Thursday, September 28, 2006

Another book, but not another keeper

Hmmm... What to say about this book... I don't want to give it a "formal" review, because I don't feel like it... At first, when I read the back blurb:
"First, you gotta find the perfect bottle,” the Firebug rasped. “Too hard, and it won’t bust when it hits the floor. Too thin, and it explodes on impact with the window, splashing you with the fuel mix and burning you to hell."
I thought, perhaps the book was about a genie ^^; The cover didn't really look like "romantic suspense" so I thought perhaps paranormal or fantasy. Don't you think the drawing looks a bit like a heart? Anyhow... turns out not. So where to begin? Basically, Dr. Jack Montoya is a doctor working in a hospital with not enough funding and in a bad part of the city. There is a serious problem with the quality of the air and Jack has been falsifying some reports in order for children to obtain medicine and be alive... however, it's been discovered and he's in deep trouble. Worst, it suddenly starts up trouble... a lot of trouble, esp. with radicals and political personas. Reagan used to live in Jack's neighborhood, but moved when they were small. She followed her father's footsteps and became a firefighter, much to her mother's disarray. Because her mother couldn't handle the stress and pressure, she kicked out Reagan... Reagan thus went to live with Joe, her father's captain who became Reagan's captain as well. Anyway, someone calls a news channel and tells that Jack is now burning in his house... Firefighters are sent in, but Jack is not there, he's with Reagan who cannot be a firefighter anymore because she has asthma. Joe dies and Reagan is blamed and used as a scapegoat by her friends and co-workers because suspicions are that Jack started the fire as he is part of the BorderFree-4-all radical cell.

argh, insane. First of all, I had a lot of problem with Reagan: she has asthma. face it, you can't be a firefighter anymore, be responsible and do the right thing instead of going to look for doctors who might sign your form to return to work. Then, her mother... hello, you don't kick out your child like that... you talk with her, deal with it, but more importantly, you TELL her why you don't support her... because you're scared, afraid that she'll die in the fire, just like her father. Took 6-7 years for Reagan to realize... So, come on. Then, you have Reagan's entourage... man, are they stupid or what? Okay, perhaps that Jack was a radical... what would be the point of setting fire to his own house? Of course, it is to attract firefighters to his place in the hope that the captain of his friend dies... Uh, I don't think so. So why does Reagan wind up being the scapegoat?!? The man was her father figure, would she really risk his life? The worst is that she was banned from attending to the funerals and asked by some high ranked head of department to change station, change shift. Why don't you spell it out: either ask her to resign or be a firefighter in another town. The hero is not as bad, but he does have some not so charming traits ^^;

That's few of the problems I had with the book. Basically, I thought the book was frustrating! Frustrating! The "suspense" wasn't very good either and I didn't like the "BorderFree-4-all" aspect. It pains me, but here's my grade: 1.5/5 :(