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The Fireman

The chilling horror thriller from the author of NOS4A2 and THE BLACK PHONE

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The Fireman

By: Joe Hill
Narrated by: Kate Mulgrew
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Nobody knew where the virus came from.
FOX News said it had been set loose by ISIS, using spores that had been invented by the Russians in the 1980s.
MSNBC said sources indicated it might've been created by engineers at Halliburton and stolen by culty Christian types fixated on the Book of Revelation.
CNN reported both sides.
While every TV station debated the cause, the world burnt.

Pregnant school nurse, HARPER GRAYSON, had seen lots of people burn on TV, but the first person she saw burn for real was in the playground behind the school.
With the epic scope of THE PASSAGE and the emotional impact of THE ROAD, this is one woman's story of survival at the end of the world.

Read by Kate Mulgrew

(p) 2016 HarperCollins Publishers©2016 Joe Hill Dystopian Fantasy Fiction Horror Science Fiction Scary Paranormal Adventure
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Critic reviews

If you haven't yet grabbed a copy of Joe Hill's THE FIREMAN, you need to. Original and gripping, a page-turner
I devoured this book as if the pages themselves were on fire...an end of the world
tale with a blazing heart of hope at its core. A contender for book of the year
Joe Hill really could set the world on fire with this book: cleverly imagined and a compulsive read
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
'Very well-drawn characters, some serious shocks, a great sense of humour and a willingness to break hearts as well as raise pulse rates.'
I would put money on this being huge. Can't put it down
You'll be instantly hooked if you're obsessed with The Walking Dead. It's got the whole post-apocalyptic world nailed...there is a brilliant humour amid the darkness, and the action scenes feel like a movie
Taps into fears we all have about the world coming to an end, as Donald Trump stokes the fires of racial hatred in America, wars continue across the planet and diseases such as Zika and Ebola spread with shocking speed.
Hill's writing has matured along with his ideas. He plays out the apocalypse so quickly and efficiently, through small-town witnesses and television broadcasts, that it feels absolutely devastating. And in the aftermath, he juggles a huge cast of characters with aplomb, giving each their time to shine, yet still managing to keep the tension high throughout
Original, compulsive and very frightening
Clever - but The Fireman isn't just clever, it's also a book with real soul... the deeper truths of The Fireman lie in the way it explores how we slowly build connections with those closest to us...a brave, bold and big hearted take on the end of the world
Set to blaze through bestsellers lists....exhilarating
Beautiful and aching and striking, a poignant exploration of human relationships and an ode to the simple things
A Lord of the Flies for the Twitter generation. Clever, gripping and packs a hell of a punch
Ominously superb
This book is incredible
Joe Hill (aka Stephen King Jnr) proves he's a chip off the old block with this epic post-apocalyptic adventure
The Fireman by Joe Hill is a thrilling, long-lingering, morally-striking book that set my heart and mind alight. A must read.
Breathless adventures, pulsing emotions, things that go bump in the night and so much more, with surprises lurking on the corner of every page
This is a huge cauldron of a novel that pulses with life, hope and decency as well as extreme fear and constant devastation
All stars
Most relevant
A pregnant heroine & Nick the deaf mute travelling through Maine with a raggedy band fleeing plague. Big , bad Harold and his diary? "My life for you!"...and if I remember rightly there was even a Gasmask Man. It's a good job Stephen King is his dad or young Joe would be facing a massive lawsuit!
Otherwise, reasonably good story even if British accent is worse than Dick Van Dykes chimneysweep!

The Stand mk2?.....but nowhere near as good

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would say try it, in the printed version. I found the narrator was a great distraction from the story due to the poor attempts at voicing the male characters and the absolutely appalling 'British' accent of The Fireman.

If you’ve listened to books by Joe Hill before, how does this one compare?

I've loved all of Joe Hills work, but have only listened to Heart Shaped Box.as an audio book, that was fantastic.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narrator was average in narrating the story and ok when voicing the female character's but very poor at voicing the male roles.

Could you see The Fireman being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

No

Disappointed

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Loved it but telegraphed the end slightly. Good characters you ended up caring about. Joe Hill is nearly as good as his Dad.

character led and engaging.

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Good book but at times a bit slow. Would listen to another book narrated by Kate Mulgrew.

Good overall

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the story was very long winded and it dragged in the more mundane parts of the story.

however this is an inventive tale that crosses a pandemic with the supernatural and puts the reader in the driver seat enabling you to grasp the disparity.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for an in-depth and interesting read.

A quality and unique story

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