This is good, but it's not what I expect from Joe Hill. I expect horror, good pacing, and a story that really sucks me in right from the beginning. I got a dystopian, dark fantasy that flows really well in some spots, but seems too long and drawn out for my tastes. I did eventually get sucked into the story though. The plot was good, but I really feel this should have been tapered down quite a bit. While it's not what I would consider a "too long" book, it's 384 could have slimmed down by about 80 or so of those.
In this people are being wiped out by Dragonscale. It's very contagious. The people infected with this all burst out in flames, or so everyone thought. We meet a nurse who volunteers at a hospital where she meets the fireman who promises tells her to call on him if ever she is in need of help with a fire. Lots of flames and combustion people later, the hospital burns. She becomes infected. She also finds out she is pregnant. Her jerk of a boyfriend thinks he too is infected, goes all wacky crazy, and becomes hell bent on ending both their lives. The "Fireman" is amazing, and hard to describe, probably because I still don't fully understand what he is, but he is all badass superman, and i have to admit i developed a bit of a crush. He protects her and takes her to a place where infected people have learned how to not burst into flames and live a productive life.
Up until this book I considered Joe Hill a younger Stephen King and found so many similarities in their writing, they share DNA after all. He proved me wrong. I really didn't like this at first, but I grew on me. I think in years to come the younger will surpass the older in talent, I never thought I would say that. To be honest, when I first found out that Hill was Kings son, I had a hard time not thinking he would be a one hit wonder, or a couple hit wonder.
I recieved a copy of this through Edelwiess in exchange for an honest review. (I got lucky!)
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