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The Fireman

A Novel

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The Fireman

Written by: Joe Hill
Narrated by: Kate Mulgrew
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About this listen

From the award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of NOS4A2 and Heart-Shaped Box comes a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilization to ashes and a band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman.

The fireman is coming. Stay cool.

No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it's Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies - before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.

Harper Grayson, a compassionate, dedicated nurse as pragmatic as Mary Poppins, treated hundreds of infected patients before her hospital burned to the ground. Now she's discovered the telltale gold-flecked marks on her skin. When the outbreak first began, she and her husband, Jakob, had made a pact: They would take matters into their own hands if they became infected. To Jakob's dismay, Harper wants to live - at least until the fetus she is carrying comes to term. At the hospital, she witnessed infected mothers give birth to healthy babies and believes hers will be fine, too...if she can live long enough to deliver the child.

Convinced that his do-gooding wife has made him sick, Jakob becomes unhinged and eventually abandons her as their placid New England community collapses in terror. The chaos gives rise to ruthless Cremation Squads - armed, self-appointed posses roaming the streets and woods to exterminate those who they believe carry the spore. But Harper isn't as alone as she fears: A mysterious and compelling stranger she briefly met at the hospital, a man in a dirty yellow firefighter's jacket, carrying a hooked iron bar, straddles the abyss between insanity and death. Known as the Fireman, he strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who has learned to control the fire within himself, using it as a shield to protect the hunted...and as a weapon to avenge the wronged.

In the desperate season to come, as the world burns out of control, Harper must learn the Fireman's secrets before her life - and that of her unborn child - goes up in smoke.

©2016 Joe Hill (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers
Horror Psychological Supernatural Scary Paranormal Marriage Fiction Science Fiction Emotionally Gripping Exciting Hospital
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What listeners say about The Fireman

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simply wonderful

I loved every minute of it , and especially the audio version of it. just magical!

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Amazing story

Loved this book from start to finish. Can't wait for his next book. Narrator was good as well.

#Audible1

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honestly not a banger

More like a slow burn distopian depression novel then a horror story. As always props to Kate Mulgrew's narroration, but negative points for them choosing not to sing small lines in a novel that uses music lyrics an important and often somewhat dramatic parts of the story.

Not a recommendation after 2020, my fault for picking it I guess. Honestly enjoyed N0S4A2 way more.

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Kate Mulgrew takes an amazing book and makes it stellar.

I loved the story and concept of the novel. I bounced between the electronic, audible, and paper version depending on where I was.

I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to connect with the story because Ms Mulgrew was reading it, but I was pleasantly surprised. As a result, I will now go out of my way to find something she has read for audible and purchase it. Her intonations. Her changing inflections. Her different voices all made the story so much better.

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great!!

Listening to this book was best at making house cleaning go faster because I didn't want to stop listening

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Joe Hill is a fantastic story teller.

I found the tale terrible, gripping and heartwarming. I loved every minute. I'm a huge fan of Stephen King and now Joe Hill.

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overall good

As always Joe Hill kept me interested. I decided upon the fireman after reading NOS4A2 and horns. this one was not my favorite of the bunch, bit thay being said I still enjoyed it start to finish.

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What a great story!

Kate Mulgrew is so good, I want her to have my children, seriously, I have four of them she’s welcome to them. Not one of them reads aloud like her or cleans up after themselves for that matter, it’s ridiculous, dishes and socks everywhere, I’m constantly stepping on lego, of course none of them know whose socks or dishes these are or who broke the you name it... all that to say, Kate Mulgrew is one honey of a story teller!
What a great story indeed I enjoyed it so much, the characters were very believable, there was no shortage of conflict and the Fireman was awesome. I wish that I had Dragon’s Scale, then... I’d finally be above the law. And I guess I’ll keep my children for the time being, they’re pretty great too.

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A Brilliant Post Apocalyptic Journey

I’m a big fan of Joe Hill, but this book has become my favourite of all his work so far. Exciting, gorgeous, full of emotion and growth, and absolutely unforgettable, THE FIREMAN is not to be missed.

The story follows a newly pregnant young nurse named Harper who becomes infected with dragonscale, a pandemic that causes combustion to those who are infected by it. To escape her paranoid and abusive partner, Harper goes on a journey to find somewhere safe to deliver her baby and start a new life.

Harper is fantastic. She has exceptional growth and self-awareness throughout the story. She is so relatable and easy to root for. Though she is gentle and kind, she is not afraid to fight back and protect those she cares about.

The Fireman she meets, John, is equally as fun. His crass attitude, unconventional behaviour, and desire to do good make him a great foil for Harper. I truly loved their relationship and how it grew.

All of the side characters have important roles and feel natural. It’s alarming to think of how cold and cruel some would be, and how hard others would have to become to survive. But that is what makes THE FIREMAN terrifying: How quickly the world descends into madness once any sort of establishment or government is erased.

The writing is gorgeous and descriptive, painting incredible moments in the reader’s mind. This is a long book, but it doesn’t feel very long as time progresses and different things happen. It all feels natural and balanced. I couldn’t stop reading!

THE FIREMAN is a fresh take on the post-apocalyptic genre that many readers will enjoy. I loved the story of courage and found family, and will be thinking about this one for a long time.

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I loved this so much

This was such a good listen, I wish it would have never ended. The story went places I didn't see coming, there were characters I loved and despised. I had not read anyrhing about this audiobook before starting it, and knowing Joe Hill I thought it would be horror. It is post apocalyptic, but also so much more than that. Give this a listen, you won't regret it!

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