“Faces in the Fire” follows the interactions of the lives of four people and how each influences the other toward their own personal redemption.  The narrative is comprised of the stories of four individual characters: the truck driver turned metal sculptor, who hears the voices of ghosts in dead people’s clothing; the email spammer and self-described bottom-feeder facing terminal cancer; the tattoo artist addicted to heroin and running from the pain of her past life; and the assassin, who kills with a simple touch.

Each character’s progress in the story is shifted by a chance meeting with one of the others, and a possession is passed between them. This possession is interpreted differently by each, and becomes the key to changing their lives.

The presentation of the story is unusual, in that, though the chapters are numbered chronologically, they are presented in the book out of order and in four sections, one following each character through the narrative.  This out-of-order approach may turn some readers off, although it did not affect my interest in the story.

I found the story interesting from the beginning, although the action was a bit slow to start. The book is driven by supernatural occurrences, which add a definite element of mystery. The characters themselves were interesting, but some of their motivations seemed to be shallow at times, and it was hard to determine exactly what brought each character to their present state. Each character’s conclusion does not really provide a full resolution in the story, but only an indication of the direction of their lives. If it bothers you when authors do not tie up everything at the end, this book will leave you hanging, to a point. If you follow the common thread, at least in my mind, you can determine who the main character is, and how that story comes full circle.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, this being my first by this author. I plan to try a few others from T.L. Hines.

Tags: fiction, reviews