Jim Kelly, The Fire Baby

The Fire Baby

Jim Kelly

St. Martin's, Dec 2004, $24.95

ISBN: 0312321457

Every night for the past four years, Weekly Crow reporter Philip Dryden visits his comatose spouse Laura at Ely's Tower Hospital. Laura's current roommate, cancer victim Maggie Beck, expects to die shortly. She asks Philip to carry out a death wish favor. She has made tapes of her memories especially concentrating on a 1976 plane crash at the US air base in Mildenhall in which the dying woman provides a different report than the official one. Maggie also furbishes a spin on her daughter's marriage. She wants Philip to deliver her last words to her daughter.

As Laura begins to awaken from her coma, she overhears much of what Maggie says. She struggles to warn her spouse that he could be in danger, but she is not fully conscious yet. Meanwhile Philip uncovers two homicides that he believes tie back to Maggie's deathbed wish. As he investigates further, someone tries to kill him. Only Laura, if she can communicate, can tell him the truth that might save his life.

This exciting thriller combines soap opera elements with a tense journalist investigation that grips the reader mostly because the audience will like and admire Philip and hope that Laura recovers in time to warn him. The storyline is at its best when Philip is investigating Maggie's contention and other underbelly stories. When the tale shifts to the hospital scenes, the plot loses momentum but adds depth to the beleaguered hero. THE FIRE BABY is a terrific opening novel that hopefully has sequels with a healing Laura at Philip's side.

Harriet Klausner