Firestorm

Some people feel as if they can get into other's heads or that someone can get into their head. Kerry Murphy feels the same way. Since Kerry woke up from a coma when she was little, she has been experiencing visions of fires that have happened before. She can do this by being in the ruins of the fire. One day, Kerry had a terrible vision in which her friend Charlie, the firefighter, is trapped in a fire and can't get out. He soon dies. As Kerry is going through this mental torture, Brad Silver comes to help. He turns her visions of Charlie dying in the terrible fire into a calm scene by the lake. She soon realizes afterward that he has powers too. Silver has the ability to get into other people's heads and change or manipulate what they are thinking. Later she is told that Silver needed her help to sense when and where fires were to start to catch a psychopath, Trask. Trask had helped the government develop Firestorm, a device that made fires spontaneously. When the government refused to continue the research and told the few scientists working on the project that they were going to burn down the building and research, Trask got upset so he told a girl who he worked with and loved to go into the building and get the research she died in the fire and Trask got away with the research. He continued to study into the project and managed to complete Firestorm by himself. Now he was using it for revenge to tie up a few loose ends right before he was planning on selling it to foreigners. Kerry and Silver were on a mission to stop Trask before he went to far. All along the way as they were chasing him, Silver helped teach Kerry how to get into Trask's head and manipulate his thoughts and he had also helped her find her mothers killer, which she had blocked out of her mind after she came out of the coma. Trask had got Kerry to meet him at and old house in the country by threatening her with the lives of her brother and her father. Kerry decided it was now or never to try to get into Trask's mind. She tried for a couple of never ending minutes and the finally got into his mind. She manipulated him to going outside to the point where Silver had a good shot on him. Kerry and Brad had stopped Trask from causing a lot of trouble. This is a great book for people who like to read books in a modern environment, but with a few psychic powers. Firestorm has unnatural abilities in a realistic environment. Kerry uses her powers to find the causes of fires. It helps her a lot with her job as an arson specialist even though she gives the credit to her dumb as a doorknob dog, Sam. The neighborhoods and the environment of the story are real because it happens in modern day, with normal people with out psychic powers. Even in the book where there are super powers, they are small. They people are in a small, unknown group and they are more afraid of the opinion of the public then trying to be super hero like. Firestorm is good because it has complex characters. Kerry is

This is my first Iris Johansen book, and I chose Firestorm because it had a paranormal flair to it. I was not disappointed. While my usual genre is historical romance, my recent forays into different genre have been immensely enjoyable and Firestorm ranks as one of the best. I loved the chemistry between the characters, and while the antagonistic relationship between Kerry and Silver is not an original plot twist, it was pulled off very well in this story. I think my favorite scene is where Silver comes to Kerry in the hospital when she is seeing the fire that kills her friend. He is clearly moved by her pain but his need to stay apart emotionally from people is such a struggle for him that the reader is immediately sympathetic, despite his often cold and self-serving demeanor. I enjoyed the comic relief of both Sam the arson dog, such as he was, and George the mysterious butler who at times was so well written that I questioned his loyalties. My only critique of this story was the ending. I wish the author had fleshed it out more. It was too easy. I would have like a bit more struggle for the 2 characters. The fact that 11 months had gone by was hardly evident in the way the whole thing was resolved. However, all in all, I truly enjoyed it, and read it in half a day. I am already searching out more of the authors novels and am hopeful more have a paranormal flair. This one will remain in my collection.

I'm new to Johansen and love her books. It's fresh and different from a lot of other crime/thriller. Definately worth the time.

Kerry Murphy is 6 years old. Her and her mother are staying in Boston. At the Brownstone that her mother & father own. Kerry's parents are in the middle of divorce. Her father & brother went to Canada. A fire brakes out and Kerry and her mother are trapped. Her mother is able to get Kerry out and tells her to go for help. Kerry sees a figure standing under under a street light. She runs to it "Please Mama said I had to-"He turned and she stared up into his shadowy face only dimly lit by the flickering flames. She screamed. "Shh, be quite. There's nothing you can do." He raised his hand and she saw something glittering,metalic in his hand. A gun? He brought it down on her head. The night exploded. Kerry spent 2 years in a coma. When she came out, her father thought something was wrong with her. He sent her to an institution. That is where she met Michael Travis. He told her what to do and say to get released. Kerry came out of the coma with a special talent. She could see things. Michael wanted to teach her how to use it and control it. But Kerry wanted no part of it.Now that Kerry's an adult.She has learned to use it to her advantage as a fire arson investigator. She could go to a scene and see how the fire was started. She kept her visions a secret. She had a arson dog for cover.Brad Silver is visiting his brother. A US Senator. He stands on the porch to watch as his brother & sister-n-law leave for a dinner.Their limo is engulfed in fire. Brad learns about Kerry through Michael Travis. Brad is following Kerry trying to figure the best time to approach her. Kerry is taking "SAM" her dog to the hospital,to see the sick kids when she starts getting this feeling. While she's reading to the kids, she gets this vision. She goes to hide. She knows her friend(a fireman)is dead. Brad finds her,enters her mind and takes her away from the vision. He takes her to a lake. Brad is a controller. He enters peoples mind and can help them get through rough times. When Kerry comes to, she is not happy with Brad. She does not want him intruding in her mind. Brad explains that he needs her help to find the guy who killed his brother. She wants no part of it. Until the killer unleashes Firestorm on her brothers house. Now shes ready. Trask is a sick person. He enjoys fires. He thinks of it as his child. He loves the smell of burning flesh. He takes Kerry & Brad on fiery road. But in the end will Firestorm get Kerry or will they get Firestorm & Trask.If you are a fan of Iris Johansen.You won't be disappointed. Another great book.

As a child Kerry Murphy and her mother were in their brownstone when their home caught fire but only Kerry made it out alive. She was in a coma for more than a year and as the years past the precognitive powers she woke up with became stronger. Her particular skill was catching arsonists because when she was at the scene, she was able to psychically see what the criminal did; she often helped the police catch the perpetrator.Brad Silver saw his brother and his sister-in-law die in a car that spontaneously combusted thanks to FIRESTORM, a black ops weapon of mass destruction. Trask intends to sell the weapon to a foreign buyer but before he does, he wants to kill the scientists and the politicians who opposed the existence of the weapon. Silver, a high level telepathic, coerces Kerry into helping him track down the man who killed his brother and who could plunge the world into Armageddon. While working together, these two independent, tough minded individuals find that they are linked together by more than just a common cause.Iris Johansen has written another exciting thriller that will land on the New York Times Bestseller list. The two protagonists find time in between murder and mayhem to fall in love but Kerry is afraid that loving Silver will mean giving up her independence. It takes a tragedy to show her how wrong she is but readers will adore her and her phony arson dog Sam because both have plenty of heart.Harriet Klausner