Black Fire

What color is the fire of your soul? It's been seven years since the life shattering event that Eddie Farris thinks of as The Showdown, the night he killed his father in self-defense. Seven years since his world was almost completely destroyed. Seven years of trying to put his life back together and trying to put the past behind him. But sometimes the past doesn't want to stay dead. And sometimes the dead come back to haunt you... In Eddie Farris's case, the dead are coming back with a vengeance. Who is the strange, mysterious figure who seems to be following Eddie, taunting him, threatening him? He can't be the person Eddie thinks he is. That man's been dead for seven years. Ever since the night of The Showdown, when Eddie killed him... Nothing in Eddie's world is quite what it seems to be, and he will soon discover that you never really escape your destiny; it burns within the fire of your soul...

From Publishers Weekly

In his highly readable horror debut, Kidman employs several narrative tactics (including flashbacks, dreams and journal entries) to tell the moving story of Eddie Farris, a 20-something writer with an overactive imagination who killed his father, Michael, seven years earlier in self defense and is still suffering severe psychological consequences. Making matters worse is the fact that Eddie still lives in tiny Black Hills, Pa., where the town residents treat him like a freak. When Eddie's high school sweetheart returns, claiming to be stalked by a resurrected Michael, Eddie's life spirals even further out of control. The brutal murder act, referred to as "The Showdown" by Eddie, isn't actually depicted until the book's end. Instead, Kidman refers to the incident throughout? slowly foreshadowing and building tension as the reader becomes emotionally invested in the characters. Readers journey with Eddie through an adolescence made miserable by his abusive father, and they share in his blossoming romance and brutal breakup with his former girlfriend. Unfortunately, a contrived conclusion cheapens the plot and may leave readers feeling duped. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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