Fireworks

by James A. Moore

Book Overview

In the interest of National Security...Amendment I, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843952474
• ISBN13: 9780843952476
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Good Read!

I had never read anything by James Moore before - and wasn't quite sure what I was in for when I started this book, but it was quite the page turner - I think I finished it in just a couple of days. Pick this one up - you won't regret it!

A Cracking Good Tale

I already owned James Moore's "Under the Overtree" when I picked up his latest title, the aptly named "Fireworks." While I haven't read "Under the Overtree" as of yet, something told me to dig into "Fireworks" right away. After a few initial worries in the first dozen pages, I am glad I decided to read this story about an eerie encounter with an alien spacecraft and the subsequent nightmare its arrival on earth brings to the citizens of the small town of Collier, Georgia. On the acknowledgements page, Moore offers his profound thanks to Stephen King and Dean Koontz for writing books about alien visitors. He writes that books like "The Tommyknockers" and "Strangers" provided the impetus to explore such an encounter from a perspective these two authors only slightly touched upon. While Moore is certainly no Stephen King or Dean Koontz, his novel does ultimately satisfy a reader interested in these sorts of things.It is the Fourth of July in Collier, Georgia as the entire town buzzes with excitement over the annual fireworks display that takes place at Oldman's Lake, an event that also draws a significant number of tourists loaded with money to spend in town. The 1995 display promises to be extra special this year, although the crowds clogging the shoreline aren't aware of the added festivities until it's too late. In fact, many of these spectators won't live long enough to enjoy the memory of what they see arcing through the sky over Collier. Right in the middle of the display, a giant UFO smashes into the center of the lake, sending out a heat and shock wave that kills over one hundred people in the most gruesome ways imaginable. Many who survive will wish they hadn't as they deal with massive burns over their entire bodies and the repercussions of possible exposure to radiation from the spacecraft. Even worse, this extraterrestrial disaster brings in an even more sinister danger in the form of ONYX, a top-secret black government agency assigned to deal with alien visitors. Within an hour these black suited, armed to the teeth government goons move into town, establishing a quarantine throughout the area and constructing a bogus story about a Palestinian terrorist armed with biological weapons in order to keep the media at bay. Collier gradually slides from confusion into outright hostility as the soldiers under the command of Colonel Mark Anderson implement increasingly totalitarian measures to insure secrecy regarding the crashed saucer. Secondary casualties start to mount as disaffected townspeople resort to violence after suffering through a declaration of martial law, confiscation of firearms, restricted access to their places of business and their injured family members, and a total media blackout in the town which includes restricted use of telephone service. As ONYX members turn up dead, the military fights back against the town by killing or arresting troublemakers. "Fireworks" is a carefully crafted account of the slow descent into anarc

Humans, not Aliens, Highlight this Tale

On July 4th a large unidentified crafts crashes into the lake of a small Georgia town during the holiday firewors and kills a large number of citizens. Yet the craft isn't the real story in this excellent novel by horror writer James Moore. This isn't a novel about space aliens and sci-fi happenings, it is a story about people. Moore does an good job with this character study which draws largely on books like Dean Koontz's Strangers. He allows you into the minds of many of the main player's in this tragedy and turns tradition sci-fi roles on its head. Here we have a stiff military leader with a heart, a independent minded sheriff with a conscience, a preachers daughter with a past and a faithful soldier with a secret. These are all good people and their values are put to the test by the trying situation and the fears and prejiduces of the people surronding them.

Powerful SF thriller

The residents of Collier, Georgia always enjoy the annual Independence Day celebration especially the fireworks. However, this year the fireworks are different as a huge UFO crashes killing or severely injuring approximately twenty-five per cent of the locals.Top secret elite military cadre ONYX arrives in town to secure the perimeter. No one will enter or leave quarantined Collier. To the surviving townsfolk, the operation looks more like an invasion force, which turns worse as the soldiers obey orders of strict security enforcement. Violence between both sides of Americans break out even while the UFO remains under the waters of the nearby lake. Unless cooler heads prevail, further tragedy seems like the only outcome.FIREWORKS is not an Independence Day or War of the Worlds ET invasion tale though the alien craft crash serves as the catalyst to the theme of how will the Feds react to a UFO and how will locals react to the heavy handed Feds' response that "incarcerates" them? Instead the novel feels more like the Hoffman thriller Outbreak though the impetus varies. Though why the UFO was flying over earth is never revealed (sequel perhaps) the action is loaded, but James A. Moore forces his audience to ponder what seems like believable actions and reactions of real people, soldier and resident alike.Harriet Klausner

Kept me enthralled

Excellent. Reading the blurb on the back of the book (at my local library), I had anticipated seeing the military as the bad guy, but you might be surprised how your loyalties get divided. Excellent book that kept me wanting to stay up late to finish it.