Working Fire

Ellie Brown a former med student turned paramedic is forced to return to the hometown of Broadlands Illinois a place she desperately wants to escape after her father suffers a severe stroke. She returns to help her older sister Amelia with caring for her father. However, her life is upended when she receives a 911 dispatch at her sister's house where it's discovered that both her sister and brother-in-law have been shot after a home invasion leading her sister to remain in critical condition. It's after this tragedy as Ellie tries to piece together what happened that she uncovers secrets and revelations about her family that will test her loyalties leading her to make difficult decisions that will change her future trajectory.

This was my second Emily Bleeker novel and I'm sad to say it wasn't for me. For starters, I felt the story dragged a little in the beginning. It's told in dual alternating timelines with Ellie's POV showcasing events that happened during the discovery of the shooting and Amelia's POV displaying the events that led up to the shooting. I struggled to get pulled into the story because I felt yanked out of the current events following the shooting to flashback to the events leading up to the shooting.

Additionally, I didn't like Ellie or Amelia. I found Ellie to be a little overbearing and aggressive at times for no seemingly good reason. Yet when I felt she could've stood actually to lean into her aggression she didn't and became a little bit of a pushover. Whereas with Amelia I felt she was gullible and spineless when it came to holding her ground with her husband.

Finally, the ending left me dissatisfied as there wasn't a resolution to the events that occurred near the end. And Ellie infuriated me with her actions at the end.

All in all, this just didn't hit the spot for me but I'm looking forward to trying out another novel by Emily Bleeker in the future.

Working Fire is told in dual timelines, the first is through Ellie's eyes starting the day she gets a call that there's been a shooting at her sister Amelia's address and the second is from Amelia's point of view six weeks prior. The alternating chapters each have a clear, distinct voice as the sisters were both well drawn and multidimensional, I had a strong sense of both of them as individuals as well as a firm grasp regarding the dynamic of their relationship with each other.

While there is definitely a mysterious element at play here, I don't think it's the driving force of the book. Yes, I was super curious about exactly what had happened the day Amelia was shot as well as what events sent things into motion, but at its core this is a novel about family relationships and the secrets that can rip them apart. There's really not much that interests me more than the bond between sisters and some good old fashioned family secrets and Working Fire had plenty of both. While I wouldn't describe this as twisty, it did keep me guessing and still surprised me a few times.

There was an emotional component to this, Bleeker has an evocative writing style that makes you care about the characters she creates even if you don't always understand them. This would be perfect for people who don't want violence or highly disturbing content in their mysteries, it's on the lighter side yet still manages to pack a decent punch. The ending especially caught me off guard, it was unexpected and fitting.