A Fire In The Night

A Fire In The Night by Christopher Swann is a pretty good thriller, though unfortunately most readers won’t have the pleasure of taking this in as a summer beach read, given a release date of September.

Nick Anthony, a former university professor of medieval history and studies, now finds himself residing in a secluded cabin mourning the loss of his wife in the North Carolina mountains. Over the years for different reasons and slowly revealed in the novel, Nick has been estranged from his family and soon learns he has a teenage niece he has never met and that she is being sought by the police after her parents die in a suspicious house fire down in Florida.

Anthony’s niece then seeks out the uncle she has never met while carrying with her information from her dead father only meant for Nick’s eyes. Along the way, she is being pursued by a group of deadly hunters, seemingly with endless resources instantly available at their fingertips, which includes weapons and access to restricted information.

When the two meet, both wary of the other and with mistrust from the start, it is quickly learned characters in A Fire In The Night are not only more complex than initially revealed, but also may or may not be who or what one first believes them to be.

A Fire in the Night is well-written with developed characters and a plot that does not require complete disbelief and instead of being a decent summer read, will have to suffice for a decent fall read instead.

Fans of novels by other thriller writers like Lee Child and Gregg Hurwitz should also enjoy A Fire In The Night.

Netgalley provided an ARC of this novel for the promise of a fair review.