Fire Angel by Susanne Matthews-A Review and Interview with the Author
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About the Book: Release Date April 29, 2013
A malicious serial killer is out for revenge in Paradise. Using fire as his weapon, he strikes at random, and the bodies are piling up.
Criminal profiler Jake McKenzie has returned from Afghanistan minus a leg and afraid to trust his instincts. When the police ask for his expertise in identifying the killer, he agrees knowing this is his chance to prove he can still do the job
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REVIEW: This book is labeled a suspense book…it certainly is!
We start off meeting John Jacob (Jake) McKenzie, a longtime resident of Paradise (a town in Canada), who owns and runs a inn with his brother David (still a Dr. in the military); his brother’s fiancée Minette helps run the inn while David is away. She’s a wonderful cook and works tirelessly taking care of not just the inn, but seeing to her small daughter and Jake as well. Jake used to work for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as a criminal profiler before going to Afghanistan as a volunteer in the capacity of profiling for the military.
In Afghanistan, he was married to a local woman, and was severely injured by a mine as well as some of his best friends (Minette’s husband Andre was killed). Missing one of his legs, Jake wears a prosthetic leg and can manage most moderately flat terrains. Recently returned to work for the Paradise Police Force as a consultant profiling cases, Jake has many memories that are haunting him and they are slowly revealed in flashbacks. He is working on a series of fires that have been found to be related. He asked the police chief to call in a professional fire investigator, recommending a woman he read about that has made quite a reputation for success in San Francisco. (Please know that this is much more involved with many more characters written very interestingly so that you begin to learn about the town of Paradise and those surrounding Jake. I don’t want to spoil all the fun of reading this for yourself)
The woman, Alexis Michaels, turns out to be a girl who had lived in Paradise sixteen years ago, but had run away from a drunken and brutalizing uncle. She changed her name to her Grandfather’s and lived with him after some trouble getting her act together. She and Jake were good friends and Jake actually loved her (especially can’t forget her blue-green cat-eyes). When she ran away from her uncle, he never quite forgot about the girl with the blue-green eyes….
The sparks fly, the attraction is still there on both sides and the bad guys are out to stop them. Figuring out who’s setting the fires and killing all the people, many innocents are killed as well – just in the wrong place at the wrong time, is confusing, frustrating and interesting. Well written, the plot is simple but very good, the characters are different. The danger is very real and explosive and the love story builds slowly!
I’m personally hoping they get together and form their own investigative team or company…many more Jake and Alexis stories could be in the future?
Copy supplied by the author.
Reviewed by Georgianna S.
TRC: Hi Susanne and welcome to The Reading Café.
We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?
Follow Susanne: Website / Twitter / Goodreads /
Susanne: I was born and raised in Cornwall, Ontario, a city located on the Canada-US border. My husband and I will have been married 42 years in September. We have three children and five grandchildren. I was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, and then started a career in education. I retired from teaching last year after more than thirty years in the field. Now, I’ve started another career as an author. I love gardening and camping in the summer, but I’m an indoor person come winter.
I’m an avid reader and like nothing better than curling up with a good book and a cold beer on a hot summer day, or a glass of red wine in front of the fireplace on a cold winter night. My reading tastes are varied as are my writing preferences, but no matter what sub-genre I choose to write, all of my books have Happily Ever After endings.
TRC: Fire Angel is your April 2013 release. Would you please tell us something about the premise?
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Susanne: The story follows Alexis, a fire investigator, and Jake, a criminal profiler, as they search to discover the identity of a serial killer using fire as a weapon to revenge himself against the people he feels have wronged him in the small town of Paradise. It is also a reunion story between two people who fell in love as teens, but never got the chance to act on their feelings. Life has wounded both of them, and they have a lot of personal issues to deal with before they can accept and love one another.
TRC: What or who was the mitigating factor behind the premise of Fire Angel?
Susanne: I believe everyone has a soul mate, but they don’t always recognize them when they see them. Some people call it love at first sight, but it’s more than that. It’s a deeper connection, and sometimes, soul mates are torn apart before they can get together. Jake and Alexis are like that, but they get a second chance to connect. Not everyone is that fortunate. I also think some people are born with a sense of entitlement that lets them believe others are always to blame for their misfortunes. This misplaced idea really eats at them until revenge is all they can think of—that’s where the Fire Angel himself was born.
TRC: Are any events or characters based on reality or an amalgamation?
Susanne: A couple of years ago, we had a series of arsons in the region. There was one death attributed to the fires, but many farmers lost livestock, over a hundred head of cattle. In fact, farmers were terrified wondering who would be next. Added to that, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of machinery, not to mention the structures themselves, were destroyed. In the city, heritage buildings burned to the ground or had to be demolished. It occurred to me that fire was a powerful way to get even with someone, and the arsonists not always easy to catch.
TRC: What challenges or difficulties (logistical, research etc) did you encounter writing this particular novel? e.g. fire scenarios, chemistry of fires.
Susanne: I wouldn’t call it a difficulty, but research for the book took a lot of time. I read about fire investigators, fire inspectors, and criminal profilers. I looked into the behavior of fire, its various stages, and how fires begin. I also researched arson and pyromania to understand the difference between them. I learned a great deal about what is flammable and what is explosive. I know gasoline doesn’t explode, but its fumes do. One of the fires is set in a service station, so I had to research what could explode there if gasoline didn’t. I also looked into a number of chemical compounds that were volatile—Molotov cocktails, both the original ones and the modern ones—and I learned all about the properties of super glues and Rohypnol. Finally, I researched prosthetics, and the problems faced by amputees.
TRC: Did you know much about the Temagami prior to writing or researching this book? They figure highly into your plot.
Susanne: We visited Northern Ontario a few years ago, and I bought a wood carving, a bear, made by the Temagami people in the area. We have a Mohawk reserve nearby, and I was curious about this other First Nation culture, so I researched them. In his younger days, my dad was a hunter, travelling to the northernmost parts of Ontario in search of moose. He always spoke highly of the native guides and their respect for nature. I researched the area where I’d set Paradise, and the Temagami Reserve was the closest. I did additional research on them for the book.
TRC: Will there be more adventures for Alexis and Jake? And if so, will they have their own investigation company?
Susanne: Jake and Alexis have a cameo in my second book, In Plain Sight, due out August 12, 2013. They have indeed formed their own company, but I don’t want to spoil anything by revealing anything else. I am planning another book set in Paradise, and they will definitely be in the story.
TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?
Susanne: I usually have a vague idea of where I want the story to go, but I don’t work with an outline—it’s more a rough synopsis. The action in the story is character driven all the way; they tell me what they want to do, and I type.
TRC: If you could virtually cast the main characters in Fire Angel, which models or actors would be represent your ideal image?
Susanne: This is a toss-up. I would choose either Emily Bett Ricahrds or Stephen Amell from Arrow, or Nathan Filion and Stana Katic from Castle. I think Stana would look great as a blonde!
TRC: What five things would you like to accomplish in the next ten years?
Susanne:
Travel more—visit exotic places like Hawaii
Meet all the people who have supported me in my writing, especially the women authors in my writing group. We only meet online.
Write and sell at least four books a year
Become a best-selling author, with a book on the best seller list
See one of my books made into a movie or television series
TRC: What are your thoughts on book reviews-good or bad?
Susanne: Book reviews are essential, and realistically, not everyone is going to like every book they read. Until I became an author, I didn’t realize how important they were. Good reviews tell me I did a great job, bad reviews tell me I have to work harder.
TRC: On what are you currently working?
Susanne: At the moment, I’m working on a romance/suspense set near Boston. A crime reporter, demoted to the social pages, searches for her missing girlfriend. In the process, she gets mixed up with a white supremacist cult, kidnapping, and murder, and has to turn to the man she used to love for help.
TRC: Would you like to add anything else?
Susanne: I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to speak to your readers, and I hope they’ll enjoy my books.
LIGHTNING ROUND
Favorite Food: steak, medium rare
Favorite Dessert: Crème Brulée
Favorite TV Shows: Castle and Arrow
Last Movie You Saw: Star Trek, Into Darkness
Dark or Milk Chocolate: Neither. I’m allergic to chocolate.
Favorite Flower: carnations
Last Vacation Destination: Boston, Massachusetts
TRC: Thank you Susanne for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of FIRE ANGEL. We wish you much success in your writing career.
