Set Me Alight

by Bill Leviathan

Dread. Despair. Desperation. Disappointment. These are the only emotions Pete is familiar with. With no friends, no job, and no prospects for the future, Pete sets out west in search for a new beginning as a forest firefighter. It doesn't take long for Pete to learn that life out in the wilderness of Montana is tough, tougher than anything he's ever experienced. The only thing keeping Pete alive is the sympathy of an old local fireman named Paul, who's seen too many people fail to bear seeing another fall by the wayside. As soon as life begins to look up for Pete, the cracks start to form as Paul uncovers a conspiracy involving the mining companies who effectively run their town. Before he has time to consider the consequences, Pete is diving head first into the conspiracy alongside Paul. What they uncover may have the country shaken to its very core.

158 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2014

About the author

writing stuff for fun

Reviews

[P. Zoro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pete is a pessimistic homeless youngster looking out for himself in a dystopian world plagued by recession. His friends devise creative and sometimes futile plans to get them out of their endless poverty. That is how Jon learns of fire fighting in the West and drags Pete with him. But Jon does not make it to the West. Only Pete gets there and learns how to fight fire and survive. Not only that, he gets entangled into a dangerous word of information about a huge network of influential business people siphoning money from the poor and polluting water sources. They are powerful and vindictive. They control every arm of security and judiciary forces, and to fight them is hitting against the brick wall. But Pete has to find a way to run ahead of them and defeat them.
The book is well written. Pete’s pessimism really goes to the extreme. Even when things are looking up for him and Paul is teaching him positivism, his attitude and perception towards life do not change to the very end. He seems to enjoy killing people and his view of death and gruesome murders take the pleasure out of reading the book. I did not get a sense of the setting. The ending left me feeling deprived. With all the sophistication and complexity that seemed to surround Megalomerate – the killing of its leader shouldn’t have been as easy as it proved to be in the book. And the end left so many issues unresolved and the main character right in the enemy’s camp – the Freedom Tower.
I received a free copy of this book for review.

[Eliza Wyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of the book in exchange for a non-reciprocal review.

This book had some parts I really liked, and some parts I didn't. Overall it's a mixed bag, but if you like dystopian thrillers, you might want to take a look.

The good parts: I LOVED the dystopian feel and setting of the book. The dirty, gritty setting, the details of scavenged garbage, the pizza boxes the broken bottles. The descriptions weren't lingered on, and while I usually enjoy a fast-paced book, I wish I'd seen a bit more scenery.

Speaking of, this book is very fast paced. It runs from place to place quickly, certainly never enough time to get bored. There's no lack of plot or action, and that's consistent all the way through. It's also got a very strong structure, though the very last few pages feel abrupt.

The less great parts: the writing, especially in the beginning of the book was begging for some Chuck Palahniuk-esc poetry-- the descriptions felt especially bare-bones, and often times as if not enough had been done with them. The main character is also fairly inaccessible-- the audience doesn't get to see him struggle, or think during scenes-- just a paragraph of explanation after the fact on why he did something. It didn't feel like enough, especially when hard decisions later on prompt what feel like new, arbitrary directions.

This carries over into the other characters as well-- most are notably two dimensional, and their dialogue often feels wooden... *especially* when giving exposition, and especially with the characterization at the end.

The bruiser villain character had a very eyebrow raising, splashy intro, but as to the other antagonists... they, and the big climax, really fell flat for me. In fact, everything that happened after the female character appears (not to name names) seemed less and less believable, around the 2/3rds mark, followed by a big fight scene, then an abrupt end.

So... good pacing, entertaining story, great setting. Descriptions and writing style could use some help, characterization really needed more heart, and it ended too abruptly.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set Me Alight is a political dystopian thriller that takes place in a world full of excruciatingly poor people who have no voice.

What I liked about this book: I liked that the book was different from other dystopian books I've read. The story wasn't cliche or tired. I was interested in learning about the world that the author created. I think that author is a great writer. He is witty and intelligent. I'd like to read more of his work in the future

What I didn't like: I felt like the book was missing a lot that could make it go from good to great. I couldn't get a full sense of the world because I couldn't picture it. I wish it had more detail about how society actually looked. I also couldn't completely connect with the main character. I didn't feel like I knew much about him. More detail would've really brought the book home.

All in all it was a good first book. I'd give it 3.5 stars.

[Rubin Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Conspiracy Thriller

Set Me Alight by Bill Leviathan is a conspiracy story set in a near future dystopian America. The main character, Pete, is a down-on-his-luck 25 year old hobo who early in the novel has relocated from Pennsylvania to Montana in the hope of getting work fighting fires. Reading this novel made me feel as if I was at a hole-in-the-wall poorly lit bar with the author, listening to him relate his entertaining tale over a few beers.

This novel moves along at a fast pace. Leviathan uses a first person narrator to describe what happens without flashbacks to slow the story down. On the other hand, for my tastes, there aren't enough places where the reader is put into the skin of a character and allowed to experience incidents in real time. As an example, there is a horrific fire but instead of letting the reader feel the heat, see the flames, smell the smoke, and rub the sting out of red eyes, the author writes "I had no awareness of my surroundings." A few paragraphs later, there is "... I had no sense of the fire and embers that were burning away at my clothes." More scenes with sensory details (especially the dam incident) would have made the novel come alive.

Conflict is made more exciting when opposing sides are well-matched. When the outcome is in doubt, everyone is inspired to do their utmost. In this story, our antihero Pete is up against a powerful well-financed massive conspiracy. For Pete to succeed will require ineptness in his adversary as well as massive helpings of luck. This weakens the character and the story.

A copy edit is in order. Although one can understand a character of questionable education using the term "any ways" in dialog, the term is used often and not only in dialog. There was also trouble with the homophones poor, pore, and pour (e.g., "... pouring through his brother's documents" and "... poor out of his mouth").

There's one puzzle about a combination that had me searching for the answer. After the reveal, it became clear that no information had been given for the reader to solve the puzzle. Another character, Mr. Plunder, has a long rant that will definitely appeal to those who subscribe to this particular flavor of conspiracy theory. Even though the rant was long, it seemed to end too abruptly, almost as if chopped off prematurely.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Alison Cubitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the first person, Set Me Alight is a dystopian conspiracy thriller set in the near future– where the American Dream has gone sour. The story centres on drifter Pete and the little people like him, in a world ruled by one faceless mega-corporation. As Pete travels from one state to another in search of work and something to eat, I'm drawn into the story world the author has created.

The strength of this book is Pete's characterisation. He's not the mouthpiece for all that is wrong in the world: he's an anti-hero, full of self-loathing at his inability to hold down a job. Pete is a likeable character who tends to beat himself up over his very human frailties – including his propensity to drown his sorrows in the nearest bar. Or, what passes for a bar in this bleak story world. Pete's dialogue is colloquial, believable and thought-provoking, as is the dialogue and characterisation of the other 'little guys' in the story.

The main antagonist, Mr Plunder is not quite the match for Pete though that he should be. He has a tendency to go off on long tirades, which for me seem like authorial voice. Shorter, sharper dialogue would work better, particularly for those readers not quite so sympathetic to the author's viewpoint.

It's not easy to write a novel in the first person and do it well, and the writer achieves that. Hence the four stars. I enjoyed it and found it to be an entertaining read. As far as the structure was concerned I was left slightly puzzled by the end, as I didn't feel I had enough information to work everything out, but perhaps all will be revealed in the sequel?

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Penny Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This dystopian conspiracy thriller is set in the near future. Written in first person, through the eyes of Pete, the story takes the reader from Pennsylvania to Montana as Pete searches for a job.

Pete, a hobo, has been out of work. He grudgingly moves to Montana where he has the chance to be a fire fighter. Pete is an angry, alcoholic, unlikeable, foul-mouthed character. The story drags as he moans and groans but picks up quickly when Pete meets Paul, an older guy who trains Pete as a fire fighter.

I gave the story two stars because it is badly in need of an editor. It’s a short book with only 46,000 words. There are numerous grammatical and spelling errors. The writer would benefit from polishing the story and listening to the suggestions of his readers. I also felt the story wasn’t finished. It just ends which leads one to believe there will be a sequel.

[Ann Girdharry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. We follow the grimly depressing lives of Pete and his friends as they fight for survival on the bleak, dystopian streets. The storyline moves from catastrophe to catastrophe in Pete's life, as he trails across America to find a new life for himself - never really believing that this will be possible, but following in the wake of friends that have more drive and hope than he does.

The part I most liked about this book was the way the author portrays Pete. He's hopeless. He fails. He believes he will fail. And yet he has a great, cutting sense of humour and we see it in the way he describes events and the stacking of the odds against him and those like him. I liked the way the alliances and friendships are formed in the book - some are shallow, some are one-sided - all eccentric. The plot of the story didn't grab me so much, but the tone and atmosphere made up for it.

[Gaurav Agrawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a reasonably good story by Bill. This is a story about a young and courageous man Pete, who is just 25 years. The story is setup somewhere in future. The book contains a rather short story for a novel, just 78 pages to be exact, but still it has enough to keep you engaging and is worth a read. Pete earns the sympathy of the readers as he is kind of finding it difficult to get any success in relationship and career. Since it’s a short story so there is very less chances for the characters to develop but at the same time book is very fast paced. It is a conspiracy story so has enough twists to keep the readers engaged till the end. The book could have been better in first few chapters. Any way I liked it and feel to give it a 4 star rating. I was given a free copy for a objective and fair review.

[Barbara ♥~Lindt Ninja~♥ (Careerist Gangster™)]

Saw it on a Listopia for Smart Summer Reads but disagreed.