Faces in the Fire – Review

Four lost souls on a collision course with either disaster or redemption. A random community of Faces in the Fire.

Meet Kurt, a truck-driver-turned-sculptor with no memory of his past. Corinne, an e-mail spammer whose lymphoma isn’t responding to treatment. Grace, a tattoo artist with an invented existence and a taste for heroin. And Stan, a reluctant hit man haunted by his terrifying gift for killing.

They don’t know each other, at least not yet. But something–or someone–is at work in the fabric of their lives, weaving them all together. A catfish, a series of numbers scribbled on a napkin, a devastating fire, and something mysterious. Something that could send them hurtling down the highway to disaster–or down the road to redemption. But they won’t know which is which until they’ve managed to say yes to the whispers in their souls.

Faces in the Fire by T.L. Hines is unconventional to say the least.  The book starts on chapter 34, winds its way through other chapters in seemingly random order and ends on chapter 14.  The story is like a roller coaster ride with no logical end, but be patient, the hit-you-between-they-eyes conclusion is well worth the bumps.

We first meet Kurt, a part-time truck driver who has turned his ability to hear the dead through their clothing into inspiration and a successful sculpting career.  Oh, and he can only remember the last 6 months of his life. Next is Corinne who makes her living as an email spammer and is just biding her time until she succumbs to her lymphoma.  Then there is Grace, a heroine-addicted tattoo artist who abandoned her family and created a new identity but cannot create happiness .  Lastly there is Stan, a professional hit-man who is being blackmailed to continue his “career” and he has a weapon nobody can trace.  These characters do not know each other but become intertwined by circumstantial meetings where a catfish is a shared theme and a series of random numbers are passed from one to the other that will either offer devastation or redemption.

This book was so much better then I expected.  Bizarre, clever, surprising – all words that can describe this great read.  I highly recommend it!

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Publishers for giving me the opportunity to experience this thrill ride!

Rating:

Book information:
ISBN: 1-59554-453-7
paperback
354 pages
genre: fiction

You can join many fans who have become a face in the fire on T.L. Hines website.  Submit a photo to become part of the Faces in the Fire mosaic and be entered into a drawing to win one of six noir bizarre action figures, including my favorite, Jane Austen.

I have also included a trailer endorsed by the author: