Customer Reviews

Day Into Night

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Newcomer Dave Hugelschaffer's debut novel Day Into Night is scorching its mark onto the Crime Fiction genre. Hugelschaffer introduces a new kind of Canadian hero -- the fearless Porter Cassel -- a Forest Ranger turned fire investigator. When arson is suspected in the rugged lumber regions of Alberta, Cassel is called to the scene. In an attempt to trace the source of the fire, he inadvertently disturbs crucial evidence. But when the facts link the arsonist to prior attacks by an ecological extremist known as the Lorax, Cassel finds himself hot to avenge the death of his fiancee, Nina.

Day Into Night is alive with characters who are almost embarrassingly genuine, from Cassel's sister, a single mother struggling to raise children in the aftermath of divorce, to his best buddy Carl, the original Man Of The Woods. Cassel himself is an endearing everyman, a beacon of Canadian humour and antics, as full of pee and vinegar as a good old barroom brawl.

Before reading Day Into Night, I thought I knew something about trees. From the moment I cracked open Hugelschaffer's pages I realised that what I didn't know about the woods could fill a book.

Hugelschaffer's hero is sure to make you laugh out loud. Cassel's sardonic and self-deprecating wit is an unstoppable element of the story. Topped up with testosterone and ready to take on the bad guys, Cassel will lead you into a riotous romp through Alberta's wilderness. Our hero may not pack much of a punch, but he can take one better than any crime-fighter I know. And, as Cassel would say, you should see the other guy's fist!

Donna Carrick

When two separate investigations--a forest fire on the slopes of the Caribou mountain range and an ecoterrorist bombing in the Rocky Mountains--leave authorities stumped, Porter Cassel is called to the job as an arson investigator. Sifting through the debris and ashes, he unwittingly compromises evidence of a serial arsonist's delay mechanism at the arson crime scene, then stumbles upon something more hideous at the bombing scene--blackened human remains.

For Cassel, the bombing instantly becomes personal. Haunted by the murder of his fiancee Nina Pirelli--a murder that bears a startling similarity to the current bombing case--Cassel launches his own unofficial investigation to discover the identity of the ecoterrorist, who calls himself the Lorax, while investigating an apparently unrelated string of serial arsons.

Caught between duty and desire, he treads on the toes of other officials on the case, particularly the Mounties, and suddenly finds himself framed for murder. There is only one way to prove his innocence, and that's to find the persons responsible.

Fast-paced and filled with enough turbo-charged action to keep you reading to the very last page, Day Into Night is a smokin' read. And Dave Hugelschaffer, who writes with a unique style and voice, is an author to watch for.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
[...]

A fast moving topical plot, vivid and accurate descriptions of real life forest fire fighting in Alberta, a likeable and realistic set of characters (for a mystery) all add up to a riveting read. Mr Hugelschaffer has obviously done his research the hard way by actually living and working in the settings he portrays and that gives his book a kind of honesty and down-to earthiness you don't see often in books of this kind. I have to admit that I have a vocational interest in this book , (coming from a similar background) and I'm telling you it rings true. Open it at your peril because you'll end up like me, reading madly into the night. My only criticism is that he handles the sex scenes pretty much like most Forest Rangers do , kind of tentatively, (just kidding)

Raging forest fires. Serial arsonists and bombers. An investigator framed for the murder of a suspect. Intricate plotting, sly wit and authentic details. The Forest Rangers' equivalent of CSI.