What Fire Cannot Burn

Soledad O'Roark #2

by John Ridley

LAPD'S top mutant-hunter, Soledad O'Roark has outfought telepaths, human flamethrowers, men with steel skin, and every other kind of freakish super-powered thing. But her high-tech firepower is no match for teammate-- and rival--Eddi Aoki's attempts at friendship, which endlessly solitary Soledad.

When a vigilante starts killing metanormals without mercy, Soledad and Eddi eend up working the same case... in a way that neither could imagine. And the hunt for answers pits Soledad and Eddi against a cabal inside the LAPD as well as a serial killer who's slaughtering mutants, cops, and anyone else who gets in his way.

Genres: Science Fiction, Superheroes, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Fantasy, Crime, Mystery

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

John Ridley IV (born October 1965)[2] is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for 12 Years a Slave, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed anthology series American Crime. His most recent work is the documentary film Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992.


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This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[John Bruni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is even better than the first, although I say that cautiously because I read an ARC, so it's not the final printed version. This time out Ridley surprised me big time twice. They're both spoilers, so I can't mention them specifically. One of them happens halfway through the book, and I couldn't believe he had the guts to do what he did. It was a power move, and it had the desired effect. I couldn't stop reading it after that. The other surprise comes about 3/4ths in and regards the motivations of one of the characters who could be considered villainous, at least at first glance.

As far as I can tell, this is the last in the series, which is too bad because this is a rich world that I would like to see continue. Sadly it would seem that Ridley is more dedicated to comic books and film these days, so I'm down to only one more book by him. I should have read it already, but I can't find it, and the library doesn't have it. He's a great novelist, and I hope he comes back to it someday. He's probably my favorite living crime fiction author. I've read a lot of the comics, but not all. I don't really care about Batman anymore, and it looks like he wrote a lot of Batman stories. I'll probably check them out.

But the world of O'Roark and Aoki needs to continue. I gotta find out if the US will ever forgive the metanormals and let their mere existence be legal again. The story leans that way, but I'd like to know for sure.

Fingers crossed for a third book . . .

[K2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who kills their main character....lol

[Ryun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Soledad O’Dwyer is a badass cop who leads a team of badass cops in hunting down super-powered mutants in a near-future Los Angeles. Unfortunately, somebody or something has been beating O’Dwyer to the punch, killing off mutants across the city in mystifying ways, which leads O’Dwyer away from the bullets-and-bruises law enforcement to which she’s accustomed in order to unravel a posssible conspiracy within the department itself.

WHAT FIRE CANNOT BURN, the sequel to Ridley’s earlier THOSE WHO WALK IN DARKNESS, opens with a bang, but it, much like the book’s cover (which features sexy, scantily clad ladies who happen to be armed to the teeth), is only a red herring for the novel within.

WHAT FIRE is, for all intents and purposes, a series of character studies set inside a twisted police procedural.

More: http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/sci-f...

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, this sequel wasn't doing it for me. The writing felt lazier, almost stream-of-consciousness, with half-finished thoughts. But it was an easy enough read so I stuck with it for a while longer. I was just about to put it down when Ridley upped the ante in the extreme and really turned up the heat. I literally said out loud, "No you did NOT." But he had. Read it to find out what that was. He also doubles your fun by adding yet another bad-ass hot chick, who just so happens to have a bit of a conflict going with the existing bad-ass hot chick from the first book. As if the mutants and bureaucracy weren't enough, now they have to compete against each other.

I don't care if people think these are slight books, nothing more than souped-up crime fiction: I like 'em.

[Ferret · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not great- the prose style bothers me sometimes, especially Ridley's habit of not using conjunctions. But it's got some good action scenes and more interestingly, it's moderate Republican SF, something I never believed I would find. It's a thinly veiled parable of the Post-9/11 world and it aligns with my views about said world more than any other SF I've ever read. Weird.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was like a gritty X- men from the perspective of the people who want all mutants dead, in fact the main characters were cops whose jobs were to make that happen. The plot was interesting, but the characters weren't very likable. An acceptable book with a plot twist that had me scratching my head.

[Aaron Chandler]

I read the first book, so it is clear that i wanted to read the second one. it was a look in to prejudice on both side just like that other one, but what got me was how it switched from on character to another. this was honestly a great poem. but one again i have to say i loved this one.

[Trip · Rating 4 out of 5]

(This is the sequel to Those Who Walk in Darkness.) And did we mention that even for crazy people, hunting down superhumans is a pretty crappy job?

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this once but don't feel like it has a whole lot of rereadability.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Ridley goes about a very provocative way to bring your attention to prejudice and racism.

[Mike Vermillion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant metaphor.