From Publishers Weekly
"Nobody's house is worth risking a firefighter's life for," says a young hotshot (a forest-fire fighter) early in the seventh outing of Albuquerque lawyer Neil Hamel. Van Gieson (Parrot Blues) gives that moral statement a human face, and, through Neil's unsentimental sleuthing, delivers her message with a maximum of adventure and a minimum of preachiness. The mother of Joni Baker, one of nine hotshots who died battling a fire on federal land, wants Neil to represent them in a civil suit against the government for negligence. The government report blames the hotshots for their own deaths. Mike Marshall, Joni's boyfriend and a hotshot who survived, claims the Forest Service sat on information that could have saved his colleagues' lives. Neil makes contact with Ramona Franklin, a Navajo firefighter who served as lookout during the fire, but later on the enigmatic woman makes herself scarce. The only cheerful people Neil encounters are those who can pull enough strings to get firefighters to protect their homes. When Neil goes hunting information in the burned area, an arsonist gives her a closer look at fire than she ever wanted, and another life is lost. Neil's character is enriched in this adventure as Van Gieson focuses on the almost-40 lawyer's developing relationships with the firefighters and with her young Hispanic boyfriend, known as the Kid. After reading this tale, readers will view TV news clips of forest fires wit heightened respect.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Albuquerque lawyer Neil Hamel's latest adventure begins with a deadly forest fire in which nine young Forest Service firefighters die. The parents of Joni Barker, one of the victims, come to Neil looking for a lawyer to represent them in their suit against the U.S. government, the Forest Service, and anyone else they can think of to blame for their daughter's tragic death. When Neil and two survivors of the fire visit the site to reenact what happened, another deadly fire breaks out, and Neil herself almost dies. The investigators suspect arson this time, and Neil finds herself wondering what the motive could have been. Was the second fire connected to the first? Who could have stood to gain anything from either fire? The answers come from an unsuspected but not unlikely quarter. Solid writing and plotting, a likable heroine, and an intriguing look at the brave men and women who fight forest fires make this a good choice for most collections.
Emily Melton
