Review: The Fireman

The Fireman by Joe Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Such a great book and right up there with Stephen King. The writing is so similar to King's and it drew me in from the start.
This book introduces a plague that has swept the world and is spreading like wildfire. This plague is called Dragonscale and it transmitted through contact with a spore. When someone contracts Dragonscale, they start to get black and gold lines and stripes all over their body. The illness is fatal ending in the person spontaneously combusting into flames. At the beginning of the book, the world is already in chaos with the government attempting to round up the sick and killing them is mass genocides.
The main character we follow is Harper who is a nurse working in a hospital and attending to the mass crowds of sick people including those with Dragonscale. Harper is compassionate, empathetic, and really cares for her patients. Harper soon learns she is pregnant and soon after, she contracts Dragonscale. She is determined to survive on the run and live until her baby is born.
As the book goes on, we get introduces to many more characters coping with this new world and seeing if survival with this illness is possible. There are many pop culture references that I really enjoyed. For example, Harper is a huge fan of Mary Poppins and Julie Andrews. She often uses the phrases or sings the songs from the movie. Overall, this book was just so much fun. I highly recommend it for fans of weird fiction or if you like Stephen King.

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