Girl On Fire by Tony Parsons

I’ve had this book on my tbr for far too long, so figured it was time to break out the audiobook and get listening whilst I worked. I really do enjoy the Max Wolfe series so have been looking forward to playing catch up. Here’s what it’s all about:

About the Book

When terrorists use a drone to bring down a plane on one of London’s busiest shopping centres, it ignites a chain of events that will draw in the innocent and guilty alike.

DC Max Wolfe finds himself caught in the crossfire in a city that seems increasingly dangerous and hostile.

But does the danger come from the murderous criminals that Max is tracking down? Or the people he’s trying to protect?

Or does the real threat to Max lie closer to home?

My Thoughts

Until I started listening to the audio book, I’d forgotten just how much I enjoy this series and how much I like the character of Max Wolfe. He’s not necessarily your archetypal action hero. Yes, he gets himself into all manner of scrapes, and yes he knows how to handle himself in a fight, both in and outside of a boxing ring, but he is so much more than that. There is a very emotional side to his character, and his dedication to his daughter Scout, is just one of the many things which make him such a likable personality that you always root for.

With Girl On Fire, Tony Parsons has a taken a topic which, sadly, is all too relevant to the modern era and in spite of the fact the book was published three years ago and potentially written a while before that, it is easy to believe that it could have been ripped from the headlines in just the past few weeks or months. The idea of religious extremism, and terrorism, is hardly a new construct. It is a battle which has been fought for centuries, but the fact that Muslims as a community are targeted and tarred with the same brush because of the acts of a small number of fanatics is something that has been amplified in the past couple of decades and that forms the heart of this story.

The book blends the action, the tension and the more emotional scenes perfectly as Wolfe faces battles at work when dealing with a suspected terrorist cell that has resulted in a large loss of life in the dramatic opening scenes which almost see the end of Wolfe too, through to the custody battle that his ex-wife seems intent on fighting in order to lay claim over Scout, in spite of giving Scout very little time or consideration over the intervening years since she left them both. Add into this, a real threat levied against Wolfe, one which puts his life well and truly in jeopardy (hardly a new experience for the poor chap) and the scene is set for some breathtaking scenes.

The book explores the subjects of fanaticism and racism in a very careful manner, exposing the behaviour of the perpetrators in clear and unpleasant detail. Nothing is ever graphic or unnecessary, but there is something particularly seedy about some of the characters. Not all are as they seem, and the threat is not necessarily coming from where you might expect, but to certainly adds to the tension. And then that ending … Not the one I’d like to have read but a tragic inevitability. about it all has been building for some time. I have to wonder if Mr Parsons will even be kind enough to allow Wolfe a kind of happy ending?

About the Author

Tony Parsons is a bestselling novelist and an award-winning journalist. His books have been published in over forty languages and his multi-million selling novel Man and Boy won The Book of The Year prize in 2000. Most recently, he created the Max Wolfe crime series. Tony lives in London with his family.