Wild Inferno

A Wild Mystery #2

by Sandi Ault

When WILDFIRE erupts on a patchwork of land including the Southern Ute Reservation, Jamaica Wild is sent to find an old Ute man named Grampa Ned, who has vanished. Jamaica risks danger to go after him, but the fire crowns and torches through the area, forcing her to run for her life. As she escapes, Jamaica discovers a firefighter smoldering and wavering on the side of the road. The man, part of a hotshot crew that is trapped in the burn area, sputters a cryptic message to Jamaica before losing consciousness.

Soon, the fire threatens an encampment of Puebloans doing ceremony atop Chimney Rock, celebrating a rare and sacred celestial phenomenon. Among them is Jamaica's medicine teacher, Momma Anna, and her wolf, Mountain. As the fire rages out of control and a stalker makes attempts on her life,

Jamaica must work to ensure that the Native Americans and her beloved wolf are safe while she tries to discover what happened to both Grampa Ned and the burning man. What was Grampa Ned doing on the mountain before he was murdered—and why didn’t the burning man stay with his crew? What would make them risk incineration in a WILD INFERNO?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Native American, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 5, 2008

About the author

Sandi Ault is the award-winning author of the WILD Mystery Series, including WILD INDIGO, WILD INFERNO, WILD SORROW and WILD PENANCE. Ms. Ault 's first novel, WILD INDIGO, debuted to rousing critical acclaim from the likes of The New York Times and The Washington Post. It sold out of its first printing in less than a week, rocketed to the top of nine bestsellers lists, earned two starred reviews, and was the first-ever debut novel to be nominated for The Mary Higgins Clark Award, which it won. Sandi's sophomore outing, WILD INFERNO, also earned two starred reviews, raves from the critics, and sold out of its first printing in just five days! It won the WILLA Finalist Award from Women Writing the West, was a Colorado Book Award Finalist, and was named on five Best Books of 2008 Lists, including those of prestigious industry insider publications Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. The third in the WILD Mystery Series, WILD SORROW, won a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was named the winner of the WILLA Award for Best Contemporary Fiction from Women Writing the West. This book also won a SPUR Finalist Award from the Western Writers of America And the long-awaited prequel, WILD PENANCE, was released in 2010 and is earning author Sandi Ault more acclaim with every copy sold.

Sandi Ault lives among the pines in a high mountain valley of the Rockies with her husband Tracy, her wolf Tiwa, and her Missouri wildcat, Buckskin.

Ms. Ault teaches WILD Writing Workshops, and frequently appears as a speaker on the issues of wilderness, wolves, writing, and many aspects of Indian Country, among other topics. She has served as keynote speaker for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read Program. Ault is a favorite of fans and promoters at conferences and book festivals due to her cowgirl charm and memorably enjoyable presentations.

Source: http://www.sandiault.com/index.html

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series a lot. It shouldn’t have taken me so long to read the second book. Jamaica is an interesting person and her interaction with the Indian culture gives an extra dimension to the story. And then there is Mountain, the really cool wolf sidekick. What’s not to love? Add in fighting fires, someone trying to murder our heroine, and a murder. Sheer excitement.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Post Listen Review: This book should have been good. There was a blazing fire (obviously), a mysterious murder, several attempted murders, a second murder, and a wolf. But instead of it being action packed and nail biting the majority of it seemed to be sidenotes about Firefighter jargon and Native American culture. Now, I am not saying those things shouldn't be in this book but they could have been more interwoven into the action to make it more interesting rather than long winded explanations of things like what it means when a Firefighter says bump or why the protaganist addresses elder Native American women as Grandmother. Still, it is far from the worst book I have ever heard. But also far from the best.

Pre-Listen Guess: Well it says on the back if you like Nevada Barr you'll like this. So there is a half a chance I will like it ok. But then again sometimes those recommendations just suck.

[Kinsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.8
I truly enjoy the stories and passion for the Native Americans in these mysteries. The story captivates you and draws you in. The editing and the plot sometimes can be rough, but as is the landscape and nature of Miss Wild's life. The story is endearing and hard to stop reading. Rereading this tale brings me the same joy the first time. I'm excited for the rest of the books as the story-telling gets better with each one.

[Sfdreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series from a great new writer. Her first book, Wild Indigo, won an Edgar award. I am extremely pleased to find that her third book is already in progress. (check out www.SandiAult.com)

This book involves Jamaica Wild fighting a wildfire, which is probably what made me think of Nevada Barr's books. Both Jamaica and Anna Pigeon are strong, fearless women who know what they want. Also, Jamaica is a Bureau of Land Management agent, similar to Anna Pigeon's National Parks Ranger status. Otherwise, the two series are different, although both are well-written.

I enjoyed learning more about the Pueblo Indian culture, and although I had figured out "whodunit" by the middle of the book, I still immensely enjoyed this book. Sandi Ault has become one of my favorite authors.

[Pren Clair · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I had to review this a single word it would be “meh”

I realize it’s a mystery and not a thriller but considering this book is about a wildfire burning out of control and a murder I didn’t think it would be so dull. I checked it out cause it was a staff pick at my library and it was under 400 pages.

Theres a LOT of superfluous information in this book. If the author wanted to write a book about a white girl and her medicine teacher she should have just done that. While the parts about the Native Americans WAS interesting it did NOT move the story along. I felt no attachment to any of the characters including the wolf! Which is CRAZY for me to say. I always care about the animals but even when Mountain was in perilous situations throughout the book I was like 🤷🏻‍♀️meh. Also were we still calling Native Americans “Indians” and institutionalizing people from birth with Down syndrome in 2008. I feel like no. Maybe we were but it seemed out of place

Who would I recommend this book to? People who innately enjoy the mystery genre (which admittedly is not in my top 3… maybe not even top 5) people who want to read a book that has an exciting start and end but is honestly just about mellow vibes in the middle.

[Bruce Mendelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an entertaining sequel to the first book, Wild Indigo. The main characters, Jamaica Wild (a BLM agent) and her pet wolf continue to develop well. They investigate a death that occurred during a wildfire that took place on the Southern Ute reservation. As in the first book, there are great descriptions of the landscape and one learns about the local native traditions. A fast paced entertaining book that kept my attention throughout. I read this book while hiking through this area. The book added to my experience and I think that it will be enjoyed by anyone interested in native culture and the southwest portion of our country. I look forward to the other books in the series.

[Sandy Reinken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this type of mystery. Set in the wilds of southern Colorado. The wild fire was a great character always pushing, always testing. Jamaica Wild is a wonderful heroine as she strives to learn more about herself.

[Mai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am absolutely loving the Jamaica Wild books. I have one left from this trip to the library and can't wait to go get more!

[Teddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, good characters. Living in NM it is interesting to hear about things that are vaguely familiar but that I don't necessarily have a lot of details on.

[Marseydoats · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. A good bit of history thrown in with the story. Just made me a little sad because I will never be able to go out West again.

[Gloria Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my 1st Wild book and I truly enjoyed it.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read #2

Smell the smoke. Feel the heat. Through in a homicide and several more “Indun” lore stories and you an enjoyable read.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When wildfire erupts on the Southern Ute Reservation, Jamaica Wild dashes in to save Grampa Ned, but the old Ute has vanished. She does, however, find a burned firefighter, separated from his crew, who sputters a cryptic message before losing consciousness. Soon, the blaze threatens the Pueblo elders who have gathered around Chimney Rock for a sacred celestial phenomenon -- but no wildfire will keep them from tradion.

"With flames, helicopters, and firefighters everywhere, Jamaica must watch out for everyone's safety -- including her own. As she unravels riddles and eludes an armed stalker, Jamaica hurries to decode the burning man's words and discover the fate of Grampe Ned, while one question haunts her: What would make them risk incineration in a wild inferno?"
~~back cover

Because I spent some time working for the Forest Service, I know a little about firefighting and firefighters, so it's always intriguing to me to read about wild fire and the people who fight it.

Again, the plot was a bit convoluted and complicated, and our heroine survived all the dangers that would have felled us lesser mortals. But still a good read, especially if you like to read about government firefighters.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jamaica Wild has been assigned, along with her longtime boyfriend and ranger, Kerry, to a wildfire in Colorado. Part of their assignment is to protect the sacred ceremonial grounds and burial grounds of the Southern Ute Indians. Wild is the liaison for several groups and her first assignment is to find a trespasser, Grampa Ned. She's too late and she's also encounters a firefighter whose mysterious last words are "Save the grandmother."

As Native people doing ceremony, firefighters, an unpredictable and dangerous wildfire converge in one place, the mystery deepens and Jamaica investigates.
An excellent and rousing story with compelling main characters, including Jamaica and her wolf, Mountain.

Just a little note...there's a subgenre to women's detective mysteries that I call "another beat-up heroine," meaning that in every book the woman detective ends up concussed, shot, bruised, or with broken bones. Sometimes hospitalized by always, by the end either recovering or hobbling. It looks to me that this is one of those series. It's not a bad thing...

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book for three reasons: 1) I'm an ethnologist who likes anything to do with Native North America (as long as it is tasteful); 2) I have family members who are or were members of the Navajo Hot Shot Crew (very cool!)and 3) I'm Native American. With that said I found Ault's description of the Tanoan Pueblo very interesting. For those of you who don't know, she made this pueblo up and she creates their culture from a variety of different native groups. I thought this was extremely cool, because she shows how cultural sensitive she is. Most Pueblos do not share their religion with anyone outside of their communities. I gave this book 4 stars because I enjoyed Ault's creation of the Tanoan Pueblo, however, the storyline was predictible. I figured out who the culprit was way before the ending.

[Saytchyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fear this review will be repetitious, too similar to my review of Sandi Ault's first Wild Mystery, although this book is not a copy of the first. Ault writes a tight mystery, and I love her world and her characters, even her non-human character, the wolf, Mountain.

In Wild Inferno, the mystery is set against a wildfire that threatens a sacred Pueblo ceremonial site while the tribe is camping there to observe a rare celestial event. I'm writing this review months after reading the book, and I still tense up when I recall certain scenes when the characters faced death and heartache.

This time, the feeling that I've lived the story along with the characters is even stronger. As a writer, I feel I have to figure out how she does this. As a reader, I look forward to sinking back into this world when I read book three.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the other book by this author and liked it a lot. I'm also a government employee who gets out into the wilderness occasionally, so I like this author's view of having that kind of a job. The people who go fight fires are truly dedicated in a very weird sort of way, and this story brings it out.

I think this character's relationship with her Native American teacher gets pretty wearing after awhile. The woman does not really tell her anything, or really suggest too many things that are profound or meaningful, even though she is supposed to.

But the subject matter and the setting are engaging, and the mystery story is convincing, so I liked it despite the book's obvious character flaws.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy listening to this series because it's well written, has a lot of Southwestern Pueblo Indian myths (though purposely mixed up to protect their sacred stories) and having lived in the Southwest for 10 years I love hearing about the land and the people that has such a hold over me. Jamaica Wild works for the various government agencies including the Forest Service and the BLM and is the Laison to the Pueblo people living in the area. This particular one is about Chimney Rock near Durango, CO and the ancient people who came there for ceremony during every 18.6 years when the moon rises between two natural spires and seems to stand still. A raging forest fire threatens to interfere with their ceremonies and a murder is involved. . . .

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book jacket compares this author to Tony Hillerman and Nevada Barr, but I have to say that I enjoyed her twice as much as Hillerman and 10 times better than Barr. Yes, as far as subject matter goes, there are similarities -- but Ault doesn't spoon-feed you. In this case, she describes working on an active wildfire and she trusts you to be smart enough to get it. The Native American aspect is also handled well, with only a small amount of white girl envy.

I hope other readers will enjoy it as well, knowing that I was pre-disposed to liking this particular book. My father has been a forest fire fighter for over 40 years and I was born less than two hours from Chimney Rock, where this story is set.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good installment in the Indigo Wild mysteries, this one focuses on fight wildfires and what it is like to be in the "Hot Shots" camp and fighting this powerful force of Nature. Indigo gets mixed up in an ongoing mystery when she is sent to find a Native American who has gone back into the fire, only to find out he was murdered before the fire swept over him. As she investigates why he might have been murdered, someone starts taking potshots at her and her wolf. I love learning about the firefighting and about what it's like to live with a wolf. Some of the character's reactions didn't quite ring true to me (like when her boss yells at her and she just submits to it), but overall a fun time.

[Vontel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying this series, having started at the "WILD" series at the beginning, featuring Resource Protection Agent Jamaica Wild and her wolf cub, Mountain. I think it would be helpful to do this series in order. Her learnings from "Momma Anna" of the Tanoah Pueblo are growing, and Jamaica's role changes. This particular book is about forest fire fighters, the native American religious festival around the 'Standing Moon' and conflicts among the bureaucracies as well as the need to ensure safety of the natives. As usual, a murder is discovered, and Jamaica is involved and must also find her way between and among the meanings of the two worlds.

[Clashton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not get into this book, for some reason to do with the author's style - maybe the first person telling, maybe not enough dark atmosphere, ...

A difference with the Tony Hillerman books is that those had this sense of the vast empty spaces in the region in which the story was set. The action flowed along with the people almost like ants in a sense against this backdrop, but the stories held together.

This story started off too intense, in the middle of a forest fire and I had the feeling that it was going to be non-stop intensity.

One of those I tried, based on the cover and the blurbs on it - can't win them all.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio. Given the good to rave reviews I saw for this book in various places, I was surprised to find myself struggling to get through the first couple disks. While on the second disk, I looked ahead and was relieved to see there were only seven disks total. As the story went on, however, I liked it more. The author got over detailing the forest fire, and got into a little plot. SPOILERS: In the end, Grandpa Ned’s death and the smoldering firefighter were part of the age-old reasons for mayhem – financial motive and spurned lover. Wouldn’t give the rave review, but won’t give the horrible review I would have given early on in the book.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 2nd Jamaica Wild lmystery. She is a liaison officer with the BLM aand her assignment is to work with the native tribes during an enormous wildfire which is mostly on the Southern Ute Reservation. A puzzling plea from a rescued firefighter points to a menacing murder. Of course, Mountain is there with his mistress. The author's descriptions of southwestern Colorado brought back memories for me.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author does a good job with descriptions of the landscape in the 4 corners area of Colorado/New Mexico, etc. She also has created interesting characters, and seems to have a good knowledge base of the Native American people who inhabit that area. Some fairly recently learned archaeocosmology info about the Chacoan culture is incorporated into the story here, which I enjoyed. Some weaker plot twists lowered my rating somewhat.

[Lkp · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second of the Jamaica Wild books I have read. This one deals with a blazing wild fire and a mystery involving the Native Americans. Loaded, packed, crammed full of info about fires, almost too much, but wow, did I learn a lot about that. Tone down the language and sex, Ms Ault, and this would be a great discussion group book. It is not necessary to the story.

[Lianne Burwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A wildfire, a murder, a ceremony that can only happen when everything lines up, fires or no fires. The sleuth is a woman with a wolf she raised from a pup, and the scenery is straight out of Tony Hillerman country.

The book is a competent mystery novel, but didn't have me rushing to the library to find the other books in the series. A nice little summer distraction.

[Spuddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second of the Jamaica Wild mysteries set in New Mexico, this one featuring murder committed during a raging wildfire. Not a bad series, but not one I'm really too excited about, the writing style is a bit simplistic sometimes and the strange relationship between the main character and her wolf is just a little off-putting. I think I'll set this series aside for now.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the Native American and wildfire aspects of the story. This is the first of the Jamaica Wild books that I've read. I want to get the earlier books to read. I agree with what it says on the cover, if you like Tony Hillerman and Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series, I think you'll like this series too.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most realistic mysteries set in a wildfire environment. Ault is a rising star in the world of entertaining western mysteries. I'm counting the days until her third book arrives in March...Wild Sorrow.