Thus, I was looking forward to his latest tome, a tale of a post apocalyptic world ravaged by a strange spore that causes spontaneous combustion. Sadly, this one fell flat for me. It seemed like all of the pieces were there, but it never really came together the way the other books did.
While the book clocks in at over 700 pages, the plot doesn't really have a lot of momentum. It never centers on any one aspect long enough for that. As such, we have a myriad of mini sub-plots that ultimately fall flat. The book would set up some mysterious aspect, and then, when the true nature is revealed, you just kind of shrug and move on with it. It never felt like there was much of a "whoa" factor.
There are moments here and there. The section of the book detailing Harper being ostracized from the community of infected for breaking one of their decrees is harrowing and comes to a head with an attempted execution that is appropriately intense. It's the part of the book where you feel most connected, as you sympathize with the protagonist and develop something of a loathing for those who are antagonizing her.
Amid that, there's a supply stealing thief, a community member being attacked, a ghost, a possible new society of infected, a vengeful ex-husband (ugh, we'll get to him in a second), revelations about the nature of the spore, and a power hungry leader who rules with an iron fist. It's a lot, even for a door stopper.
Some of these don't even go anywhere. The book spends a lot of time detailing the potential threat of "the bright". We see it, but it never resolves itself in any real fashion. At no point do the characters address how they're supposed to change moving forward to avoid a repeat of what happened, they just sort of go and that's it.
The characters themselves are...OK at best. Harper's fine, but the rest of the cast are hit or miss. Even the titular fireman doesn't really shine the way you'd hope he would. Aside from Harper, I think that Father Storey is probably the only standout, mostly due to how benevolent and avuncular he is.
The rest suffer from inconsistent writing. Allie, a young girl who lives at the camp, can be malicious and spiteful one chapter and than be depicted as one of the more compassionate members of the camp. She's even directly involved in a rather brutal assault on Harper at one point (under the influence of the bright) and the whole thing gets brushed aside. She apologizes, but you'd think that there would be more repercussions than there were.
Jacob, Harper's husband is probably the biggest victim of this. When the book opens, he's a pretty stand up husband. He clearly cares for her and the two have some rather tender scenes together. It isn't quite as dynamic as the romance in "NOS4A2", but it was alright. Once Harper gets infected (and he thinks that he's been infected,) he pulls a 180 and becomes something out of a stereotypical Lifetime movie.
It's a pretty jarring shift, but you could try and explain it as a result of fear; even when he tries to make good on a murder/suicide pact that the two had for this scenario. It only goes downhill, though, as the book tries to pull a half-hearted retcon to make it seem like this latter characterization was how he always was and the entire relationship was a sham. It wasn't done well. It also results in a lot of eye-roll and groan inducing comments and "insight". It makes for a weak, two dimensional character, and an incredibly lackluster villain.
Due to the aforementioned lackluster characterization, Harper's subsequent romance with the fireman also falls flat. The two didn't really have much in the way of chemistry, despite the book's insistence that they were OTP.
This book makes multiple references to "The Stand". Surprisingly, none for "Firestarter". They're amusing. I think my favorite was a character alluding to the appearance of "the hand of God". This book provides a stronger context and explanation for why it's appearing, which is nice, but it was still a cute nod. Having characters talk about forgetting the face of their fathers was also a nice nod.
Oddly enough, Hill doesn't reference his own works all that much. I guess after "NOS4A2" did it, he didn't want to fall into habit. Christmasland gets a mention, though the context is entirely different than the one we saw in Hill's previous entry.
It's a pity that this one didn't work, but in the long run, it could work out for the better. I remember hearing Will Smith express relief that "Wild Wild West" bombed the way it did. It keeps the ego in check and relieves some of the pressure of heightened expectations, like how sports teams will occasionally express happiness to lose once or twice over the course of the season.
Hill's next release will be a collection of novellas set to release later this year. We'll see how those entries fare when that comes out.
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