The Fire Man by Iain Adams

I feel I should start this review by saying that this is not my normal kind of read.  Give me a strange creature, hidden world or hi-tech spaceship and I am in my element.  So when browsing through the Netgalley recent additions - quite a while ago now, much to my embarrassment - I was surprised to find that this one caught my eye.

To begin with this is a debut novel and in places it definitely shows.  The pacing of the plot is a major issue with sudden bursts of action and intrigue followed by long sections with very little happening to keep the reader's attention and vast amounts of unnecessary detail.  The subject matter is clearly an area that the author knows a great deal about but I would say that there needed to be less of it as it simply slowed things down a little too much.  Having said all that, the action sequences, when they do appear are very well handled and show a lot of promise.

Mr Adams has created a good lead character.  Drew has just the right amount of background and is very believable as the amateur sleuth who is definitely not to be beaten.  It is good to have a hero who is just so totally normal that virtually everyone who tries this book will be able to relate to him or at least certain aspects of his life.  Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the other characters especially the antagonists.  They come across as very two-dimensional and have no real interaction with Drew and at times the villains of the piece are close to being caricatures of your typical criminal mastermind.

There are a few surprises in the story which were nice to see and the actual timescale of the drama was just right with no instant, unbelievable fixes, though towards the end of the novel it did feel as if the author was struggling to find a way to wrap things up.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.  I think Iain Adams has the potential to be a really good thriller writer if he can make a few small changes to pace and characterisation.  I would recommend "The Fire Man" with the caveat that a little patience is required, and I will be glad to read whatever Mr Adams decides to write next.