Author:Don Winslow
The woman on the bed had died in the fire. Pamela Vale, aged 34. She had been beautiful, and had been heavily insured. Her husband showed little grief. Her children seemed terrified. Insurance investigator Jack Wade is sure he knows what happened. All he has to do is to gather the evidence to prove it. And Wade is the best there is: fires talk to him, tell him exactly what happened, and how. But not everyone shares Wade's belief that the woman was murdered. California Fire and Life is ready to pay out Nicky Vale's claim on his wife's accidental death and the destruction of their house. As Wade fights the decision, as he gathers more evidence, he begins to uncover a world of corruption where nothing is quite what it seems, a world where it's not fire that talks, but money. . .
A smoking, smoldering threat of a book that flickers and flames and inevitably goes inferno . . . Cover to cover, it is hot, hot, hot
—— Austin ChronicleThe best crime thriller of the year . . . Mixes two parts of Elmore Leonard with an equal portion of Carl Hiaasen to form an irreverent, ribald hybrid of a thriller that's pure fun
—— The Providence Journal[Winslow finds] a dark, sinister lyricism in the forensics of fire
—— The New York Times Book ReviewA jazzy California thriller . . . Think Philip Marlowe if he were still sleuthing - and had taken up surfing
—— Entertainment WeeklyA fascinating, swaggeringly confident performance
—— Sunday TimesA page-turning caper filled with well-timed surprises...there is also the saving grace of Reacher's deadpan humor -as when he is sawing with a motel key at a captive's rope bindings. "Don't you have a knife?" the man asks. "I have a toothbrush,! Reacher responds. "That won't help," the captive says, to which Reacher retorts: "It's good against plaque."
—— Wall Street JournalWith Child, you can always count on furious action - and a damned good time.
—— Miami HeraldMasterful writing and storytelling...Child makes it look effortless...If there were such a thing as a writer-magician, Lee Child woud be the face above the cloak.
—— Washington PostChild always puts his heart into the elaborate quasi-military operations he cooks up for Reacher...But there's something even more chilling about those lonesome hours spent riding the Interstate, watching the rundown family farms and commercial strip malls and topless bars go by.
—— International Herald TribuneWill leave the legion of Reacher addicts satisfied but craving for their next fix.
—— Irish IndependentThe most satisfying of all 17 thrillers in the series. The unfolding of events nudges along at just the right rate... toward an authentically gripping climax.
—— Toronto StarSettings don’t come much more Gothic than Wreaking, the derelict, decaying...psychiatric hospital of James Scudamore’s striking third novel
—— Daily MailThis is the work of a writer totally at ease with, and confident in, his powers. A wonderfully assured novel with scope and ambition and with enough of a mystery at its heart to keep the reader hooked till the end
—— We Love This BookWe are left with the characters in our heads for days, and the sense of unease that Scudamore cleverly conjures up
—— Press Association SyndicationA twisted, unsettling tale of family lies and lonely souls
—— ShortlistAn immersion in the physical and psychic ruins of a contemporary Britain which enchants and disturbs, lures and repels. The inner poetry and descriptive mastery of James Scudamore's Wreaking are riches which cannot be forgotten. If you only read one novel in coming times, make it this astonishing and deeply moving chronicle
—— Alan WarnerThis is an impressive work from the critically acclaimed author of Heliopolis
—— Good Book Guide