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A review by jacquevb
Fire on the Island by Timothy Jay Smith
4.0
(thanks to Netgally for the free ARC, which was given to me in exchange for an honest review)
Fire on the Island is a rollercoaster ride of a romantic thriller. When FBI agent Nick comes to a small Grecian island to investigate a string of arson fires, he has no idea that he's stepping into a town that's about to boil over with political turmoil. Tension is around every turn, between the constant stream of refugees washing up on the island, to the cracking church bell, to the fires that are getting closer and closer to the Coast Guard tanks.
The characters in this story were complex, and throwing them together in such a charged situation made for some excellent drama and exciting thrills. Each character was involved in several subplots that all tied together wonderfully by the end. I would have preferred it if the characters' voices were a bit more distinct, and some of the exposition was a little bit info-dump-y, but all in all I really enjoyed the story and empathized with most of the characters.
Though there were some parts that I wasn't necessarily thrilled to hear about before I started reading (homophobia, racism, never-ending church politics), they were all essential to making the story as realistic as it is. Life is often messy and cruel, and Smith does a fantastic job of capturing those darker sides of human nature in such a way that explains the prejudices and complexities without excusing them.
Overall, this story masterfully balanced the insightful and the thrilling, which made it quite the page turner. The only thing that would have made this better is if I was able to read it on the beach in Greece!
Fire on the Island is a rollercoaster ride of a romantic thriller. When FBI agent Nick comes to a small Grecian island to investigate a string of arson fires, he has no idea that he's stepping into a town that's about to boil over with political turmoil. Tension is around every turn, between the constant stream of refugees washing up on the island, to the cracking church bell, to the fires that are getting closer and closer to the Coast Guard tanks.
The characters in this story were complex, and throwing them together in such a charged situation made for some excellent drama and exciting thrills. Each character was involved in several subplots that all tied together wonderfully by the end. I would have preferred it if the characters' voices were a bit more distinct, and some of the exposition was a little bit info-dump-y, but all in all I really enjoyed the story and empathized with most of the characters.
Though there were some parts that I wasn't necessarily thrilled to hear about before I started reading (homophobia, racism, never-ending church politics), they were all essential to making the story as realistic as it is. Life is often messy and cruel, and Smith does a fantastic job of capturing those darker sides of human nature in such a way that explains the prejudices and complexities without excusing them.
Overall, this story masterfully balanced the insightful and the thrilling, which made it quite the page turner. The only thing that would have made this better is if I was able to read it on the beach in Greece!