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    Dirty Fire by Earl Merkel

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    (Mass Market Paperback)

    • Pub. Date: October 2003
    • 384pp

      Reader Rating: (3 ratings)

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      Product Details

      • Pub. Date: October 2003
      • Publisher: Signet
      • Format: Mass Market Paperback, 384pp

      Synopsis

      Police officer John Davey, once set-up on bribery charges, has been given a chance to save his career-by investigating the baffling murder of two of Chicago's most prominent art collectors. But in the charred ruins of their North Shore mansion are clues to something more sinister than premeditated arson.

      Customer Reviews

      Dirty Fireby Anonymous

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      March 04, 2004: Finally, we have a new book from Chicagoan Earl Merkel (best-selling author of Final Epidemic). Dirty Fire is a straight-ahead mystery about an ex-cop who was set up on bribery charges and run off the force. Now he's back as an acting fire marshal, helping an old colleague investigate the suspicious death of a wealthy art collector who burned to death in his opulent North Shore mansion. Merkel isn't trying to do anything fancy here; he just tells a solid mystery story with interesting characters and an involving plot. What more could one ask for?

      Dirty Fireby Anonymous

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      March 04, 2004: The prologue to Earl Merkel's second book starts with a holocaust of flames and continues with the finding of two dead bodies-- prominent art lovers-- within their burned-out Chicago mansion. From there, Merkel proceeds with a gripping beginning to the mystery, flitting from one to another seemingly unconnected scene in the first few chapters. But he has the ability to add depth to his characters and make his readers quickly care about them.? His protagonist, ex-police officer John Davey, haunted by his father's dishonesty and then framed by his own crooked superiors, works his way through a maze of conflicting interests and international intrigue to uncover the truth, as the victims of grisly murders multiply. He gets a second chance to vindicate himself, acting on behalf of the fire department, to pursue the puzzle through a labyrinth of corrupt Chicago police, American criminals, and Russian agents. He uncovers crime upon crime, stemming from the original German holocaust and its plunder of Jewish art, in turn captured and hidden by the Russians, and now being 'liberated' again. All the while he battles his personal demons, within and without, dropping some interesting historical and philosophical tidbits along the way. Example: 'It is a fact of the human condition that as mortals we are subject to what the Greeks call hubris. Roughly translated, it means an overweening pride-- a frequently fatal flaw that blinds us to our own peril. The hunter is stalked, the biter bitten. Few of us ever consider the reality that we are not in control-- that someone else, a little more paranoid or maybe a little less sane, has turned the tables on us.'? Fans of Merkel's first book, 'Final Epidemic,' will enjoy this one, if they keep their wits about them while weaving their way through this convoluted tale's intricate plot, with its myriad characters, to a very satisfying conclusion. -J. Riley


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