BLOG TOUR: Firewatching - Russ Thomas

ONE FALSE MOVE 

Someone is setting fire to Sheffield. It starts with small things – dustbins and abandoned sheds so people don’t notice at first. But the calling card is there if you look for it. 

WILL IGNITE 

Soon the fires spread to offices, homes, people. The Firewatcher’s followers are growing and they have one particular blaze in mind – one that the police would do well to pay attention to. 

THE CITY 

But DS Adam Tyler is distracted by a case, one that he is unknowingly connected to. And if he can’t discover the link between the fires and himself, he will burn – along with the entire city. 

What did I think?

Oh my word!  Firewatching is an absolute firecracker of a novel; what an astonishing debut from Russ Thomas.  It's so outstanding that I had to triple check that it was in fact his debut and I'm already so excited to find out what Russ Thomas has in store next for DS Adam Tyler.

Russ Thomas completely captures the readers attention with his engrossing story in this impossible to put down thriller set in Sheffield.  I was gripped from start to, not just the finish but, beyond the finish as I'm chomping at the bit to read more.  That's not to say that it ends on a cliffhanger by any means but along with the main story and a couple of sub-stories there is also Adam Tyler's personal story, resulting in multiple layers of intrigue.  With more hooks than a coat rack, this book really is impossible to put down.

With such a blistering pace, I absolutely raced through this scorching novel.  Please excuse the fire related puns but they really do describe the book perfectly.  I loved the character of Adam, even though I didn't take to him right away.  He's so very flawed and guarded that we're not even close to seeing the real him right now.  I'm looking forward to getting to know him so much better over what I hope will be a long running series.

There's so much I could write about this book as there are so many areas for discussion, but I don't want to give away any spoilers of the outstanding plot.  Russ Thomas is a fresh new voice in the crime thriller genre and I have no doubt that he will hold his own against so many brilliant well-established authors.  Established crime writers beware, there's a new voice in town and it's magnifique!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon




About the author:

Russ Thomas was born in Essex, raised in Berkshire and now lives in Sheffield. He grew up in the 80s reading anything he could get from the library, writing stories, watching large amounts of television, playing videogames, and largely avoiding the great outdoors. He spent five years trying to master playing the electronic organ and another five trying to learn Spanish. It didn’t take him too long to realise that he’d be better off sticking to the writing.

After a few ‘proper’ jobs (among them: pot-washer, optician’s receptionist, supermarket warehouse operative, call-centre telephonist and storage salesman) he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day.  

His debut novel Firewatching is the first book in the DS Adam Tyler series. 

Follow the tour: