Friday Book Pick: Through the Fire by Shawn Grady

I hadn’t even glanced at the calendar yesterday when I decided to pick Shawn Grady’s new novel Through the Fire for today’s Book Pick. It was only this morning when I realized that I’d chosen a book about firefighters to feature on 9-11. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

This debut author spins a thrilling tale of a third-generation firefighter who is battling far more than flames. Aidan O’Neill, though gifted with a special ability to “read flames,” now struggles with grief, guilt, failed relationships and a life that is quickly spiraling out of control. As an serial arsonist brings chaos to his city, O’Neill soon becomes plagued with the idea that the flames are hunting him down. As he questions everything he’s ever believed and understood, O’Neill struggles to find hope and peace in a world gone mad.

Shawn Grady is a firefighter-turned-author and his writing is so vivid that you can practically feel the heat of the flames leaping off of the pages. He was named “Most Promising New Writer” at the 2008 Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference. I met him briefly at the 2009 conference, just months before Through The Fire released. I was so impressed with the way he lit up while describing this project, that I couldn’t wait to read the book. It didn’t disappoint. You can find Through the Fire in your local bookstore, or you can order it through Grady’s website. Don’t miss out on reading this great new novel.

On a side note, I had a odd feeling while reading Through The Fire. My young adult novel, Shaken, also centers around the themes of grief, flames and faith. I found many similar threads running through both stories and was a bit relieved that I had written my story months before having read Through The Fire. If I had read it previous to writing Shaken, I would have been terrified of subconsciously lifting ideas from this story and planting them into my own. The characters, time periods and stories are vastly different, but these core ideas are hauntingly similar. If Grady’s present-day “O’Neill” and my 1906 “Wanda” were to sit down together, I think they would be able to have a long chat about how God never abandons us to our grief and anger and that only He has the power to bring us through the flames.