What do you think?
Rate this book
Firecode
An inexplicable plague of deadly fire threatens America’s cities and towns in this epic tale of supernatural terror from an acclaimed Grand Master of horror and suspense
From Baltimore, Maryland, to San Jose, California, to Homer, Alaska, a rash of devastating and unexplained fires is bringing untold death and destruction to the United States. Unexpectedly and inexplicably, giant fireballs are erupting out of nowhere in private houses, apartment buildings, businesses, malls, and hospitals, incinerating everything and everyone in the vicinity. These are not accidents; every conflagration is of a frighteningly suspicious nature. There is no pattern, there is no warning, and there is no mercy as the body count rapidly soars.
For California security expert Carter Milne, the plague is a nightmare that threatens to unravel her world when it strikes too close to home. For reporter William Ridour, it’s the story of a lifetime. Fireman Frank Vickery sees it as an abomination, and FBI agents McPherson and Bethune suspect it’s the realization of the government’s worst terrorist fears. But the truth these citizens pursue, the horror that now unites them, is something far more terrible, with roots in very dark and poisonous soil—and it’s leading them beyond the borders of normal human experience into a realm of pure preternatural evil.
From Baltimore, Maryland, to San Jose, California, to Homer, Alaska, a rash of devastating and unexplained fires is bringing untold death and destruction to the United States. Unexpectedly and inexplicably, giant fireballs are erupting out of nowhere in private houses, apartment buildings, businesses, malls, and hospitals, incinerating everything and everyone in the vicinity. These are not accidents; every conflagration is of a frighteningly suspicious nature. There is no pattern, there is no warning, and there is no mercy as the body count rapidly soars.
For California security expert Carter Milne, the plague is a nightmare that threatens to unravel her world when it strikes too close to home. For reporter William Ridour, it’s the story of a lifetime. Fireman Frank Vickery sees it as an abomination, and FBI agents McPherson and Bethune suspect it’s the realization of the government’s worst terrorist fears. But the truth these citizens pursue, the horror that now unites them, is something far more terrible, with roots in very dark and poisonous soil—and it’s leading them beyond the borders of normal human experience into a realm of pure preternatural evil.
453 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1987
3 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
259 books476 followersA professional writer for more than forty years, Yarbro has sold over eighty books, more than seventy works of short fiction, and more than three dozen essays, introductions, and reviews. She also composes serious music. Her first professional writing - in 1961-1962 - was as a playwright for a now long-defunct children's theater company. By the mid-60s she had switched to writing stories and hasn't stopped yet.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970, she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects, everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people and places that might provide fodder for stories.
In 1997 the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on Yarbro, and in 2003 the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award. In 2006 the International Horror Guild enrolled her among their Living Legends, the first woman to be so honored; the Horror Writers Association gave her a Life Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 she won a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.
A skeptical occultist for forty years, she has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.
She has two domestic accomplishments: she is a good cook and an experienced seamstress. The rest is catch-as-catch-can.
Divorced, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area - with two cats: the irrepressible Butterscotch and Crumpet, the Gang of Two. When not busy writing, she enjoys the symphony or opera.
Her Saint-Germain series is now the longest vampire series ever. The books range widely over time and place, and were not published in historical order. They are numbered in published order.
Known pseudonyms include Vanessa Pryor, Quinn Fawcett, T.C.F. Hopkins, Trystam Kith, Camille Gabor.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970, she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects, everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people and places that might provide fodder for stories.
In 1997 the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on Yarbro, and in 2003 the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award. In 2006 the International Horror Guild enrolled her among their Living Legends, the first woman to be so honored; the Horror Writers Association gave her a Life Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 she won a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.
A skeptical occultist for forty years, she has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.
She has two domestic accomplishments: she is a good cook and an experienced seamstress. The rest is catch-as-catch-can.
Divorced, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area - with two cats: the irrepressible Butterscotch and Crumpet, the Gang of Two. When not busy writing, she enjoys the symphony or opera.
Her Saint-Germain series is now the longest vampire series ever. The books range widely over time and place, and were not published in historical order. They are numbered in published order.
Known pseudonyms include Vanessa Pryor, Quinn Fawcett, T.C.F. Hopkins, Trystam Kith, Camille Gabor.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 29, 2020
A throwback, published 1987 and anchored in San Jose to Aptos, Santa Cruz mountains pre earthquake, nascent internet, post Challenger. Words exchanged among characters were obviously dated but honestly I started skimming 40% in. It was a good mystery, suspense, thriller, apocalyptic and speculative fiction.
I’m pretty sure that if one were to tally every individual person mentioned in the book, not including victims of mass violence but inclusive of a waiter or random realtor who made the mise but had no lines, it’s still over a fifty percent death rate. It was grim and cleverly delivered.
It’s full of flash sub stories. These make me think it was fun to write. One page of introduction and then whoosh up in flames. I would’ve read 400 pages of the whooshing, no problem. There was a dark humor to it for sure.
I’m pretty sure that if one were to tally every individual person mentioned in the book, not including victims of mass violence but inclusive of a waiter or random realtor who made the mise but had no lines, it’s still over a fifty percent death rate. It was grim and cleverly delivered.
It’s full of flash sub stories. These make me think it was fun to write. One page of introduction and then whoosh up in flames. I would’ve read 400 pages of the whooshing, no problem. There was a dark humor to it for sure.
July 4, 2018
You need a high tolerance for reading about death in this novel. Yarbro repeatedly introduces a character , then kills them off in 1-3 pages. Oh, yeah—- frequently with graphic descriptions.
I really liked the anti-social math genius character. The “ starring couple” were fairly good. The villains were a bit
“too, “ and there are so many unbelievable coincidences.
A security agency is suddenly faced with inexplicable fires 🔥. The fires are intensely hot, and destroy any signs of evidence. Arson experts can not locate a cause. A political battle evolves involving the Navy, the FBI, the insurance company, and the Fire Task Force. It was good, but I often found myself finding reasons to take a break while reading, which is unusual for me.
I really liked the anti-social math genius character. The “ starring couple” were fairly good. The villains were a bit
“too, “ and there are so many unbelievable coincidences.
A security agency is suddenly faced with inexplicable fires 🔥. The fires are intensely hot, and destroy any signs of evidence. Arson experts can not locate a cause. A political battle evolves involving the Navy, the FBI, the insurance company, and the Fire Task Force. It was good, but I often found myself finding reasons to take a break while reading, which is unusual for me.
April 20, 2022
I like this book. I picked it up at POWELL'S (they've thrown me OUT, since -- jumping at SHADOWS, and I'm the baby with the BATHWATER #reedcollegeMUSTDIE #noJUDGMENT 😉 👍 ), where they had it for $3.99 -- I had never seen it before. She got me through the '90s, with her Saint-Germain novels (brain roughage 😉 👍 ), and I found this one especially good. Like her Nomads, it's set in the working world, in her native California, and creepy things set in.
I liked it.
😉
👍
I liked it.
😉
👍
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews