Description

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE

The propulsive story of three scheming opportunistsa banker a conman and a woman with an extraordinary giftwhose lives collide in the wake of a devastating fire in the American West

For the citizens of Spokane Falls the fire of 1889 that destroyed their frontier boomtown was no disaster it was an opportunity Barton Heydale manager of the only bank in Spokane Falls is on the verge of ending his short unpopular life But when his city goes up in flames he sees an ember of hope shimmering on the horizon headed right for him As citizens flock to the bank to cash out insurance policies and take out loans he realizes he can command the power he cravesand its not by following the rules Here is his reason to live

When Quake Auchenbaucher a career con man hired to investigate the cause of the fire arrives in Spokane Falls he employs his usual shady tactics But this time with Washington Territory vying for statehood the sudden attention to due process jeopardizes Quakes methods of manipulation

And then theres Roslyn Beck whose uncanny ability to see the future has long driven her to drink and with whom both Barton and Quake have fallen madly and dangerously in love She is known as a certain kind of woman in possession of unique talents and influence if only she can find the right ways to wield them As their paths collide diverge and collide again Barton Quake and Roslyn come to terms with their own needs for power greed and control leading one to total ruin one to heartbreak and one ultimately to redemption

With masterful precision devious originality and dark whimsy Fire Season freshly imagines the greed and misogyny of the American West to tell a rollicking bewitching story about finding purpose in the face of injustice