Smoke

Fire is the ultimate equalizer – it doesn’t care how much money you have, how much you are loved, or how old you are.  One tiny spark in the right conditions can take your whole world away.  And if it takes a life, the question is where did that spark come from?  If it’s manmade, it’s murder.  Smoke by Catherine McKenzie follows a small town under the threat of a forest fire.  The citizens swing from indifference when the fire isn’t impacting their lives directly, to rallying around the evacuees, to anger as they look to place blame for the inconvenience the fire creates.  The author weaves in many aspects of small-town life including politics and the high school booster club.

I chose the Audible version of this book for the Friends & Fiction Challenge January prompt – a book with a one-word title.  I appreciate reading challenges because it forces me to step outside my typical reading patterns and select authors and books I might otherwise overlook.  This novel was full of relatable characters – couples with marriage trouble, bullying, and people just trying to fit in.

I give Smoke 4 out of 5 stars.  I found some of the character development lacking and I found it difficult to follow the story as it jumped between characters.  The author also focused on a jealousy issue in the main character’s marriage only to discount it quickly in the end – it did not add to the overall story and even detracted from the central story.

I would recommend this book to audiences over the age of 13.  With discussions of sex/pregnancy, marital issues, and criminal investigations, this novel would not be well suited to younger audiences.  I would recommend Smoke to readers looking for a lighter mystery with aspects of a romance novel.

What I’m reading

• Current print book: Dark Angel, John Sandford
• Current audio book: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin
• Book I’m most looking forward to: China Rich Girlfriend, Kevin Kwan