Hotshots: A Neil Hamel Mystery - Hardcover

Van Gieson, Judith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060175125 ISBN 13: 9780060175122

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

Synopsis

It is high summer and the Southwest is tinderbox dry when Neil is approached by the parents of Joni Barker, a "hotshot" (as wildland firefighters are known) who was killed in a highly publicized blaze that threatened several expensive homes. Joni's parents suspect the Forest Service's negligence to be the cause of their daughter's death - not Joni's negligence, as the Forest Service claims. Neil, herself no stranger to government subterfuge, sets out to prove the Barker's suspicions. As she investigates Joni's death, she is drawn into the rarefied, mythic world of hotshots and the fierce battles that smolder around their work. Should we protect private property threatened by fires (rather than discourage people from building pricey homes in natural firetraps)? Should we even try to prevent forest fires? Neil discovers that there are many who will fight to the death over such questions - and at least one who has used fire to kill someone seeking answers.
As Neil immerses herself in these deadly struggles, she also grapples with less incendiary but no less fascinating events in her personal life. She is finally settling down, buying a house in Albuquerque, and moving in with her youthful Hispanic boyfriend, the Kid. She also comes to terms with early hints of her own mortality as a close brush with fiery death makes her realize she can't live forever on smart remarks, righteous indignation, Jell-O shots, and cigarettes.

About this title

Reviews

"Nobody's house is worth risking a firefighter's life for," says a young hotshot (a forest-fire fighter) early in the seventh outing of Albuquerque lawyer Neil Hamel. Van Gieson (Parrot Blues) gives that moral statement a human face, and, through Neil's unsentimental sleuthing, delivers her message with a maximum of adventure and a minimum of preachiness. The mother of Joni Baker, one of nine hotshots who died battling a fire on federal land, wants Neil to represent them in a civil suit against the government for negligence. The government report blames the hotshots for their own deaths. Mike Marshall, Joni's boyfriend and a hotshot who survived, claims the Forest Service sat on information that could have saved his colleagues' lives. Neil makes contact with Ramona Franklin, a Navajo firefighter who served as lookout during the fire, but later on the enigmatic woman makes herself scarce. The only cheerful people Neil encounters are those who can pull enough strings to get firefighters to protect their homes. When Neil goes hunting information in the burned area, an arsonist gives her a closer look at fire than she ever wanted, and another life is lost. Neil's character is enriched in this adventure as Van Gieson focuses on the almost-40 lawyer's developing relationships with the firefighters and with her young Hispanic boyfriend, known as the Kid. After reading this tale, readers will view TV news clips of forest fires wit heightened respect.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Furious with grief after her daughter Joni and eight other Duke City Hotshots died fighting a blaze in South Canyon, Nancy Barker wants Albuquerque lawyer Neil Hamel to sue the Forest Service for negligence (inadequate rest and preparation, no weather reports or helicopter surveillance). Her husband Eric's not so sure; after all, more money won't bring back Joni. In the hope of helping them make up their minds, Joni's boyfriend, Hotshot Mike Marshall, offers to take Neil and the Barkers back to the Canyon on a day when the windy weather will approximate conditions during the fire. Horrified, Neil watches another fire spring up in the same way as the first, killing unsympathetic Forest Service spokesperson Tom Hogue and leaving Neil to be rescued by Joni's friend Ramona Franklin, still another Hotshot. Who set South Canyon Two? Neil worries that it might be one of her clients--``Nancy had the rage to start a fire; Eric had the skill''--and worries even more that it might be Ramona, the woman she owes her life to. But nearly everyone in the tightly wound cast--angry environmentalists, overinsured homeowners, firefighters whose recommendations the Service ignored--has a reason for seeing South Canyon burn. Neil's seventh features magnificent backcountry landscapes, all-too-believable fights over their use and protection, and intelligent work by its savvy heroine (Parrot Blues, 1995, etc.). Only the perfunctory mystery itself disappoints. (Regional author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Albuquerque lawyer Neil Hamel's latest adventure begins with a deadly forest fire in which nine young Forest Service firefighters die. The parents of Joni Barker, one of the victims, come to Neil looking for a lawyer to represent them in their suit against the U.S. government, the Forest Service, and anyone else they can think of to blame for their daughter's tragic death. When Neil and two survivors of the fire visit the site to reenact what happened, another deadly fire breaks out, and Neil herself almost dies. The investigators suspect arson this time, and Neil finds herself wondering what the motive could have been. Was the second fire connected to the first? Who could have stood to gain anything from either fire? The answers come from an unsuspected but not unlikely quarter. Solid writing and plotting, a likable heroine, and an intriguing look at the brave men and women who fight forest fires make this a good choice for most collections. Emily Melton

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060175125
• ISBN 13: 9780060175122
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256