The Fourth Angel

by Suzanne Chazin

Book Overview

Georgia Skeehan is a rookie marshal with the New York City Fire Department but when an inferno in SoHo devours a small building and consumes fifty lives, she finds herself thrust into command of the investigation. She suspects the fire may have been started by HTA: a kitchen-sink concoction with the thermal power of rocket fuel. HTA fires, rare over the last decade, are so ferocious they can melt a building's steel and concrete framework in minutes...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399147055
• ISBN13: 9780399147050
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.3" x 6.5"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

The Fourth Angel

WOW, Fantastic, Acurate, Thrilling, Incredible. This book has got to be one on the best I have ever read. I am an avid reader of Patrica Cornwell, Steven King, and Jeffrey Archer and Suzanne has hit the spot with this one. I have spent 25 years as a firefighter and 11 of those as Fire Chief, this book describes the heart and sole of the firefighters and the officers. The intra-departmental bickering and prodding is perfectly described and it fits any large city fire department, just change the names and it fits. After the first paragraph of the book, you will not put it down. The description of the first stages of fire are so accurate, so real, it will raise the hair on your neck. She is to be commended for accuracy!! I have never read a 400 page paperback in 6 nights until I picked up this book. I can hardly wait to find "Flashover". I can only hope that is this well written.

Sizzling!

Suzanne Chazin's new suspense novel "The Fourth Angel" is the best page turner I've read in quite a while. As a busy mom, I usually reserve reading for evenings after the kids are tucked in. But I toted "The Fourth Angel" around with me for the three days it took me to finish it, sneaking in a few pages every chance I had. The best part of the novel for me, is the endless twists and turns of the plot. Just when I thought I 'd "figured it out," another surprise popped up. The scientific and technological detail woven into the book makes the journey all the more riveting and real. For those of us not connected to the world of fires and firefighters, it is a revealing and frightening peak into a dangerous world.In addition to the great fire adventure are some terrific characters. Georgia Skeehan, fire marshal, is not an instantly loveable heroine, but rather a person that grows on you as you get to know her. Her relationships with the rest of her department are not static, but develop in interesting, unpredictable ways. The flames in a budding romance are almost as hot as the fires she investigates. Chazin's characters, her knowledge of the job and her New York City settings all make for a brilliant and thrilling climax to a novel that is bound to satisfy! I highly reccommend this book and look forward to the next in what deserves to be a long series of suspense novels.

Top-notch

Suzanne Chazin has written a top-notch suspense novel in "The Fourth Angel." She writes of the fire-fighting men and women with depth and understanding. The book had me absorbed to the fiery end as Chazin's heroine Georgia Skeehan uncovers the chilling mystery of the deadly arsonist who calls himself the Fourth Angel.

Red-Hot Debut!

The Fourth Angel's first chapter is so riveting and compelling, that once you start reading this terrific new thriller, you won't be able to put it down. Rookie fire marshall, Georgia Skeehan, is put on the task force to solve an inferno that leveled a New York City skyscraper in minutes, killing fifty-four people. With unprecedented temperatures of almost 3000 degrees, nobody had a chance to escape and those caught in the building practically melted to death. Because she's a rookie and a woman, the task force basically ignores her, giving Georgia grunt work to keep her out of their way. But when she stumbles over clues that link this fire with several others and letters that prove this may be the work of a serial arsonist, the task force begins to take her more seriously and show her some respect. As evidence and bizarre details mount and point to unlikely suspects, the task force is unsure who to trust and Georgia and her team race against the clock to find the answers before the promised final catastrophe..... Suzanne Chazin has written a spectacular debut mystery/thriller that has it all...a tight, suspenseful plot, smart, tense writing, vivid scenes that come alive on the page and memorable, well-drawn characters. It is obvious that Ms Chazin has done her homework on the world of firefighting and this indepth knowledge really adds credibility to the story. This is the first of what should be a terrific series with a great heroine. The Fourth Angel is a winner and a book mystery/thriller fans shouldn't miss.

A phenomenal new heroine and a riveting story line

Here's one I'm glad I didn't miss. It's got everything a good thriller should have: picturesque writing, sharp-edged dialogue, a riveting plot that kept me guessing, a gritty, accurate sense of place, and most of all, a character I truly cared about. A Manhattan loft burns to the ground in only 20 minutes, 50 people are dead, and Georgia Skeehan, an investigator with the New York City Fire Department, finds herself unwittingly thrust into the center of one of the biggest arson investigations in New York City history. She's an underdog in every sense of the word: a rookie, a woman in a macho job where men hold all the power, a single mother, and a former firefighter plagued by self-doubt. Danger lurks around every corner: Are the fires the work of a serial arsonist? And if so, why is her own department undermining her at every turn? Great forensic detail and intelligent twists make the story a page-turner, the supporting cast is rich, and Georgia makes such a dynamic and empathetic heroine, you want to savor every scene.I couldn't put this book down, and I didn't want to finish it. That says it all.