The Fourth Angel

Rating:
Summary: This first novel is a great thriller
Review: New York City Fire Marshal Georgia Skeeham examines suspicious looking fires. She became an investigator out of homage to her father, a firefighter who died in the line of duty as did her partner. It is not easy being a female amidst the testosterone dominated department, but she accepts the garbage because she enjoys her work and more important has to support her child.

The Spring St. inferno is Georgia's worse nightmare coming alive as hundreds of people die in the blaze. Going over the heads of her superiors, Georgia finds a tie between this deadly blaze and several other nasty fires that leads to her concluding the city has a serial arsonist on the loose. Georgia is placed in charge of the task force trying to capture the fiery killer. Wading through corruption in the department and the city, Georgia seeks to stop THE FOURTH ANGEL before he enflames one of Manhattan's most beloved buildings, a place where her mother and her son happen to be visiting.

This is the first novel in what appears to be a dynamic new series. Suzanne Chazin shows she has researched firefighting as she cleverly incorporates firefighting techniques into her plot so that the reader feels ready to fight a fire. Thus, the novel needs a warning label: "leave firefighting to the trained professionals." The story line is fast-paced and filled with action and is a chilling thriller that is so frightening because Ms. Chazin makes it seem so real.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: A hot debut!
Review: Suzanne Chazin has delivered a fresh and exciting debut with THE FOURTH ANGEL.
Georgia Skeehan knows all about pressure---she's a single mom, and a rookie marshal in what is still a man's world---the New York City Fire Department. Asked to head up an investigation of a serial arsonist who quotes from the Book of Revelation, Georgia is facing the biggest challenge of her life.
With her inside knowledge of the NYC Fire Department, Chazin lends authenticity to her impressive debut novel. I'm looking forward to the next installment of what promises to be a wonderful series.

Rating:
Summary: Top-notch
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Sizzling!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Red-Hot Debut!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Blazing Hot Thriller
Review: The novel, The Fourth Angel, by Suzanne Chazin is a real
page-turner.

Rookie fire marshal, Georgia Skeehan, has not gotten any high priority cases because she is a woman in a man's world, the FDNY. Without warning she suddenly finds herself in charge of one of the most important arson cases in New York City. She is investigating a series of HTA (High Temperature Accelerant) fires. All the clues point to a serial arsonist who calls himself the Fourth Angel. He sends messages to Marshal Skeehan and the FDNY quoting scripture. The fires start off small, but gradually become bigger as the death toll from the fires increase. One of the last messages sent to Marshal Skeehan is one promising a fire of biblical proportions. One like New York has never seen before. Can Skeehan discover who the "Fourth Angel" really is, and stop his greatest fire yet before more innocent people meet a fiery death.

Suzanne Chazin is able to grip readers with her suspenseful and thrilling novel. The book is full of surprises and has many twists to it. It is impossible to guess the outcome before it is revealed and that is what makes the book so great.

This book is one that many different kinds of people will enjoy. The reader does not have to be familiar with the fire service to enjoy and understand Chazin's mastery of pyrotechnics. It is a great book for anyone who likes criminal fiction or just a good thriller with a lot of action.

Rating:
Summary: Blazing Hot Thriller
Review: The novel, The Fourth Angel, by Suzanne Chazin is a real
page-turner.

Rookie fire marshal, Georgia Skeehan, has not gotten any high priority cases because she is a woman in a man's world, the FDNY. Without warning she suddenly finds herself in charge of one of the most important arson cases in New York City. She is investigating a series of HTA (High Temperature Accelerant) fires. All the clues point to a serial arsonist who calls himself the Fourth Angel. He sends messages to Marshal Skeehan and the FDNY quoting scripture. The fires start off small, but gradually become bigger as the death toll from the fires increase. One of the last messages sent to Marshal Skeehan is one promising a fire of biblical proportions. One like New York has never seen before. Can Skeehan discover who the "Fourth Angel" really is, and stop his greatest fire yet before more innocent people meet a fiery death.

Suzanne Chazin is able to grip readers with her suspenseful and thrilling novel. The book is full of surprises and has many twists to it. It is impossible to guess the outcome before it is revealed and that is what makes the book so great.

This book is one that many different kinds of people will enjoy. The reader does not have to be familiar with the fire service to enjoy and understand Chazin's mastery of pyrotechnics. It is a great book for anyone who likes criminal fiction or just a good thriller with a lot of action.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting, Suspenseful, Deaver-esque Debut
Review: The storyline in 'The Fourth Angel' seems simple enough: An arsonist sets fires, kills people. Fire Marshal Georgia Skeehan solves cases and catches bad guy. But could it really be that simple? NO.

Suzanne Chazin has written a hugely entertaining, suspenseful and original thriller. And it was her debut novel to boot.

Chazin has created a real, sympathetic heroine in Georgia Skeehan. I look forward to reading the next Skeehan book.

I could not help but feel while I was reading this book that it was written by Jeffery Deaver. Chazin's prose is very similar to Deaver's, and she even personalizes the bad guy by giving him a nickname until we discover his identity. This is something that Deaver does often, and very effectively. In addition, the level of suspense, and the feeling that there is a suprise waiting around every page also reminds me of Deaver.

If you have ever read a Deaver book, or if you like page-turning suspense with an original story and, a new, original heroine, read this book.

Rating:
Summary: The Fourth Angel is a Four Alarm Read
Review: This book is a good debut effort by Suzanne Chezin. She brings an insiders look to the world of firefighting and arson investigation. There is a good dose of realism in her story. She has created some finely drawn characters and has handled a couple of potential cliched situations with aplomb. She makes a lot of references to the inner workings of FDNY and they all ring true. I would have liked a little more procedural detail on the arson investigations, but maybe she will develop that with future works. This story incorporates investigation techniques, fire fighting, financial chicanery, a budding romance, single parenthood, interdepartmental rivalries and blends them all together in a story that works. All in all the novel was original, the writing was crisp and the characters were believable. A good first outing.

Rating:
Summary: Very readable - great story - a bit gruesome for me
Review: This book is definitely what they say - a red hot debut. It read it in a couple of days because it was so readable - the story is jam-packed with twists and turns which make it an enjoyable and unpredictable read. At first I was annoyed with what seemed to me like telegraphing - you know - where the author lets you see into the mind of everyone around so you know what is going to happen next. However the story is a lot more clever than that and it kept me interested almost to the last page.

This is the debut novel so we need to be introduced to rookie fire Marshall Georgia Skeehan. While not her first day on the job she is still learning her way and making mistakes with it. Of course before we meet her we get introduced to the first fire in the most graphic and dramatic way. I didn't much like that - a bit too much detail for me. Anyway this first investigation turns out to be the work of a serial arsonist - or so Georgia thinks. Through some political wangling she is appointed to the taskforce - nicknamed the FART squad - something to do with Fire and Arson Research Tactical Squad (or something like that.) So we get the since that it is not highly respected by the Firefighters of New York themselves. Also in the squad is Mac Marenko who is leading the team - and if it is possible to say about a story to do with Fire fighters - sparks fly between them immediately.

The team has trouble from the start - Mac is in conflict with Georgia about her theories on the arson and this flares up when she is politically appointed to lead the squad. As the investigation advances Georgia comes to realise that this arsonist is getting personal and not only that - there is a deadline before something terrible so going to happen. As the story progresses we have a greater dimension of all the characters revealed - Georgia, Mac, included - all are hiding dark secrets or clues to why this is happening and corruption is not far below the surface of it all.

Through it all are the themes of a womans place in the fire service and this is revisited quite often - subtely which is nice. In fact it forms a backbone for Georgia's relationships in the fire service and the FART squad and also for the story in general.

While the story hummed along there were things in it that I just didn't like - for instance I am not a person that likes gore much and while there wasn't that much of it the graphic descriptions of people dying in fires really turned my stomach. Also I found some of the writing just a bit clunky for me. It might just be me but I really noticed that she was always referring to things by their colours - and sometimes repeating them -for instance there was an Eggplant coloured dress, and later in another chapter another eggplant coloured something or other. Sloane Michaels eyes (at a critical moment) she notices are root-beer coloured.

I also thought that the ending was a just a bit convenient. A suicide to try to cleanse away the guilt or something. But it was preceded by a long explanation with the clock ticking on a very large fire bomb - with four minutes to spare there is all this angsting going on. Conveniently for the story not only Georgia's mother, but her son are in the building about to blow up and in the thousands of people who pore out when it is evacuated Georgia finds her mother - but her son is trapped inside still - having somehow separated from his grandmother. I know it is possible but it is just one of those convenient plot devices that didn't seem necessary to me given the how great the rest of the story was. Why plant the son in there when she had every reason to go in there anyway?

It is really on for these reasons that I have given this story less than 5. I am definitely interested in getting Chazin's next book and trying it out. Her heroine is very much more in the mold of Kay Scarpetta or Kinsey Millhone.