Review of A Brush with FIre

[Sarah Schmidt]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Brush with FIre" by Jody Summers.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Art of the Dead Trilogy by Jody Summers is continued by the second book in the series, A Brush with Fire. Kira McGovern is happy with her lot in life, getting ready to tie the knot with Sean Easton, her love, and seeing success in her business, The Canvas of Life. A call from an FBI agent has the potential to turn all this on its head. He requests her aid in catching an elusive arsonist, having been apprised of her talents from a friend, David. The report John Thornton wrote credits Kira as being instrumental in solving a decades-long serial murder case, and though he’s a sceptic, he flies out to meet with her. She agrees, wanting to put an end to the fires and possible murders. This case turns up more than she thought it would, uncovering secrets about her past she never even suspected. Will they catch the arsonist before any more lives are lost, and what connection does Kira have with the mysteriously masked woman?

There were only six characters in the story of significant interest. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t create any confusion in the reading experience, as this is a relatively small number. There were constant shifts in points of view within each chapter, however. I reasoned this to be Summers’ attempt to mimic a camera panning back and forth between angles, but this didn’t carry over so well in text format, being slightly annoying instead.

As for the second negative, this has to do with the number and nature of errors I located in the text. I do not believe the book has been professionally edited at all, considering the mistakes scattered throughout the writing.

My favourite part of the novel revolved around the portrayal of a holocaust survivor’s PTSD and how it influenced his granddaughter’s upbringing. It would have been quick to write the antagonist, Poena, as a murdering psychotic case, and while she embodies this to some extent, the stories of her upbringing will definitely elicit a measure of sympathy in readers. Some dark themes were explored, rather gorily at that, such as the treatment of the Jewish prisoners at the hands of the Nazis and the measures they took to survive. Poena’s crimes also took a nauseatingly descriptive route, so I advise potential readers to watch out for this.

The psychical element was also something I found myself enjoying. I admit, it adds a new dimension to the whole ‘getting into the mind of the killer’ trope. The four characters that displayed some level of psychic ability or clairvoyance did so in ways that weren’t exactly alike. They’re growing into their powers too, so this development was a nice extra.

I do wonder if Josh’s attraction to Kira was just a means to justify his apparent unlikeability or to make the female characters seem that much more appealing. Even Poena voices her annoyance with the attention her beauty garners her. On that note, there were multiple instances of profane and sexual content, so a mature audience is required.

I rate A Brush with Fire three out of four stars. The one-star deduction can be attributed to the presence of a large number of errors in the writing. Otherwise, this was an enjoyable read, with the negatives not being essential enough to affect the rating, and is worth recommending to lovers of crime and mystery novels with supernatural elements. Those who wish for fictional stories about the lives of survivors of the holocaust should also give this book a read.

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A Brush with FIre
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[Blessing E]

Great one. I appreciate well written reviews. This is because it gives me an idea of how to structure my reviews subsequently. Thanks teaching me what a good review is. And congratulations for having your review published.

[Ceeco2002]

I'm curious to find out if they succeeded in catching the arsonist. Great review!

[Gideon Olomofe]

The book seems a great read with mixed events.

[ellimctreph]

I thought this was going to be trite when I started reading, but this book actually sounds goods. Great review!

[Sopulu Ezidimma]

Amazing review and a great storyline captivating as well

[Amy Luman]

I really dislike gore in the books that I read so I appreciate having that written into your review. Thanks! I am interested in Kira’s involvement in the mystery, but since this is the second in a series and I haven’t read the first I will have to skip this one.

[ellimctreph]

Your summary was really engaging. Kira sound like an intriguing character and I think I'm going to pick this up to get to know her more.

[Christopherio]

This seems like an interesting book with a lot of plot twists.

[NetMassimo]

The first book of this series seemed to me like an intriguing horror / thriller of the type I like to read, developed upon a quite original premise. Glad to see that this sequel seems intriguing as well, though I hope the author does another round of proofreading. Thank you for your great review!