After the Fire

I couldn't put the book down! Be prepared to feel the full range of emotions: love and hope for the two young men, awe and gratitude for the medical staff, and rage towards the arsonists (and towards their family/friends who covered for them). The book left me thinking long after I had finished it.

The book "After the fire" is one of the most heartfelt, moving stories that I have ever read. It is the story of the fire at Seton Hall University's (in New Jersey) freshman dormitory that left 58 people injured and 3 people dead. Among the 58 people injured were roomates Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos. The book concentrates on them and their comeback from being severly injured. Both were severely burned, and required extensive stays in the hospital (Alvaro also went to a rehabilitation center)before they were able to return to society. Their casual friendship turns into a deep bond as they encounter their setbacks in re-entering the world together. This book moved me to tears several times as it described what Alvaro and Shawn had to go through to get to where they are today. There is a special place in heaven for the victims of burns, as well as for the Doctors and nurses who choose to treat burn victims. "After the fire" introduces you to many memorable characters in the hospitals who are truly unsung heros. It also discusses the story of the detectives who finally bring the arsonists to justice in their trial in 2007. This book has been my favorite read of 2008 so far. You will not be able to put it down. I hope the author, Robin Gaby Fisher, writes more books. Her first one has been unforgettable.

After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival is based on true events. It is under sad and unfortunate events that this story comes about. The day was January 19th, 2000, a day that no one will ever forget. On this fateful day a fire spread throughout the freshman dormitory halls of Seton Hall University. The fire claimed young three lives and injured many more. Robin Gaby Fisher tells the story of two room mates Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos and the angels of Saint Barnabas Hospital, who helped saved these two friends. After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival makes you feel raw, heart-wrenching emotions of sadness, joy and triumphant. After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival is such a powerful book that it is beyond words on how to explain it. I credit this fact dooly to Robin Gaby Fisher's talent as not only an author and writer but as an amazing story teller. I was blown away from the first moment I picked this book up to read it. If Mrs. Fisher's goal was to show how with lots of strength, determination as well as setting a goal for yourself you can achieve anything; then Mrs. Fisher accomplished that with After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival. If there is ever one book you must read in your life then it has got to be After the Fire: A True Story of Friendship and Survival by Robin Gaby Fisher.

Buy this book. Robin Gaby Fisher takes you on the heart-wrenching and heart-warming journey of two young men, who nearly died in a fire at their dorm. People magazine got it right in its four-star review of the book, saying in part: " While the descriptions of the burn treatment are horrific, the revelation that the fire was ignited by two pranksters who nonchalantly partied afterward is heartbreaking. Unimaginably moving - readers will want to keep a box of tissues at handy - and deeply compassionate." I agree, I know I used up my fair share of tissues, too, and I couldn't put it down until I'd read the last page. - marilyn and brian

I LOVED this book. It's the true story of two young men, terribly burned in a dormitory fire at Seton Hall University a few years back. Living overseas at the time of the fire, I had no knowledge this tragedy ever occurred; but I bought the book on the recommendation of a friend and immediately found that I couldn't put it down. It's an incredibly well-written story that will draw you into the lives of these two courageous young men and the medical staff who helped bring them back from the brink of death. I was completely moved by this story and it touched my heart in a way that no book ever has. This is easily one of my favorite books of all time.