cast of characters and multiple story lines to keep the reader hooked, Hill’s enthralling fourth thriller hits another home run.” — Library Journal (starred review) on THE FIREMAN“Joe Hill has always been good, but he’s created something incandescent here, soaring and original. He’s a master storyteller who writes with fire in his veins.” — Lauren Beukes, author of BROKEN MONSTERS on THE FIREMAN“Fascinating and utterly engaging, this novel is sure to leave readers wanting more. One thing is for certain, however. After reading this book, readers will never hear Christmas carols in quite the same way again.” — Library Journal (starred review) on NOS4A2“[An] undeniably readable work.” — Booklist (starred review) on NOS4A2“Read it with the lights on and your children locked in a closet.” — BookRiot.com on NOS4A2[Hill]’s got horror down pat, and his debut is hair-raising fun.” — Kirkus on HEART-SHAPED BOX“[A] wrenching and effective ghost story . . . reads like good, early King mixed with some of the edgier splatterpunk sensibilities of David J. Schow . . . [HEART-SHAPED BOX] has genuinely touching emotional moments as well as action-packed confrontations with the dead.” — Library Journal (starred review) on HEART-SHAPED BOX“A genuinely scary novel filled with people you care about; the kind of book that still stays in your mind after you’ve turned over the final page. I loved it unreservedly.” — Neil Gaiman, author of THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE on HEART-SHAPED BOX“[HORNS is] a creepy murder mystery, a tragic love triangle, and a sweetly wistful coming-of-age story. It’s the kind of book that has you laughing on one page, crying on another and making sure the doors and windows are safely locked on a third.” — Miami Herald on HORNS“[Horns is] devilishly good. . . . Hill is a terrific writer with a great imagination. He has a special talent for taking us and his characters to very weird places.” — USA Today on HORNS

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ So Joe Hill probably grew up never having to work as a teenage and as an adult has never really had to worry about making a car payment or house payment or working a real job. He can spout off his liberal point of view and take his shots at conservatives because he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth and had his daddy to fall back on. I do not read books to have the authors politics jammed down my throat. That is why I stopped reading his fathers stuff twenty years ago. This was a long winded book that was really just a forum on his liberal crapolla! I’m done with ya!

⭐ Possible spoilers aheadThe first half of this book starts out fantastic. We see the slow decline of mankind and experience it with the main character, Harper. I can’t really think of any disease more terrifying than one that could cause you to spontaneously combust without any sort of warning. I liked Harper for the most part, but she was pretty generic. Kind of a cardboard cut out nurse.Of course, at about the halfway point, we do meet the thing more terrifying than the disease that causes you to spontaneously combust, self preserving, panicked humans. I think Carol is the most terrifying, but there is also Jakob Grayson, the Marlboro Man, and a whole slew of others. A good horror story all around. The horror never seems to end for Harper and her friends.By that I mean, this book never seems to end. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t object to books being long. In fact- I like long. I think my objection to the length of this book comes from a lack of focus or clear direction. First the antagonist is the dragon scale itself, then it’s her husband, Jakob Grayson, then its group think and Carol Storey, then it’s the Governor of Maine. I thought this book was over when I was at the 75% mark. It felt over. We reached a huge climax, overcame it, and moved on. It should have ended. I thought that other 25% was acknowledgements and book previews, etc., etc. as my kindle app so often tells me I’m only 75% finished when the book is actually done. I was ready for someone to put these characters out of their misery.That being said- I did enjoy the story overall. I like the fireman character. I adored Nick. I felt bad about Mr. Truffles. That seemed unnecessary. The horror was real. I will definitely keep on with Joe Hill. I don’t think the drawn out ending outweighed the good story telling here, but it wasn’t NOS4A2. If you want to read Joe Hill and haven’t checked out NOS4A2 yet- start with that one.

⭐ Wow … such high hopes. I was very disappointed in this book. The premise sounded promising – a virus that cause people to burst into flames – and the opening chapter was riveting. But after that Hill’s story progresses at a snail’s pace. I was most disappointed because I’d enjoyed all of his other novels immensely. It’s unfair to add that he’s Stephen King’s son, but that being the case is partly why my expectations were so high (though I’ve had something of a love/hate relationship with his offerings over the past few years).Honestly, the worst thing I can say about this book is that it was boring, and in the end, I didn’t really care who lived or died. I had no emotional attachment to any of the characters. I can’t help but feel like this book could have benefited mightily from a better editor who could trim it down from 600-plus pages to 300.

⭐ The highest praise I can give The Fireman is that when I finished it I felt as if I had lost my best friend, just because the story was done. I became so involved in the tale that I went through a sort of post-literary tristesse at its conclusion. Joe Hill has delivered a post-apocalyptic tale that is both dark and terrible and full of hope and humanity at the same time. It’s almost impossible not to draw parallels to his father’s novel, The Stand. Not only survivors banding together and the juxtaposition of good and evil, but also in slyer ways. I couldn’t help but wonder if Hill’s character of Harold Cross was HAROLD Lauder + Nadine CROSS (two characters from King’s The Stand) – sort of an homage to the brilliant, petulant, pervy character his father had developed in such odious detail. But this book isn’t The Stand by any means. In my opinion it is a masterful tale told with imagination and insight into the human condition. There are people that are not necessarily evil themselves, but do very evil things when caught up in mob mentality. There are also people that are basically “good” who have their weaknesses and flaws and don’t always do the right thing. These things are similar, but the addition of the dragonscale spore to the mix opens up a totally different world.The tale is dark for much of the book, but throughout there is a golden thread of hope that keeps you going. It’s actually quite uplifting at times, a lot of which is due to the main character’s charm and appeal. Harper is wonderfully developed. She has good values and the caring demeanor of a true nurse, but she’s also flawed in that she tends to let people walk over her – not seeing sometimes that she’s being repressed. I also love that she can be delightfully bawdy at times. I enjoyed all of the characters in The Fireman – the good and the evil – including the eponymous character himself. The Fireman (John Rookwood) is delightfully complex as well – heroic, funny, a protector, but also too proud and not able to let go of the past. The flaws of the characters make them so much more real and relatable.I highly recommend The Fireman. I was thrilled to learn that it’s to be made into a movie – I will definitely make a point of seeing it. This is a book I will also reread from time to time – like visiting an old friend. If you haven’t read Joe Hill’s other books and short stories, do yourself a big favor and do so. You won’t be disappointed.Thank you, Joe Hill, for such a wonderful story. It’s rife with the failings of humankind, but also full of heart and hope. You’re a fierce talent, and I look forward to your next work.

⭐ I feel bad writing a lukewarm review of this book as I am a big fan of Joe Hill and, in fact, I think this book is excellent. However it is punishing. Perhaps the problem was me. I started reading this around February 2020 (see where I’m going with this) and didn’t finish until the end of June 2020.For one thing the book, despite being released prior to the age of Trump, is remarkably prescient in creating a plausible end of the world in which right-wing religious zealots and nationalists terrorize the survivors of the apocalypse. Everything about it smacks of plausibility. Some of the specifics he describes are breathtaking in their cruel indifference and utter likelihood. The nightmare scenarios he suggests are an easy hop, skip, and jump from the casual hostility of today’s conservative media fever dreams. This sh*t could *definitely* happen.These fictional (but not at all unlikely) bleak portrayals while my real world was descending into quarantine and uncertainty resonated so strongly that I had to put the book down several times for weeks at a time. Hill’s characters were not unlike Golding’s monstrous children in Lord of the Flies: the default human condition, absent societal guard rails, is ideological cruelty. That Hill and Golding are probably right was too much for me to bear. I just had to put it down.The story itself is excellent. Lively characters that were right for the story propelled everything along at a nice clip. The setting was evocative and the sense of impending doom ever present – just what every good apocalyptic tale should have. I have no beef with any of it. It’s a solid story, if far too punishing to its characters to be especially enjoyable.Having finished, I am glad to be done with it. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to any but the most masochistic readers.Pardon me now as I am very much enjoying reading the autobiography of John Taylor of Duran Duran, on recommendation from their number one fan: my beautiful wife. So far nobody has been impaled, immolated, executed, terrorized, abandoned, eviscerated, decapitated, or otherwise made to suffer. Thank god.

⭐ This is a hard book to review. On the one hand, it’s well-written, with interesting characters and a unique plot. Yes, it’s post-apocalyptic fiction, but it manages to be different all the same.On the other, my God, but did this book need someone to tell Joe Hill to cut back several chapters. Moreover, he needs to stop stepping on his own plot twists. There are only a few plot twists here that are not spelled out ahead of time what will happen. Before we even meet a particular character, we are told by The Fireman that the character is untrustworthy and might turn into a villain. So it is no surprise at all when that exactly comes to pass. Later, characters often speculate on what will occur, only for that exact thing to happen. For example, the cat. It’s clearly a bad idea to bring the cat. Two characters spell it out. But do they bring the cat? Yes, they do. Does it turn out to be a bad idea? Yes it does.And our characters, despite all they go through, are curiously accepting of one plot point, something I could not for the life of me understand. I won’t say more for fear of revealing too much.Overall, it’s an extremely engaging read that slows down far too much in the middle and would have benefited from an editor slashing about a third of it. I wish the ending were different, but I respect it nonetheless (except for the fate of the cat).P.S. There is a hidden ending to this book. Do yourself a favor and read the credits until the very end.P.P.S. Kate Mulgrew’s narration is amazing.

⭐ MAJOR MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD.I honestly don’t know if I loved this book so much because it was just a really good fackin’ book or if it was because almost immediately I pictured the character of the Fireman in my head as the actor Paul Bettany who I love beyond belief. From the first minute we are introduced to the Fireman until the fiery awful ending I was enthralled with the idea of this mythic, super hero like character. I wish it had been that. The idea of the dragon scale, and what some of these characters were able to do, to become because of it was so f*#@ing cool, omg. I could just picture that sexy brit, in his ragged soot covered tshirt, and yellow fireman pants, with a dirty ashy face and his flaming left hand, shooting out his fabulous phoenix. OMG. Paul. Freakin’. Bettany. And I liked Harper, I really did, I thought she was a tough cookie. I see some comments criticizing that she fell in love with the Fireman out of no where but HELLO!!! Giant flaming Phoenix!!! I’m in love with the Fireman (Paul Bettany) how could you NOT be!! But again, not sure if its because he was really that cool or because I just super imposed a juxtaposition of Vision, the Archangel Michael, the Priest and Geoffrey Chaucer on top of the Fireman, because, you know, in my mind….Paul Bettany. Either way – this book was damn entertaining. I couldn’t put it down, I loved the world building and the details Joe Hill created in regards to the dragon scale spore. And yes it was kind of predictable and yes some of it has been done before, but I actually liked the little homages to his father sprinkled throughout, but the only thing…the ONLY thing that really made me mad was that after nursing the Fireman back from the brink of death 18 times practically, and dropping him off a cliff and after setting his broken femur with nothing and dragging his dying feverish a$$ 200 miles to salvation, and see him recover only to have him be killed by some yahoo on a boat…shot. Freakin’ shot are you kidding me??? not PAUL. FREAKIN’. BETTANY!!! ugh. heartbroken. but yes. Five stars.

⭐ This book, and this author, excite me. I’m a recent fan of Joe Hill, a young author who is still in the beginning stages of what I hope to be a long career. Admittedly, I discovered him through my favorite author of all time, a true storyteller – an art form that few modern writers have. I am happy to say that I’ve found all of this in Joe Hill, and his latest novel, The Fireman.The Fireman is an epic adventure revolving around a plague, Dragonscale, which results in spontaneous combustion for most of the infected. The spore is a true plague, threatening all of humanity, and instilling fear and madness to those who are not yet infected. The story centers around a holdout group that has somehow managed to defy the end game, offering a community for those able to manage the spore. Hill deftly creates both character and story, combining them into a terrific read with depth, complexity, humor, and horror. Yeah… try that.Admittedly, there are some points that don’t flow as well as others, places where the story loses its rhythm. However, when taken in context of the *whole* of the story, those instances of pacing issues pale in comparison to the areas he got right. There are sections that are absolute page turners, causing the reader – if you’re a night reader like me – to show up to work the following day a little red-eyed because you just can’t put it down.You can clearly see where Hill has found inspiration, both from other authors, and from his upbringing in Maine (and NH… close enough). This is not to say that he has over-borrowed, but I can see influences from other authors, other stories, that have made an impact upon him – much the same way they have impacted me. Hill has his own distinct style of writing, and it’s only going to get better with time.Taking on such an epic piece of writing is not easily done, even by experienced authors. Hill does not back down, writing rich characters and a suspenseful storyline. No spoilers, but there were parts in the story that were so jolting, so well-written, that it makes you wonder a little bit about how a well-adjusted person could write them. Surely this must come from the mind of a psychopath. Or… it could be the work of Joe Hill. I’ve only been able to say that about one other author; I’m thrilled to have found another.It’s time that we stop looking at Hill’s pedigree and see him as a standout author in his own right. I’m thrilled to find another story teller who can take his readers on a fabulous, macabre journey for decades to come. Joe Hill will certainly be one of the eminent (and I hope prolific) writers of the twenty-first century. I will be his Constant Reader, one of many.

⭐ I read The Fireman by Joe Hill to fulfill the prompt of A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner for the 2018 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge.This was the first book of Joe Hill’s I’ve read, and had I not known going in that he is Stephen King’s son, I probably would’ve considered this a derivative work as I could feel King’s influence early on.Harper Grayson is a school nurse whose life (along with that of everyone else on the planet) is turned sideways when an epidemic known as “dragonscale” spreads across the world, causing its victims to spontaneously combust as it spreads. Her husband, Jakob, doesn’t quite share Harper’s sense of empathy or compassion for the victims, accuses them of being selfish and spreading disease, and assures her that were they to become infected, he would want to do the right thing and commit suicide so they wouldn’t take out others when they went.Harper, as the story begins, has less spine than a jellyfish, so she meekly nods and goes along with what Jakob (or anyone else) says. That changes when Harper not only discovers she’s pregnant, but that she has contracted dragonscale.While working in her nursing capacity, she has seen infected mothers give birth to healthy non-infected babies, so she is determined to live long enough to give her child a chance to live.Jakob has other ideas.When an enigmatic figure known as “The Fireman” saves her from certain death, Harper discovers even more reason to hope. Apparently there are people who have learned to make peace with the dragonscale, and learned how to manipulate it instead of succumbing to it.Harper decides to attempt to integrate into this strange new community (which must remain hidden due to non-infected people deciding the best way to stay safe is to kill the infected before they have a chance to further spread dragonscale) because she believes it is her baby’s best chance for a future.But Jakob is still looking for her.And he’s made dangerous new friends.This book is far more science fiction than horror, which came as a surprise to me. There are a lot of cool elements Hill weaves into the story, and I felt engaged throughout. The last few chapters had me on edge, wondering if things were really about to get resolved.The ending was complete, but left me wanting more—which I found at the end of the acknowledgements, hidden behind recognition for the singers and writers of the songs mentioned in the novel.This has been one of my favorite books of the year so far, and I’m excited to read more from Hill in the future.

⭐ Before I wrote this I read some of the bad reviews of The Fireman and had to admit I was surprised. Some people are just really hard to please, I guess. Is The Fireman the perfect apocalyptic thriller? Of course not, but it’s a darn good one. I became totally caught up in the world of the Dragonscale, an infectious spore that causes people to spontaneously combust–except for the main characters who learn how to control the scale. Joe Hill has created characters who are very believable–both the infected characters and the “healthy” who turn into monsters out of fear of being infected.My only criticism was Harper’s medical skills which were just a little too unbelievable for a nurse only four years out of school who had worked as a school nurse before the poop hit the fan. If she’d had some military or ER nursing in her background, a stint as an EMT, or even if she had just searched out medical texts and read up on how to do some of the things she did, it might have been more believable. But it’s fiction, not a biography, so it didn’t stop me from getting caught up in her story and the world she was in. I read that it will be made into a movie, and I’m looking forward to it.

Keywords

Free Download The Fireman: A Novel in Epub format
The Fireman: A Novel Epub Free Download
Download The Fireman: A Novel 2017 Epub Free
The Fireman: A Novel 2017 Epub Free Download
Download The Fireman: A Novel Epub
Free Download Ebook The Fireman: A Novel