Into The Fire by GD Wright
I would like to thank Avon and Random Things Tours for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher – Avon
Published – Out Now
Price – £8.99 paperback £2.99 ebook
HE RUNS INTO THE FLAMES A HERO.
Steve thought he had left his troubled past behind. Living a quiet life with his wife and children, everything changes the night he rescues a baby from a burning house, becoming an unexpected national hero.
HE EMERGES FROM THE ASHES A SUSPECT.
But as the spotlight shines brighter, so does the scrutiny, and a shocking accusation is made – that Steve is the man responsible for an unsolved murder in Beachbrook years prior.
BUT WHICH ONE IS HE REALLY?
As his world unravels, public opinion is firmly divided. Steve pleads his innocence, but DS Sue Willmott is determined to get to the bottom of what really happened all those years ago.
After all, even heroes hide secrets of their own.
What makes someone a hero? Their character, their actions or the life they’ve lived. Will one good deed outweigh anything else. No sooner do we find a hero for our age do we often then dig down into their life to find feet of clay or sometimes something much worse hiding in plain sight. In GD Wright’s thriller Into The Fire one man’s unthinking good deed bring him acclaim but also reveals his well hidden secrets.
Steve is in his forties and lives a quiet life running a coffee shop and a devoted husband and father of two. Getting the kids to school as challenging as he expected. But one evening he spots a house on fire and performs without thought for himself a daring rescue. Suddenly a man that avoids social media finds the spotlight upon him and that is troubling him in his sleep. As standard investigations continue Steve’s erratic behaviour unlocks something unexpected and now Steve finds himself now a suspect in a particularly notorious local crime from decades ago.
For those seeking a straightforward thriller this I think would work. Wright builds up Steve’s normal life then throws him into a well crafted scene of a burning building and a desperate rescue. It helps win us fully over and then doubts emerge as evidence emerges that Steve may indeed be a killer. There is a lot of peeling Steve’s troubled past life away and as Steve is so sympathetic we worry can he escape this secret.
There are though several issues I had with the book. The pacing does get a little bogged down and what should be more interesting cat and mouse as the police investigate his secrets actually feels like we know the odds may be in his favour. The other characters often feel perfunctory (the police characters indeed are only known by their surnames and titles even in home scenes) rather than feel fully involved, and there is a lack of overall tension as to these various mysteries surrounding Steve. I was nonplussed at the book’s finale which suggests it needed something extra dramatic to again rebalance the scales but I’m unsure the approach used here really worked.
Into the Fire is an interesting story that should be read for those wanting a quick dramatic read.
