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Fire on the Island
A Romantic Thriller
For lovers of crime fiction and the allure of the Greek islands, Fire on the Island is the perfect summer read.
Fire on the Island is a playful, romantic thriller set in contemporary Greece, with a gay Greek-American FBI agent, who is undercover on the island to investigate a series of mysterious fires. Set against the very real refugee crisis on the beautiful, sun-drenched Greek islands, this novel paints a loving portrait of a community in crisis. As the island residents grapple with declining tourism, poverty, refugees, family feuds, and a perilously damaged church, an arsonist invades their midst.
Nick Damigos, the FBI agent, arrives on the island just in time to witness the latest fire and save a beloved truffle-sniffing dog. Hailed as a hero and embraced by the community, Nick finds himself drawn to Takis, a young bartender who becomes his primary suspect, which is a problem because they're having an affair. Theirs is not the only complicated romance in the community and Takis isn't the only suspicious character on the island. The priest is an art forger, a young Albanian waiter harbors a secret, the captain of the coast guard station seems to have his own agenda, and the village itself hides a violent history. Nick has to unravel the truth in time to prevent catastrophe, as he comes to terms with his own past trauma. In saving the village, he will go a long way toward saving himself.
A long time devotee of the Greek islands, Smith paints the setting with gorgeous color and empathy, ushering in a new romantic thriller with the charm of Zorba the Greek while shedding bright light on the very real challenges of life in contemporary Greece.
For lovers of crime fiction and the allure of the Greek islands, Fire on the Island is the perfect summer read.
Fire on the Island is a playful, romantic thriller set in contemporary Greece, with a gay Greek-American FBI agent, who is undercover on the island to investigate a series of mysterious fires. Set against the very real refugee crisis on the beautiful, sun-drenched Greek islands, this novel paints a loving portrait of a community in crisis. As the island residents grapple with declining tourism, poverty, refugees, family feuds, and a perilously damaged church, an arsonist invades their midst.
Nick Damigos, the FBI agent, arrives on the island just in time to witness the latest fire and save a beloved truffle-sniffing dog. Hailed as a hero and embraced by the community, Nick finds himself drawn to Takis, a young bartender who becomes his primary suspect, which is a problem because they're having an affair. Theirs is not the only complicated romance in the community and Takis isn't the only suspicious character on the island. The priest is an art forger, a young Albanian waiter harbors a secret, the captain of the coast guard station seems to have his own agenda, and the village itself hides a violent history. Nick has to unravel the truth in time to prevent catastrophe, as he comes to terms with his own past trauma. In saving the village, he will go a long way toward saving himself.
A long time devotee of the Greek islands, Smith paints the setting with gorgeous color and empathy, ushering in a new romantic thriller with the charm of Zorba the Greek while shedding bright light on the very real challenges of life in contemporary Greece.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published July 7, 2020
About the author
Timothy Jay Smith
8 books92 followersFrom an early age, Timothy Jay Smith developed a ceaseless wanderlust that has taken him around the world many times. En route, he’s found the characters that people his work. Polish cops and Greek fishermen, mercenaries and arms dealers, child prostitutes and wannabe terrorists, Indian Chiefs and Indian tailors: he’s hung with them all in an unparalleled international career that’s seen him smuggle banned plays from behind the Iron Curtain, maneuver through Occupied Territories, represent the U.S. at the highest levels of foreign governments, and stowaway aboard a ‘devil’s barge’ for a three-day crossing from Cape Verde that landed him in an African jail.
Tim brings the same energy to his writing that he brought to a distinguished career, and as a result, he has won top honors for his novels, screenplays and stage plays in numerous prestigious competitions. Fire on the Island won the Gold Medal in the 2017 Faulkner-Wisdom Competition for the Novel. Another novel, The Fourth Courier, set in Poland, will be published in spring 2019 by Skyhorse Publishing. Previously, he won the Paris Prize for Fiction (now the Paris Literary Prize) for his novel, A Vision of Angels. Kirkus Reviews called Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite” and selected it as one of the Best Books of 2012.
Tim was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize. His stage play, How High the Moon, won the prestigious Stanley Drama Award, and his screenplays have won competitions sponsored by the American Screenwriters Association, WriteMovies, Houston WorldFest, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Fresh Voices, StoryPros, and the Hollywood Screenwriting Institute. He is the founder of the Smith Prize for Political Theater.
https://www.instagram.com/timothyjays...
www.facebook.com/TimothyJaySmith/
Tim brings the same energy to his writing that he brought to a distinguished career, and as a result, he has won top honors for his novels, screenplays and stage plays in numerous prestigious competitions. Fire on the Island won the Gold Medal in the 2017 Faulkner-Wisdom Competition for the Novel. Another novel, The Fourth Courier, set in Poland, will be published in spring 2019 by Skyhorse Publishing. Previously, he won the Paris Prize for Fiction (now the Paris Literary Prize) for his novel, A Vision of Angels. Kirkus Reviews called Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite” and selected it as one of the Best Books of 2012.
Tim was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize. His stage play, How High the Moon, won the prestigious Stanley Drama Award, and his screenplays have won competitions sponsored by the American Screenwriters Association, WriteMovies, Houston WorldFest, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Fresh Voices, StoryPros, and the Hollywood Screenwriting Institute. He is the founder of the Smith Prize for Political Theater.
https://www.instagram.com/timothyjays...
www.facebook.com/TimothyJaySmith/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
April 12, 2020
3 "play bouzouki for me" stars !!!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Skyhorse publishing (Arcade Crimewise) for an ebook in exchange for an honest review. This book is due for release in July 2020.
This is my contribution to Goodreads Mystery and Thriller Week 2020.
As we are not able to do any travel due to Covid-19 I wanted a book of a distant, sunny and gorgeous place. A Greek Isle close to Turkey certainly fulfills those requirements.
Nick Damigos FBI is sent to the island to investigate a series of suspicious fires that have been increasing in intensity. There he finds a wide array of interesting and colorful characters and also becomes enamored by a young man and starts an affair. Over a period of a week a whole host of events occur, romances flare and histories explored until the explosive end.
There is much to admire in this book: characters are fully fleshed out with personal histories explored, there is authenticity to ethnic tensions, the difficulties with taking refugees, the moving away from church hierachies and the racism, sexism and homophobia that is still rampant in much of beautiful Greece.
I struggled quite a bit throughout the book however. The tone is too lightearted for many of the issues involved, at times the story spins out of control and what could have been a really taut and interesting thriller threatens to become a Mamma Mia remake with Meryl Streep singing in a register that does not suit her.
This is a good book that could have been excellent with a bit more work and staying away from over the top situations that smart a bit of being "jolly good fun".
Yeia sas pedia ! (To your health my friends !)
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Skyhorse publishing (Arcade Crimewise) for an ebook in exchange for an honest review. This book is due for release in July 2020.
This is my contribution to Goodreads Mystery and Thriller Week 2020.
As we are not able to do any travel due to Covid-19 I wanted a book of a distant, sunny and gorgeous place. A Greek Isle close to Turkey certainly fulfills those requirements.
Nick Damigos FBI is sent to the island to investigate a series of suspicious fires that have been increasing in intensity. There he finds a wide array of interesting and colorful characters and also becomes enamored by a young man and starts an affair. Over a period of a week a whole host of events occur, romances flare and histories explored until the explosive end.
There is much to admire in this book: characters are fully fleshed out with personal histories explored, there is authenticity to ethnic tensions, the difficulties with taking refugees, the moving away from church hierachies and the racism, sexism and homophobia that is still rampant in much of beautiful Greece.
I struggled quite a bit throughout the book however. The tone is too lightearted for many of the issues involved, at times the story spins out of control and what could have been a really taut and interesting thriller threatens to become a Mamma Mia remake with Meryl Streep singing in a register that does not suit her.
This is a good book that could have been excellent with a bit more work and staying away from over the top situations that smart a bit of being "jolly good fun".
Yeia sas pedia ! (To your health my friends !)
June 14, 2020
”The arsonist intent on burning down the village is likely motivated by a slight to him or his family profound enough to have the weight of history behind it. Only eternal guilt demanded such fierce justice, or so Nick conjectured as he descended the spiral steps into the City Hall’s archives. Otherwise, why not just slash someone’s tires for revenge, or poison his dog? No, in the arsonist’s mind, the whole village was guilty of something.”
The Greek-American, Nick Damigos, has arrived on the sun-drenched shores of the Greek Island of Santorini to visit the quiet village of Vourvoulos. He is seeking serenity so that he can focus on writing his book, or so he says.
”’Nick is a writer.’
‘Published?’ someone asked.
‘Not yet.’
‘Another one,’ a man grumped.”
I have to laugh at this exchange. When is a writer a writer? The village has obviously seen many other “writers” come and go over the years. Young men and women brimming with plots and characters seeking the right place to have those words spill out onto the page. The languid pace of this village might very well indeed allow the writer the peace of mind to finally write his masterpiece. In the case of Nick Damigos, he really isn’t a writer; he’s a special agent for the FBI... undercover.
There have been a series of seemingly random fires on the island. There have been no clues to the identity of the arsonist, but it is obviously someone harboring a dark grudge who seems so out of place in such an idyllic setting. It must be someone with a mind so twisted by animosity and bitterness that even the sun, the food, the ouzo, the beaches, and the brilliant blue water can not soothe his deep seated rancor.
There are numerous suspects. There is a lecherous priest with an agenda to save his crumbling church. There is an Albanian waiter with a mysterious past. There is a “dead” Turkish immigrant who fits the profile for a vengeful crusader. His primary suspect though is Takis, who has become his lover, much to the chagrin of Takis’s voluptuous sister Vassoula, who finds Nick’s physique much to her liking. Everyone has secrets, and everyone has a past, and as Nick discovers what people don’t want known, he starts to narrow his suspect list. Nick must find out who it is before he strikes again!
The plot of this novel is set against the backdrop of the refugee crisis in Greece that continues today. Desperate people are seeing Greece as the entry point into the rest of Europe. There are over 50,000 refugees in Greece presently, and the strain on the economy of Greece has been troublesome. We see it affecting this small village as boats of refugees flow onto their island continuously. The rest of Europe has shown little interest in these refugees, so Greece is faced with a crisis of how best to absorb these people into their economy when the natives are finding it so difficult to find jobs and sustain their own families. This adds additional stress to a village already under siege from a vengeful arsonist.
The population exchange between Turkey and Greece back in 1923 is also part of the background of the novel. This involved denaturalization of over 1.6 million people, who were forced to become refugees by returning to a homeland they did not know. It blows the mind to think about how a few signatures on a piece of paper in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the governments of Turkey and Greece could result in so much upheaval in the lives of so many people. It is a terrifying thought to be thrown out of your country and sent somewhere you no longer have any ties to, except for a portion of the blood that flows through your veins.
Timothy Jay Smith also talks about the implications of being gay, or really anything other than heterosexual, in a small town. The homophobia is palpable and crushing and drives away those who identify with a different orientation to live in places better disposed to be accepting.
Despite the heavy overtones of the current affairs, sexual politics, and the historical catastrophes that still loom over the island, they are really more what I would call undertones that create a vibe without weighing down the plot. This is more like a mystery that any of us might find ourselves caught up in on vacation, a diversion to add spice to a beautiful backdrop of vineyards, meadows, and shores. Timothy Jay Smith is a lyrical writer who can describe the murmurs of the locals at the bar or a moonlit serenade and make you believe you are there. One might think this is a plot worthy of a meaty red Agiorgitiko, but really, this sun-drenched plot is better suited to a spritely glass of Assyrtiko.
This will prove to be one of those perfect summer reads that will allow you to escape to another place during a time when it isn’t prudent to travel abroad. Let Smith be your guide this summer, and see Greece through the eyes of a writer who has been seduced by the wonderful nuances of Greece.
”’Timothy is a writer.’
‘Published?’ someone asked.
‘Yes he is.’
‘Vassoula, bring this man an ouzo...no a brandy,’ one of the men says with enthusiasm. He motions Timothy over to his table and pushes out the chair across from him with his foot.
‘So Timothy, does your book have intrigue?’
‘Yes.’
The man leans across the table with a grin. ‘Romance?’ he asks.
Timothy laughs softly and winks at the man.
The man guffaws loudly and slaps the table top hard enough to make the glasses rattle and shake. ‘Well then, I’ll just have to read it. Drink up, Timothy. The night is young and we must celebrate your novel.’ He raised his glass and clinked it against Timothy’s hard enough to make the liquid leap out on their hands. ‘Stin ygeiá sas,’ he thundered.”
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
The Greek-American, Nick Damigos, has arrived on the sun-drenched shores of the Greek Island of Santorini to visit the quiet village of Vourvoulos. He is seeking serenity so that he can focus on writing his book, or so he says.
”’Nick is a writer.’
‘Published?’ someone asked.
‘Not yet.’
‘Another one,’ a man grumped.”
I have to laugh at this exchange. When is a writer a writer? The village has obviously seen many other “writers” come and go over the years. Young men and women brimming with plots and characters seeking the right place to have those words spill out onto the page. The languid pace of this village might very well indeed allow the writer the peace of mind to finally write his masterpiece. In the case of Nick Damigos, he really isn’t a writer; he’s a special agent for the FBI... undercover.
There have been a series of seemingly random fires on the island. There have been no clues to the identity of the arsonist, but it is obviously someone harboring a dark grudge who seems so out of place in such an idyllic setting. It must be someone with a mind so twisted by animosity and bitterness that even the sun, the food, the ouzo, the beaches, and the brilliant blue water can not soothe his deep seated rancor.
There are numerous suspects. There is a lecherous priest with an agenda to save his crumbling church. There is an Albanian waiter with a mysterious past. There is a “dead” Turkish immigrant who fits the profile for a vengeful crusader. His primary suspect though is Takis, who has become his lover, much to the chagrin of Takis’s voluptuous sister Vassoula, who finds Nick’s physique much to her liking. Everyone has secrets, and everyone has a past, and as Nick discovers what people don’t want known, he starts to narrow his suspect list. Nick must find out who it is before he strikes again!
The plot of this novel is set against the backdrop of the refugee crisis in Greece that continues today. Desperate people are seeing Greece as the entry point into the rest of Europe. There are over 50,000 refugees in Greece presently, and the strain on the economy of Greece has been troublesome. We see it affecting this small village as boats of refugees flow onto their island continuously. The rest of Europe has shown little interest in these refugees, so Greece is faced with a crisis of how best to absorb these people into their economy when the natives are finding it so difficult to find jobs and sustain their own families. This adds additional stress to a village already under siege from a vengeful arsonist.
The population exchange between Turkey and Greece back in 1923 is also part of the background of the novel. This involved denaturalization of over 1.6 million people, who were forced to become refugees by returning to a homeland they did not know. It blows the mind to think about how a few signatures on a piece of paper in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the governments of Turkey and Greece could result in so much upheaval in the lives of so many people. It is a terrifying thought to be thrown out of your country and sent somewhere you no longer have any ties to, except for a portion of the blood that flows through your veins.
Timothy Jay Smith also talks about the implications of being gay, or really anything other than heterosexual, in a small town. The homophobia is palpable and crushing and drives away those who identify with a different orientation to live in places better disposed to be accepting.
Despite the heavy overtones of the current affairs, sexual politics, and the historical catastrophes that still loom over the island, they are really more what I would call undertones that create a vibe without weighing down the plot. This is more like a mystery that any of us might find ourselves caught up in on vacation, a diversion to add spice to a beautiful backdrop of vineyards, meadows, and shores. Timothy Jay Smith is a lyrical writer who can describe the murmurs of the locals at the bar or a moonlit serenade and make you believe you are there. One might think this is a plot worthy of a meaty red Agiorgitiko, but really, this sun-drenched plot is better suited to a spritely glass of Assyrtiko.
This will prove to be one of those perfect summer reads that will allow you to escape to another place during a time when it isn’t prudent to travel abroad. Let Smith be your guide this summer, and see Greece through the eyes of a writer who has been seduced by the wonderful nuances of Greece.
”’Timothy is a writer.’
‘Published?’ someone asked.
‘Yes he is.’
‘Vassoula, bring this man an ouzo...no a brandy,’ one of the men says with enthusiasm. He motions Timothy over to his table and pushes out the chair across from him with his foot.
‘So Timothy, does your book have intrigue?’
‘Yes.’
The man leans across the table with a grin. ‘Romance?’ he asks.
Timothy laughs softly and winks at the man.
The man guffaws loudly and slaps the table top hard enough to make the glasses rattle and shake. ‘Well then, I’ll just have to read it. Drink up, Timothy. The night is young and we must celebrate your novel.’ He raised his glass and clinked it against Timothy’s hard enough to make the liquid leap out on their hands. ‘Stin ygeiá sas,’ he thundered.”
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
July 6, 2022
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: The main thing a person wants in a beach read is escape, right? A chance to see something new and different in the world while baking on a sandy stretch of not-my-problem, with a little light romance/sex tossed (!) in for fun. And here it is, laddies and gentlewomen: The prescription substance for your beach-read needs.
Nick is our sort-of PoV character, though I think the novel's fairly ensemble-cast-y. He provides the action that solves the problems, so it's not unfair to promote him to centrality. He's a Greek-American settled in Athens, where he does Greek-themed stuff for the FBI. Considering how important Greece is to many and various criminal enterprises within the US, this didn't raise my eyebrows. The situation in which Nick arrives...an active refugee crisis, a local problem with criminal arson, a subplot of Russian-mafia troubles...was, then, one in which I could certainly imagine US federal law enforcement taking enough of an interest to send someone to monitor.
I'm a little more skeptical about Nick's open gayness. Not so much in Greece...the history's there, and the Greek townspeople's homophobia isn't over- or under-played...but in the FBI. Gayness within the federal law enforcement establishment isn't surprising but its openness is to me. I suspended disbelief on the subject because I could simply be behind the times and am most certainly sour and suspicious of all law enforcement personnel.
That said, those were my principal struggles with the book's set-up; its delivery of them, and of the remaining elements of the plot, was most agreeably deft and disarming. I knew from the start that the idea of the village was to offer the storyteller a pressure cooker. The Greece-to-Australia pipeline is well and truly attested for generations now, and plays a large part here in this story. The ways Author Smith brought the connection to life were sneaky and very nicely executed, having the desired effect of making the guilt of Nick's local fling Takis look inevitable while making sure that he couldn't really be guilty. (You'll work that out in mere moments when the means of linking Takis to the crimes is presented.) So, while it plays out, enjoy the mummery. Likewise Nick, the scion of Greek emigrants, is treading a well-worn real-world path from Greece to Baltimore and back again. The refugee crisis is horribly real. Its dreadful, cruel scope isn't even as severe in the story as in reality. The ongoing Greek debt crisis is presented but not explored because, honestly, would you rather read about a sexy young guy setting his sights on a silver fox and then bedding him, or microeconomic consequences of predatory capitalism?
Me neither. And, for the ewww-ick homophobes, the sex is not explicit or more than sketched in. Perfect beach-read level sexytimes, with plenty of happy coupling left to the adult relationship veteran's inner eye. What sex wasn't pleasant to view to one's inner eye was the sadder-but-wiser loss of virginity for a teen girl, an event she precipitates and, while it was happening, realizes is pretty damned disappointing. She doesn't leave the experience with good feelings about it. She also realizes what her own responsibilities in the situation are when it threatens to run her true love's course into a brick wall. Luckily she's a sensible person and makes very sure to exert her quite considerable will towards the resolution she wants to bring about. I was pleased that she was both a teenager...moody, nasty, angry as hell about whatever it is that makes teens so angry...and a burgeoning adult, with a clear goal she sets when things are at their most bewilderingly loud. I liked her for that trait.
Her mother and grandparents have a surprising connection to the arsons that bring Nick to the island. Her family's Australian connection and resultant outsiderdom are played for some clear plot advantages. The family isn't as outside as they feel themselves to be. The village, in fact, doesn't come out of the arsons and the other terrible crimes that occur while Nick is there entirely unchanged. The problems Nick knew were festering and which his mere presence were always going to lance were the sorts of issues that confront small, tight-knit communities the world over. In the end, Nick's actions in pursuit of solutions are as well-aimed at the dark and ugly past as at the creepy present.
While I liked that aspect of the story, I think I might've liked Nick a lot more for his characterization than his actions. He's in the early stages of midlife. He's got a terrible, nightmarish trauma in his past that he doesn't like to reveal. As it has physical marks on his body, he's reluctant to be as slutty as most gay characters in beach reads are (goddesses please bless their anti-gravity underwear). His body dysmorphia comes from literal scarring events, and it's shown as being truly troubling for Nick to confront. Takis is the agent of his reassessment of the problem. It is shown that Takis is singularly uninterested in Nick's scars and quite empathetic with his scarring. That was a very nice side-show in their passionate seasonal fling.
I also particularly resonated with the fact that everyone from the island is shown as possessing a very solid motivation for their actions, and those motivations (dark or bright) were delineated in enough detail that I could make them part of my response to the tale as a whole. I think the author's investment of time in revealing the town's traumas caused and endured paid off...even the revelation of the arsonist led to the revelation of the motives and the sheer awfulness of Hatred, that dark miasma clouding the haters' ability to see the essential sameness of all human beings. It was well handled. I didn't condone the actions that led to the actions I didn't condone, which matryoshka-doll of a response is far more complex than most beach-read thrillers I've read over the years.
But there are no perfect experiences in this, our life, are there. I wasn't really impressed with the handling of the art-forgery subplot. and its blatant gaudy obviousness. I was moved, and saddened, by the reasons for arsonist's tricks. I wasn't at all impressed that the consequences were so severe for the present-day crimes and not equally severe for those that motivated them in the first place. I was very amused with the by-play between Takis and Nick, the way they make what can only be a season's romance into something both fun and important to them both. I suppose a door was left open at the end for them to reconnect but it was pretty heavily deterministically set down as "nevermore." A bit less of a hammerblow to the gauzy soft-focus desire for A Happy Ending to their happy endings wouldn't have come amisss, and as it was felt more like the author was caving in to pressure to close down that Happy Ending.
None of these are deal-breakers, I hasten to add. I want to read more Timothy Jay Smith stories and I can definitely recommend this one to you for your beach reading pleasure.
My Review: The main thing a person wants in a beach read is escape, right? A chance to see something new and different in the world while baking on a sandy stretch of not-my-problem, with a little light romance/sex tossed (!) in for fun. And here it is, laddies and gentlewomen: The prescription substance for your beach-read needs.
Nick is our sort-of PoV character, though I think the novel's fairly ensemble-cast-y. He provides the action that solves the problems, so it's not unfair to promote him to centrality. He's a Greek-American settled in Athens, where he does Greek-themed stuff for the FBI. Considering how important Greece is to many and various criminal enterprises within the US, this didn't raise my eyebrows. The situation in which Nick arrives...an active refugee crisis, a local problem with criminal arson, a subplot of Russian-mafia troubles...was, then, one in which I could certainly imagine US federal law enforcement taking enough of an interest to send someone to monitor.
I'm a little more skeptical about Nick's open gayness. Not so much in Greece...the history's there, and the Greek townspeople's homophobia isn't over- or under-played...but in the FBI. Gayness within the federal law enforcement establishment isn't surprising but its openness is to me. I suspended disbelief on the subject because I could simply be behind the times and am most certainly sour and suspicious of all law enforcement personnel.
That said, those were my principal struggles with the book's set-up; its delivery of them, and of the remaining elements of the plot, was most agreeably deft and disarming. I knew from the start that the idea of the village was to offer the storyteller a pressure cooker. The Greece-to-Australia pipeline is well and truly attested for generations now, and plays a large part here in this story. The ways Author Smith brought the connection to life were sneaky and very nicely executed, having the desired effect of making the guilt of Nick's local fling Takis look inevitable while making sure that he couldn't really be guilty. (You'll work that out in mere moments when the means of linking Takis to the crimes is presented.) So, while it plays out, enjoy the mummery. Likewise Nick, the scion of Greek emigrants, is treading a well-worn real-world path from Greece to Baltimore and back again. The refugee crisis is horribly real. Its dreadful, cruel scope isn't even as severe in the story as in reality. The ongoing Greek debt crisis is presented but not explored because, honestly, would you rather read about a sexy young guy setting his sights on a silver fox and then bedding him, or microeconomic consequences of predatory capitalism?
Me neither. And, for the ewww-ick homophobes, the sex is not explicit or more than sketched in. Perfect beach-read level sexytimes, with plenty of happy coupling left to the adult relationship veteran's inner eye. What sex wasn't pleasant to view to one's inner eye was the sadder-but-wiser loss of virginity for a teen girl, an event she precipitates and, while it was happening, realizes is pretty damned disappointing. She doesn't leave the experience with good feelings about it. She also realizes what her own responsibilities in the situation are when it threatens to run her true love's course into a brick wall. Luckily she's a sensible person and makes very sure to exert her quite considerable will towards the resolution she wants to bring about. I was pleased that she was both a teenager...moody, nasty, angry as hell about whatever it is that makes teens so angry...and a burgeoning adult, with a clear goal she sets when things are at their most bewilderingly loud. I liked her for that trait.
Her mother and grandparents have a surprising connection to the arsons that bring Nick to the island. Her family's Australian connection and resultant outsiderdom are played for some clear plot advantages. The family isn't as outside as they feel themselves to be. The village, in fact, doesn't come out of the arsons and the other terrible crimes that occur while Nick is there entirely unchanged. The problems Nick knew were festering and which his mere presence were always going to lance were the sorts of issues that confront small, tight-knit communities the world over. In the end, Nick's actions in pursuit of solutions are as well-aimed at the dark and ugly past as at the creepy present.
While I liked that aspect of the story, I think I might've liked Nick a lot more for his characterization than his actions. He's in the early stages of midlife. He's got a terrible, nightmarish trauma in his past that he doesn't like to reveal. As it has physical marks on his body, he's reluctant to be as slutty as most gay characters in beach reads are (goddesses please bless their anti-gravity underwear). His body dysmorphia comes from literal scarring events, and it's shown as being truly troubling for Nick to confront. Takis is the agent of his reassessment of the problem. It is shown that Takis is singularly uninterested in Nick's scars and quite empathetic with his scarring. That was a very nice side-show in their passionate seasonal fling.
I also particularly resonated with the fact that everyone from the island is shown as possessing a very solid motivation for their actions, and those motivations (dark or bright) were delineated in enough detail that I could make them part of my response to the tale as a whole. I think the author's investment of time in revealing the town's traumas caused and endured paid off...even the revelation of the arsonist led to the revelation of the motives and the sheer awfulness of Hatred, that dark miasma clouding the haters' ability to see the essential sameness of all human beings. It was well handled. I didn't condone the actions that led to the actions I didn't condone, which matryoshka-doll of a response is far more complex than most beach-read thrillers I've read over the years.
But there are no perfect experiences in this, our life, are there. I wasn't really impressed with the handling of the art-forgery subplot. and its blatant gaudy obviousness. I was moved, and saddened, by the reasons for arsonist's tricks. I wasn't at all impressed that the consequences were so severe for the present-day crimes and not equally severe for those that motivated them in the first place. I was very amused with the by-play between Takis and Nick, the way they make what can only be a season's romance into something both fun and important to them both. I suppose a door was left open at the end for them to reconnect but it was pretty heavily deterministically set down as "nevermore." A bit less of a hammerblow to the gauzy soft-focus desire for A Happy Ending to their happy endings wouldn't have come amisss, and as it was felt more like the author was caving in to pressure to close down that Happy Ending.
None of these are deal-breakers, I hasten to add. I want to read more Timothy Jay Smith stories and I can definitely recommend this one to you for your beach reading pleasure.
November 22, 2020
"FIRE ON THE ISLAND is a playful, romantic thriller set in contemporary Greece, with a gay Greek-American FBI agent, who is undercover on the island to investigate a series of mysterious fires. Set against the very real refugee crisis on the beautiful, sun-drenched Greek islands, this novel paints a loving portrait of a community in crisis. As the island residents grapple with declining tourism, poverty, refugees, family feuds, and a perilously damaged church, an arsonist invades their midst." (Publisher summary)
I enjoyed this book well enough, but figured out the criminal element very early. Those of you heading toward summer should grab this for your beach reads!
I enjoyed this book well enough, but figured out the criminal element very early. Those of you heading toward summer should grab this for your beach reads!
May 3, 2020
Fire on the Island by Timothy Jay Smith is an addicting, fun and thrilling ride around a small Greek village.
In this thriller, an FBI agent finds his way to a Greek island where fires keep happening. He is investigating why they are happening and who could have caused him. Along the way, he comes across local islanders and business owners trying their best to succeed and living their lives. He meets himself a fancy man who he begins to fall for, and who might not be who he says he is. Many other islanders face the same fate: there's a priest who isn't so saintly, a family struggling to keep their business afloat, an Albanian waiter who has lots of drama going on, and his new lover's sister is trying to get with every man no matter the relationships she ruins for them along the way.
This book is WILD. I was instantly stuck to it and truly intrigued about the ending. It took a bit for the entire story to piece itself together, but when it does it's absolutely marvelous. I can easily say this is one of my top 2020 reads. I couldn't put the book down!
There are some difficult topics in this book, like suicide and rape. Reader beware - this book doesn't go too crazy into these topics, but they are still there. The mystery and romance is much more in the fore front.
On another note: This book is LGBT friendly! Huzzah!
Overall, this book was excellent! I'd highly recommend picking this book up if you love mystery and suspense with a dash of romance.
Five out of five stars.
Thank you to Timothy Jay Smith and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.
In this thriller, an FBI agent finds his way to a Greek island where fires keep happening. He is investigating why they are happening and who could have caused him. Along the way, he comes across local islanders and business owners trying their best to succeed and living their lives. He meets himself a fancy man who he begins to fall for, and who might not be who he says he is. Many other islanders face the same fate: there's a priest who isn't so saintly, a family struggling to keep their business afloat, an Albanian waiter who has lots of drama going on, and his new lover's sister is trying to get with every man no matter the relationships she ruins for them along the way.
This book is WILD. I was instantly stuck to it and truly intrigued about the ending. It took a bit for the entire story to piece itself together, but when it does it's absolutely marvelous. I can easily say this is one of my top 2020 reads. I couldn't put the book down!
There are some difficult topics in this book, like suicide and rape. Reader beware - this book doesn't go too crazy into these topics, but they are still there. The mystery and romance is much more in the fore front.
On another note: This book is LGBT friendly! Huzzah!
Overall, this book was excellent! I'd highly recommend picking this book up if you love mystery and suspense with a dash of romance.
Five out of five stars.
Thank you to Timothy Jay Smith and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.
November 14, 2020
Advertised as a romantic thriller; to me it is and it's not quite. Undercover FBI agent Nick (based in Athens) is sent to investigate a series of fires threatening an impoverished Greek tourist seaside town, and whilst there are moments of heightened danger , any imminent threat to life is kept at a low-key level throughout most of the book with almost all of the mysterious (or otherwise) deaths being historical/forensic.
On the romance front - the book starts with Nick and Dingo and ends symmetrically with Nick and Dingo - but there's definitely no romance there between these two LOL! Bartender Takis becomes Nick's love-interest of sorts and then one of his main suspects ... but the romance doesn't really take off and rather fizzles out toward the end of the book. In fact, the main romance in this LGBT tale features a straight! couple, and whilst I remain a little bemused by this fact, this pair of characters are actually rather well developed and gained my interest and sympathy in the end. I'm thrilled however, with the shout-out to my hometown of Melbourne, Australia - including an amusing aside that almost everyone in Greece having a relative in Melbourne!
The author populates this township with quite a few interesting characters ... jaded bar and cafe owners, ageing hippie doyen, Orthodox priest with dubious motivations/calling, foreign labor workforce, asylum/refugee survivors crossing over from the shores of Turkey across the channel, abandoned deaf-mute child ... I could go on. Nick and Takos are not MCs as such - they are surrounded by a very large cast of other characters (some of whom the author provides a fair bit of back story as the tale progresses). I was surprised by the identity and motivations of the arsonist at the end but everything made sense within the context of the story and personal histories of the inter-related characters/suspects.
Romance buffs will probably not be happy with the ending - which is not even of the HFN variety much less HEA. Quite a few amusing / humorous incidents and interactions are scattered throughout ... so maybe humor should be added to the romance and thriller advert for this overall engaging 4 star read.
On the romance front - the book starts with Nick and Dingo and ends symmetrically with Nick and Dingo - but there's definitely no romance there between these two LOL! Bartender Takis becomes Nick's love-interest of sorts and then one of his main suspects ... but the romance doesn't really take off and rather fizzles out toward the end of the book. In fact, the main romance in this LGBT tale features a straight! couple, and whilst I remain a little bemused by this fact, this pair of characters are actually rather well developed and gained my interest and sympathy in the end. I'm thrilled however, with the shout-out to my hometown of Melbourne, Australia - including an amusing aside that almost everyone in Greece having a relative in Melbourne!
The author populates this township with quite a few interesting characters ... jaded bar and cafe owners, ageing hippie doyen, Orthodox priest with dubious motivations/calling, foreign labor workforce, asylum/refugee survivors crossing over from the shores of Turkey across the channel, abandoned deaf-mute child ... I could go on. Nick and Takos are not MCs as such - they are surrounded by a very large cast of other characters (some of whom the author provides a fair bit of back story as the tale progresses). I was surprised by the identity and motivations of the arsonist at the end but everything made sense within the context of the story and personal histories of the inter-related characters/suspects.
Romance buffs will probably not be happy with the ending - which is not even of the HFN variety much less HEA. Quite a few amusing / humorous incidents and interactions are scattered throughout ... so maybe humor should be added to the romance and thriller advert for this overall engaging 4 star read.
November 28, 2020
(Thanks to the publisher for the free ebook for review.) Fire on the Island is set on a remote Greek island. Its population struggles with economic depression and the daily arrivals of refugees on its shores. Amidst its problems, small fires have been started across the island. The mayor fears the arsonist is headed towards the fuel tank, sitting in the center of town. A Greek-American FBI agent arrives in town to secretly investigate. Along the way, he starts an affair with the brother of a restaurant owner and gets tangled up in the complicated stories of the villagers.
This book just didn't work for me, and I'm still trying to figure out if it's just personal preference or something more. The setting on the Greek island was interesting - the feeling of claustrophobia that all the inhabitants feel, the long family histories that everyone knows. But the focus of the story was not on the arsons. It was on the complicated love lives of the villagers and their reminiscences of opportunities missed. There are multiple narrators, some of them pretty unlikeable, and there is sexual content that made me shudder (like a teenage girl having sex with a priest). There was very little action around the arson mystery itself, and the anticlimactic ending left me unsatisfied. I also still don't understand why an American FBI agent would be sent to investigate small fires, with no victims, on a backwater Greek island.
This book just didn't work for me, and I'm still trying to figure out if it's just personal preference or something more. The setting on the Greek island was interesting - the feeling of claustrophobia that all the inhabitants feel, the long family histories that everyone knows. But the focus of the story was not on the arsons. It was on the complicated love lives of the villagers and their reminiscences of opportunities missed. There are multiple narrators, some of them pretty unlikeable, and there is sexual content that made me shudder (like a teenage girl having sex with a priest). There was very little action around the arson mystery itself, and the anticlimactic ending left me unsatisfied. I also still don't understand why an American FBI agent would be sent to investigate small fires, with no victims, on a backwater Greek island.
March 26, 2020
Is this a thriller? Well, there is the arsonist. Is it a mystery? Again with the arsonist. Is it a romance? Several, actually, and of several kinds. Is it full of wonderful imagery? A resounding YES! Are the characters memorable, quirky, engaging? Again the resounding YES! Can you tell how much I loved reading this book without summarizing it (the publisher's blurb does pretty well at hinting at some of the goings on) or doing the spoiler thing. One more thing. DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING WHILE READING IT! You will be too busy laughing your sox off to pay attention until you have either spilt or choked laughing, or both.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Skyhorse Publishing/Arcade Crimewise via NetGalley. Thank you!
I do hope that this will come out in audio format as well!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Skyhorse Publishing/Arcade Crimewise via NetGalley. Thank you!
I do hope that this will come out in audio format as well!
Read
April 13, 2020Pre-order it now...this should be an exciting mystery set on a Greek island with lots of plot twists and humor...
May 20, 2020
Timothy Jay Smith, who last year gave us a complex and credible queer C.I.A. agent in the hard-edged espionage thriller The Fourth Courier, shifts federal agency and overall tone in Fire On The Island, a charming page-turner featuring gay FBI guy Nick Damigos solving mysteries and wooing a hunky young bartender in a Greek island village. Smith deftly folds earnest insights about Greece’s current economic and refugee crises into the novel’s plot without weighing down its atmospheric and romantic pleasures. Lusty barmaids, a randy goat of a priest, a jack-of-all-trades mayor, and a ragtag fleet of sardine fishermen are among a cast of characters who evoke Mamma Mia more than John LeCarré. Which is just fine! This is an engaging picture postcard of a read, a much-needed summer tonic.
April 19, 2020
The Review
A brilliant blend of action, dramatic tension, thrills and romantic humor and passion, author Timothy Jay Smith has created an engaging read that will keep readers invested in the cast of characters throughout the narrative. The novel does an excellent job of not only creating the tension of the thriller and the passion of the romance, but infuses into it the tone of the very real distrust, heartbreak and painful situation regarding refugees forced to flee and ending up in the Greek Islands. It demonstrates the division amongst the communities regarding accepting and helping these refugees and those who want to blame them for all of society’s woes.
Amidst this important storytelling sits a beautiful work of character building that really fleshes out the cast of characters well in this novel. The setting comes alive on the pages of this book and really does a great job of making this community become its own character, giving the book’s plot more heft and importance as the story progresses.
The Verdict
A must-read novel, “Fire on the Island” by Timothy Jay Smith is a fantastic read with a quick pace and engaging plot that will keep the readers on the edge of their seat both for the book’s thrilling plot and romantic character developments. Be sure to grab your own copy on July 7th, 2020.
A brilliant blend of action, dramatic tension, thrills and romantic humor and passion, author Timothy Jay Smith has created an engaging read that will keep readers invested in the cast of characters throughout the narrative. The novel does an excellent job of not only creating the tension of the thriller and the passion of the romance, but infuses into it the tone of the very real distrust, heartbreak and painful situation regarding refugees forced to flee and ending up in the Greek Islands. It demonstrates the division amongst the communities regarding accepting and helping these refugees and those who want to blame them for all of society’s woes.
Amidst this important storytelling sits a beautiful work of character building that really fleshes out the cast of characters well in this novel. The setting comes alive on the pages of this book and really does a great job of making this community become its own character, giving the book’s plot more heft and importance as the story progresses.
The Verdict
A must-read novel, “Fire on the Island” by Timothy Jay Smith is a fantastic read with a quick pace and engaging plot that will keep the readers on the edge of their seat both for the book’s thrilling plot and romantic character developments. Be sure to grab your own copy on July 7th, 2020.
June 29, 2020
This book confused me. It was full of woke thoughts mixed with non-woke ones. Is the author just trying to show the dichotomy of life and the people in society or is he just confused and wanted to fuse a bunch of issues together in a book?
The premise of the book is that a gay FBI agent is sent to a small town in Greece to investigate a bunch of fires that are taking place there. This FBI agent, who we are made to try to love in the first chapter itself when he saves a dog from a burning fire. I mean, meh, that felt a little manipulative.
I did however, like the way the author tried to showcase a bunch of societal issues such as the refugee crisis. I thought that was well done where he showed you the two sides of people who react to the crisis - the ones who want to help and the ones who are afraid and think they’re going to pillage their country.
This book promised to be a romance thriller, I don’t know about the romance, but it was a thriller. Though the book did keep me guessing as to who the arsonist is, I was never fully invested in the characters - I thought their arcs were jagged even though the author did try to give us a backstory for most of them.
It still was an okay read and would give this 2 stars. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.
The premise of the book is that a gay FBI agent is sent to a small town in Greece to investigate a bunch of fires that are taking place there. This FBI agent, who we are made to try to love in the first chapter itself when he saves a dog from a burning fire. I mean, meh, that felt a little manipulative.
I did however, like the way the author tried to showcase a bunch of societal issues such as the refugee crisis. I thought that was well done where he showed you the two sides of people who react to the crisis - the ones who want to help and the ones who are afraid and think they’re going to pillage their country.
This book promised to be a romance thriller, I don’t know about the romance, but it was a thriller. Though the book did keep me guessing as to who the arsonist is, I was never fully invested in the characters - I thought their arcs were jagged even though the author did try to give us a backstory for most of them.
It still was an okay read and would give this 2 stars. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.
July 7, 2020
Just like his other book, The Fourth Courier, I really enjoyed this one because it feels like it gives you a lesson on culture while portraying a great romantic thriller at the same time. You learn so much about this little village in Greece and the culture surrounding it which is fascinating to me and really made me feel like I was there while this plot progressed.
The characters were are very real and had their own nature to them. The book is told in a bunch of different perspectives of various people that live in this village and I think it was perfectly blended to facilitate one good storyline. It's like a puzzle that you are slowly putting together and trying to figure out what that end picture will look like and when you finally do, its not what you expected but you still like it none the less.
I enjoyed the fact that it had LGBTQ+ representation in it because I am bisexual and like to see more of that represented in books. I feel like I relate a lot more with the characters. I will admit that there were some parts of this book that got my heart racing a little bit (in the romantic sense).
Overall, I would check out this book if you want to feel like you travelled to a beautiful country and took part in an investigation while actually not even leaving the comfort of your couch.
The characters were are very real and had their own nature to them. The book is told in a bunch of different perspectives of various people that live in this village and I think it was perfectly blended to facilitate one good storyline. It's like a puzzle that you are slowly putting together and trying to figure out what that end picture will look like and when you finally do, its not what you expected but you still like it none the less.
I enjoyed the fact that it had LGBTQ+ representation in it because I am bisexual and like to see more of that represented in books. I feel like I relate a lot more with the characters. I will admit that there were some parts of this book that got my heart racing a little bit (in the romantic sense).
Overall, I would check out this book if you want to feel like you travelled to a beautiful country and took part in an investigation while actually not even leaving the comfort of your couch.
July 7, 2020
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.5 stars
Fire on the Island is an exciting thriller story with a bit of romantic intrigue. Smith builds a delightful interlocking narrative that has multiple story lines weaving through one another. I feel like the plot unfolds through vignettes and appreciated that, although Nick is ostensibly the main character, he is not necessarily central in every scene. I also enjoyed being privy to details that the characters themselves were not. For example, the crooked priest is never publicly held accountable as a counterfeiter, but Nick and at least one other character discover his dishonest side business. There is also a very sweet side romance involving a girl named Athina and a boy named Ridi. Athina’s mother sees how earnest Ridi loves her daughter and Ridi’s own past comes back to haunt him, both in ways that would potentially turn Athina away from him, but love finds a way, even if the pathway there is bittersweet.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
4.5 stars
Fire on the Island is an exciting thriller story with a bit of romantic intrigue. Smith builds a delightful interlocking narrative that has multiple story lines weaving through one another. I feel like the plot unfolds through vignettes and appreciated that, although Nick is ostensibly the main character, he is not necessarily central in every scene. I also enjoyed being privy to details that the characters themselves were not. For example, the crooked priest is never publicly held accountable as a counterfeiter, but Nick and at least one other character discover his dishonest side business. There is also a very sweet side romance involving a girl named Athina and a boy named Ridi. Athina’s mother sees how earnest Ridi loves her daughter and Ridi’s own past comes back to haunt him, both in ways that would potentially turn Athina away from him, but love finds a way, even if the pathway there is bittersweet.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
April 22, 2020
Intriguing book with lots of interesting characters. The story takes place on an island of Greece, with an American FBI agent investigating fires that are popping up all over the island. So many of the people that live on this island that love the land, and in the end, you'll be taken by surprise! I typically can figure out who done it, and I did not figure this one out ahead of time, which gave me the "can't put it down" feeling I love about reading books!
August 11, 2021
Supposedly this was a romantic thriller.
I think it was more a Days of Your Lives episode based on a Greek Island.
I think it was more a Days of Your Lives episode based on a Greek Island.
January 18, 2022
Gotta love a mystery that keeps you guessing until the end - and this one definitely did. There's much to love about this book: The writing that easily transported me right into the gorgeous setting on a Greek island (Here I am, living vicariously through literature until I can finally travel to my beloved Mediterraean again!), the colourful cast of well developed, interesting characters, and a complex web of subplots coming together into an engaging, gripping whole. The mystery and romance aspects both proved equally enjoyable, and even characters I at first found terribly annoying (like, say, Athina) grew on me by the end. A good read all around.
(Though my arachnophobic self could definitely have done without that particular serving of nightmare fuel!)
*** I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. ***
(Though my arachnophobic self could definitely have done without that particular serving of nightmare fuel!)
*** I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. ***
July 8, 2020
NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
When the review request for this book came in, my immediate answer was “Greece, crime fiction, exactly what the doctor prescribed…”, if I remember correctly. I might have been hopping on my chair with joy, too, and therefore, once the book had been sent, I opened it with genuine positive anticipation. And, well, it turned out to be a) not exactly what, and b) more than I had expected. I noticed at once all the things that ought to make me write a lukewarm review at best, a negative one if my inital hunches were to come true. Too many things told instead of shown, too many different points of view, a jagged storyline. But. The more pages I turned, the more I was engrossed (and delighted), and the less likely a negative review became.
The book’s genre is crime fiction (not murder mystery as there is no murder) with a deliciously exotic setting—for those not living in Greece, of course—, a historical background, and a slightly political twist. The story takes place on the famous Greek island of Lesbos, a mere fifteen kilometers from the Turkish coast. For the record, the island’s most renowned resident was the poetess Sappho, circa 630-circa 570 BC, who was said to be homosexual— hence the words “sapphic” and… “lesbian”. FBI agent Nikos Damigos, of Greek-American origin, is sent on an undercover mission to Vourvoulos, a small coastal village, to investigate some fires that have broken out over the last ten months and are suspected to be arson. They seem to be coming closer and closer to the harbor, thus threatening the coastguard’s fuel tank and the whole village.
Nikos discovers a sleepy little town with its more or less eccentric inhabitants: an overambitious priest, an avuncular mayor, a bunch of chatty old women, a hunky fisherman playing his bouzouki on his boat each evening, a deaf teenage outcast, a ruggedly handsome chief of the coastguards; the flirty tavern-owner Vassoula, her handsome gay brother Takis, their British-Greek neighbour and rival tavern-owner Lydia, Lydia’s pretty young daughter Athina, and the latter’s Albanian paramour Ridi… The villagers’ most urgent worries include the fires, of course, but also the crumbling bell tower, the constant inflow of migrants crossing the narrow strait from Turkey, and most importantly, the economic crisis the country has been forced to face for the last couple of years. As Nikos digs into the fires, he finds out more about the island’s recent past as well as about the petty plots and hurtful losses of some inhabitants. He also starts to fall for Takis… and yet, at one point, the same Takis seems to become his prime suspect as well.
The story is told from several points of view, which disconcerted me a bit at the beginning (Nikos, Lydia, Athina, Takis, Ridi, Vassoula, the priest, a Russian art collector, and more), notably because they sometimes changed in the same chapter. What started out as slightly annoying became enjoyable after a while (it took some getting used to it) and allowed me to follow the different strands and twists with fresh insights—a neat technique for a crime novel. The same was true for the telling-rather-than-showing side of the author’s prose. Which goes to show that sometimes, when writers are sure they can pull it off, they are damn right not to heed any writing advice (the foremost of which is, after all, “show, don’t tell”). It’s hard to explain, though, why this worked for me in this particular book when normally it puts me off. Maybe it’s the intertwining of the multiple characters’ angles with all the stories they told, plus the setting of the story? The descriptions of the characters’ surroundings were given by light, small, subtle patches, unobtrusively, but evocatively. For someone like me who knows Greece (and, more importantly, is outright besotted with the country, its people, its food, its customs), it turns out a voyage down memory lane that leaves the taste of longing on one’s tongue and the wish to be in Greece right now.
In one word, I really liked the book. It doesn’t speak of a postcard-Greece one might encounter when spending one’s holidays holed up in a vacation resort, but the real country with its heart-rending present-day problems: the corrupt politicians, the endemic ongoing economical crisis, the despair of many Greeks and their struggle to survive, the migrants (many of them drowning, the surviving ones crammed into shabby makeshift camps because the government has no funds to do it properly, and the rest of Europe is too busy looking the other way) and their lot of subsequent problems (rise of xenophobia and extreme right-wing parties), the generosity of the majority that is so rarely talked about, the widespread mistrust of Albanians and gypsies, the immense love and pride the Greeks feel for their country… All these undercurrents shine through, and for those who don’t know Greece: they are accurate. Reading this book really was like being in Greece. Two love stories are expertly mixed in, too: the rather earth-to-earth, nigh unromantic affair between Nikos and Takis (almost but not entirely a mere hook-up), and the blossoming and sweet teenage romance between Athina and Ridi. These four were by far my favourite characters, but I noticed that even the villains were created in such a way as to allow me to understand them.
Enjoyable read, when all is said and done. Recommended to all crime fiction lovers.
When the review request for this book came in, my immediate answer was “Greece, crime fiction, exactly what the doctor prescribed…”, if I remember correctly. I might have been hopping on my chair with joy, too, and therefore, once the book had been sent, I opened it with genuine positive anticipation. And, well, it turned out to be a) not exactly what, and b) more than I had expected. I noticed at once all the things that ought to make me write a lukewarm review at best, a negative one if my inital hunches were to come true. Too many things told instead of shown, too many different points of view, a jagged storyline. But. The more pages I turned, the more I was engrossed (and delighted), and the less likely a negative review became.
The book’s genre is crime fiction (not murder mystery as there is no murder) with a deliciously exotic setting—for those not living in Greece, of course—, a historical background, and a slightly political twist. The story takes place on the famous Greek island of Lesbos, a mere fifteen kilometers from the Turkish coast. For the record, the island’s most renowned resident was the poetess Sappho, circa 630-circa 570 BC, who was said to be homosexual— hence the words “sapphic” and… “lesbian”. FBI agent Nikos Damigos, of Greek-American origin, is sent on an undercover mission to Vourvoulos, a small coastal village, to investigate some fires that have broken out over the last ten months and are suspected to be arson. They seem to be coming closer and closer to the harbor, thus threatening the coastguard’s fuel tank and the whole village.
Nikos discovers a sleepy little town with its more or less eccentric inhabitants: an overambitious priest, an avuncular mayor, a bunch of chatty old women, a hunky fisherman playing his bouzouki on his boat each evening, a deaf teenage outcast, a ruggedly handsome chief of the coastguards; the flirty tavern-owner Vassoula, her handsome gay brother Takis, their British-Greek neighbour and rival tavern-owner Lydia, Lydia’s pretty young daughter Athina, and the latter’s Albanian paramour Ridi… The villagers’ most urgent worries include the fires, of course, but also the crumbling bell tower, the constant inflow of migrants crossing the narrow strait from Turkey, and most importantly, the economic crisis the country has been forced to face for the last couple of years. As Nikos digs into the fires, he finds out more about the island’s recent past as well as about the petty plots and hurtful losses of some inhabitants. He also starts to fall for Takis… and yet, at one point, the same Takis seems to become his prime suspect as well.
The story is told from several points of view, which disconcerted me a bit at the beginning (Nikos, Lydia, Athina, Takis, Ridi, Vassoula, the priest, a Russian art collector, and more), notably because they sometimes changed in the same chapter. What started out as slightly annoying became enjoyable after a while (it took some getting used to it) and allowed me to follow the different strands and twists with fresh insights—a neat technique for a crime novel. The same was true for the telling-rather-than-showing side of the author’s prose. Which goes to show that sometimes, when writers are sure they can pull it off, they are damn right not to heed any writing advice (the foremost of which is, after all, “show, don’t tell”). It’s hard to explain, though, why this worked for me in this particular book when normally it puts me off. Maybe it’s the intertwining of the multiple characters’ angles with all the stories they told, plus the setting of the story? The descriptions of the characters’ surroundings were given by light, small, subtle patches, unobtrusively, but evocatively. For someone like me who knows Greece (and, more importantly, is outright besotted with the country, its people, its food, its customs), it turns out a voyage down memory lane that leaves the taste of longing on one’s tongue and the wish to be in Greece right now.
In one word, I really liked the book. It doesn’t speak of a postcard-Greece one might encounter when spending one’s holidays holed up in a vacation resort, but the real country with its heart-rending present-day problems: the corrupt politicians, the endemic ongoing economical crisis, the despair of many Greeks and their struggle to survive, the migrants (many of them drowning, the surviving ones crammed into shabby makeshift camps because the government has no funds to do it properly, and the rest of Europe is too busy looking the other way) and their lot of subsequent problems (rise of xenophobia and extreme right-wing parties), the generosity of the majority that is so rarely talked about, the widespread mistrust of Albanians and gypsies, the immense love and pride the Greeks feel for their country… All these undercurrents shine through, and for those who don’t know Greece: they are accurate. Reading this book really was like being in Greece. Two love stories are expertly mixed in, too: the rather earth-to-earth, nigh unromantic affair between Nikos and Takis (almost but not entirely a mere hook-up), and the blossoming and sweet teenage romance between Athina and Ridi. These four were by far my favourite characters, but I noticed that even the villains were created in such a way as to allow me to understand them.
Enjoyable read, when all is said and done. Recommended to all crime fiction lovers.
August 26, 2020
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Another day late review (I sincerely apologize), but I am very glad I've been able to read this book! Timothy Jay Smith is an incredibly talented writer who discusses big issues through quality prose and a modern setting. This is a mystery/thriller book that drew me in from page one!
Nick Damigos is funny, interesting, and an incredibly fleshed out character! His backstory is interesting and his secrets are even more intriguing! After Nick arrives on a tiny Greek island, seeking solace to write his novel, he discovers that there have been a series of random fires on the island that have become something of a mystery! But, Nick has a secret. His real motivations for visiting are not to write, but to do something else! I don't want to spoil this because it's really fun!
The plot doesn't trod along and get buried in detail, it has just the right amount for a book like this. I love standalone novels because they establish the world, build it for you, and bring you a tidy story to round out the end of the book. Author Timothy Jay Smith discusses real-world issues within the context of this book. We see some of the interplay between Turkey and Greece and their history, dating back almost to the beginning of recorded history. We also experience a storyline about being gay in a small town, something that I think a lot of readers can relate to because being any sort of "no the norm" in a small town is incredibly hard. The reader also gets a glimpse into the current geo-political structure of the region as well.
Despite these seemingly heavy themes, the book treats them with respect and doesn't weigh you down. I found the narrative to be really interesting, something between a Jack Ryan book and an action movie. Again, very well written and a superb read!
Overall, I would say this book would be great for anyone who enjoys thrillers or books about geopolitical struggle! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and definitely want to read more from this author! Thank you to Love Books Tours and Timothy Jay Smith for the opportunity to read and review this book! This is my honest opinion.
Another day late review (I sincerely apologize), but I am very glad I've been able to read this book! Timothy Jay Smith is an incredibly talented writer who discusses big issues through quality prose and a modern setting. This is a mystery/thriller book that drew me in from page one!
Nick Damigos is funny, interesting, and an incredibly fleshed out character! His backstory is interesting and his secrets are even more intriguing! After Nick arrives on a tiny Greek island, seeking solace to write his novel, he discovers that there have been a series of random fires on the island that have become something of a mystery! But, Nick has a secret. His real motivations for visiting are not to write, but to do something else! I don't want to spoil this because it's really fun!
The plot doesn't trod along and get buried in detail, it has just the right amount for a book like this. I love standalone novels because they establish the world, build it for you, and bring you a tidy story to round out the end of the book. Author Timothy Jay Smith discusses real-world issues within the context of this book. We see some of the interplay between Turkey and Greece and their history, dating back almost to the beginning of recorded history. We also experience a storyline about being gay in a small town, something that I think a lot of readers can relate to because being any sort of "no the norm" in a small town is incredibly hard. The reader also gets a glimpse into the current geo-political structure of the region as well.
Despite these seemingly heavy themes, the book treats them with respect and doesn't weigh you down. I found the narrative to be really interesting, something between a Jack Ryan book and an action movie. Again, very well written and a superb read!
Overall, I would say this book would be great for anyone who enjoys thrillers or books about geopolitical struggle! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and definitely want to read more from this author! Thank you to Love Books Tours and Timothy Jay Smith for the opportunity to read and review this book! This is my honest opinion.
October 13, 2020
Anyone else like the Greek Island set up? How about the food? This book pulled me from start to finish. Intriguing plot, well developed characters, solid mystery and mind blowing events. I enjoyed reading it!
July 29, 2020
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via the MMRG Don’t Buy My Love Program.
A beautiful small greek village seems to be in danger because of some mysterious fires happening. Because of it, a half greek FBI agent, Nick Damigos, is sent to investigate while undercover and stop an imminent disaster. Among the suspects, we have a handsome priest with a seemingly secret agenda to save his bell tower, an apparently naive Albanian waiter, and beautiful Takis, whose past makes him the prime suspect, which is a major problem since Nick is falling for him. Sadly, the time is counting and our "Superman" has to make a decision. ¿Which one of them is the vengeful arsonist?
So, first of all, I really liked this book. It's been a while since I've read anything of this genre, but even though it took me a while to attune myself with the continuos changing pov's, once I got the hang of it, the book went soooo smooth. The characters, in general, were so entertaining and interesting. I mean, I felt like Koufos, Omar and Markos' stories kinda stole the show... you'll get it after reading it. And the fact that we got to know the rest of them by themselves instead of it being like Nick reading reports about everyone on the island was awesome. By the end of the book I was like, "I need X's pov on this" so I take it as a win. Besides, holy sh*t, how many secrets do they have? They kept coming out.
About the context regarding immigration and refugees, I just found it so interesting. I myself I'm not familiar with such conditions or the way they come across to a community, so reading about it, even though this is a book of fiction, got me. Like, it seems so awful and devastating to be in such a situation, and the lack of empathy shown by some villagers kinda made me want to throw-up. Simply heartbreaking.
The other thing that I'd like to rescue from the book is that it touches a lot of "contemporary" themes (I say it this way bc they have been since forever), not deeply, but it's appreciated to seeing them. Like; xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, discrimination, the mocking of "disabilities", and I could go on forever. And on the same note, I really liked that Athina wasn't portrayed just as a stupid teenager that lots of authors seem to love, but as someone with opinions that's discovering herself. So kudos for it.
All in all, a totally worthy read that will keep you engaged, especially if you like a little bit of romance in a pool of thriller. See ya!
A beautiful small greek village seems to be in danger because of some mysterious fires happening. Because of it, a half greek FBI agent, Nick Damigos, is sent to investigate while undercover and stop an imminent disaster. Among the suspects, we have a handsome priest with a seemingly secret agenda to save his bell tower, an apparently naive Albanian waiter, and beautiful Takis, whose past makes him the prime suspect, which is a major problem since Nick is falling for him. Sadly, the time is counting and our "Superman" has to make a decision. ¿Which one of them is the vengeful arsonist?
So, first of all, I really liked this book. It's been a while since I've read anything of this genre, but even though it took me a while to attune myself with the continuos changing pov's, once I got the hang of it, the book went soooo smooth. The characters, in general, were so entertaining and interesting. I mean, I felt like Koufos, Omar and Markos' stories kinda stole the show... you'll get it after reading it. And the fact that we got to know the rest of them by themselves instead of it being like Nick reading reports about everyone on the island was awesome. By the end of the book I was like, "I need X's pov on this" so I take it as a win. Besides, holy sh*t, how many secrets do they have? They kept coming out.
About the context regarding immigration and refugees, I just found it so interesting. I myself I'm not familiar with such conditions or the way they come across to a community, so reading about it, even though this is a book of fiction, got me. Like, it seems so awful and devastating to be in such a situation, and the lack of empathy shown by some villagers kinda made me want to throw-up. Simply heartbreaking.
The other thing that I'd like to rescue from the book is that it touches a lot of "contemporary" themes (I say it this way bc they have been since forever), not deeply, but it's appreciated to seeing them. Like; xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, discrimination, the mocking of "disabilities", and I could go on forever. And on the same note, I really liked that Athina wasn't portrayed just as a stupid teenager that lots of authors seem to love, but as someone with opinions that's discovering herself. So kudos for it.
All in all, a totally worthy read that will keep you engaged, especially if you like a little bit of romance in a pool of thriller. See ya!
June 16, 2025
‘Fire on the Island’ is not a conventional romance, in fact, I hesitate to quantify it as a romance at all. Fire on the Island was more a mystery with a sub-plot on relationships that explores the nuances of romance, specifically of being in love.
Set on a Greek island in the village of Vourvoulos, Nick, a Greek-American FBI agent stationed in Athens, has been sent to Vourvoulos to investigate a series of unsolved fires. He’s there under the pretense of writing a book, giving him the leeway to ask nosy questions. Vourvoulos, like many Greek cities and islands, is also coping with the influx of refugees making the crossing from Turkey to Greece, and with the exception of one person, everyone assumes the refugees are setting the fires.
The mystery is engaging and interesting enough to keep the overall story moving forward. The plot lines bounce between Nick investigating the arson and a handful of key village inhabitants. It’s here that the book explores relationships and love. There is: first love (Athina, Ridi), forbidden love (the island’s gay men; the island’s women and Stravos), lost love (Lukas and his destroyed eucalyptus trees), destroyed love (Vassoula) and Omar), familiar love (Shirley and Lukas), a mother’s love (Lydia for Athina), a son’s love for his mother (the priest). All of these individual stories weave together in only the way living in a small village can.
But what about Nick? Isn’t he supposed to find his one true love while investigating? In a more conventional romance, yes. In ‘Fire on the Island’? No. And I think that’s what I liked most about most this book – it wasn’t a conventional romance. Again, it’s a mystery that explores relationships.
And noting, not all these relationships are healthy or comfortable. There was definitely an “ew” moment that might be a trigger for some – questionable consensual sex between an of age young woman and a (non-Catholic) priest. Author/book clearly state the priest is allowed to have sex under the parameters of their particular religion, but… mmmm. Some discomfort here.
In closing, this is a different style of male/male romance (see notes above) and it might not be everyone’s cuppa tea. I appreciated this book all the more because it was unconventional and I may have to explore some of the author’s other works.
NOTE: This book was provided by Arcade Crimewise for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Set on a Greek island in the village of Vourvoulos, Nick, a Greek-American FBI agent stationed in Athens, has been sent to Vourvoulos to investigate a series of unsolved fires. He’s there under the pretense of writing a book, giving him the leeway to ask nosy questions. Vourvoulos, like many Greek cities and islands, is also coping with the influx of refugees making the crossing from Turkey to Greece, and with the exception of one person, everyone assumes the refugees are setting the fires.
The mystery is engaging and interesting enough to keep the overall story moving forward. The plot lines bounce between Nick investigating the arson and a handful of key village inhabitants. It’s here that the book explores relationships and love. There is: first love (Athina, Ridi), forbidden love (the island’s gay men; the island’s women and Stravos), lost love (Lukas and his destroyed eucalyptus trees), destroyed love (Vassoula) and Omar), familiar love (Shirley and Lukas), a mother’s love (Lydia for Athina), a son’s love for his mother (the priest). All of these individual stories weave together in only the way living in a small village can.
But what about Nick? Isn’t he supposed to find his one true love while investigating? In a more conventional romance, yes. In ‘Fire on the Island’? No. And I think that’s what I liked most about most this book – it wasn’t a conventional romance. Again, it’s a mystery that explores relationships.
And noting, not all these relationships are healthy or comfortable. There was definitely an “ew” moment that might be a trigger for some – questionable consensual sex between an of age young woman and a (non-Catholic) priest. Author/book clearly state the priest is allowed to have sex under the parameters of their particular religion, but… mmmm. Some discomfort here.
In closing, this is a different style of male/male romance (see notes above) and it might not be everyone’s cuppa tea. I appreciated this book all the more because it was unconventional and I may have to explore some of the author’s other works.
NOTE: This book was provided by Arcade Crimewise for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
July 27, 2020
Please note that I was given a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.
The synopsis of the book is easily available so I wont rehash it. What I will say instead is that the story is engaging and the characters well written. We are given plenty of background information about said characters as well as the island and the situation with refugees in Greece. Once I started the book I did not want to put it down - I found everything to be fascinating.
I will also say is that I had no idea who the arsonist was and that I also loved the little links with Australia. Dingo, eucalypts and Melbourne being at the forefront.
I don't know if the author has any plans on writing another book featuring Nick but I really hope so. I want to see what happens to him and if there is any chance of a future with Takis.
I will be reading more by this author.
The synopsis of the book is easily available so I wont rehash it. What I will say instead is that the story is engaging and the characters well written. We are given plenty of background information about said characters as well as the island and the situation with refugees in Greece. Once I started the book I did not want to put it down - I found everything to be fascinating.
I will also say is that I had no idea who the arsonist was and that I also loved the little links with Australia. Dingo, eucalypts and Melbourne being at the forefront.
I don't know if the author has any plans on writing another book featuring Nick but I really hope so. I want to see what happens to him and if there is any chance of a future with Takis.
I will be reading more by this author.
June 28, 2020
Sigh. Another book lately that I am having to review as DNF. Within the first 20 pages I knew it wasn't going to happen. I thought it was incredibly boring and I wasn't pulled in at all.
2/5 Star only because it wasn't offensive, just boring.
2/5 Star only because it wasn't offensive, just boring.
July 10, 2022
Having spent a too short time on a Greek Island this book brought back all the reasons I loved it so much. Sadly I don't think even an ouzo or two could have done much to make the story work for me.
August 7, 2020
In Fire On the Island we follow our protagonist Nick, an FBI agent, who travels to Greece to investigate a series of suspicious fires that have happened on the island which seem to be following a pattern.
Through this central mystery the book draws on many aspects of life in present-day Greece, from the refugee crisis dividing locals and putting a strain on resources, to the close-knit communities where rumours, rifts and secrets abound.
From the first few pages of this book I was immersed in the lives of the residents in this community. The heat, beauty and culture of Greece is described so well that I felt transported to the island. The cast of characters who Nick encounters are interesting, well-developed and each have stories which impact and overlap with each other. This intricacy of storytelling was brilliantly done and carried the plot forward in a way that led very naturally and seamlessly to the final revelation and ending.
The book does a good job of depicting the refugee crisis in Greece and shows the plight of the refugees in desperate situations and the strain their arrival puts on the island in a measured and realistic way. As with much of the book, the subplots and various themes it draws on, are all integral to the central story and mystery so never feel like an unnecessary addition to the story.
The same can also be said for the character of Nick who is a gay Greek-American man. Nick's identity is also an essential part of the story, most notably as he starts an affair with the man who is the prime suspect for the fires on the island, but also through his connection with the island. It is always wonderful to read a book with strong, well-developed LGBT+ characters but, in particular in this book, it does an amazing job of showing that his identity as a gay man is an important part of who is but it is not the only part of who he is.
The pace of this book is quite slow so may not appeal to readers looking for a fast and gripping thriller, but if you want a mystery story with believable, interesting and well-rounded characters, with a dose of good humour thrown in, I highly recommend giving this book a go.
Thank you to Reedsy Discovery and Timothy Jay Smith for the ARC.
Through this central mystery the book draws on many aspects of life in present-day Greece, from the refugee crisis dividing locals and putting a strain on resources, to the close-knit communities where rumours, rifts and secrets abound.
From the first few pages of this book I was immersed in the lives of the residents in this community. The heat, beauty and culture of Greece is described so well that I felt transported to the island. The cast of characters who Nick encounters are interesting, well-developed and each have stories which impact and overlap with each other. This intricacy of storytelling was brilliantly done and carried the plot forward in a way that led very naturally and seamlessly to the final revelation and ending.
The book does a good job of depicting the refugee crisis in Greece and shows the plight of the refugees in desperate situations and the strain their arrival puts on the island in a measured and realistic way. As with much of the book, the subplots and various themes it draws on, are all integral to the central story and mystery so never feel like an unnecessary addition to the story.
The same can also be said for the character of Nick who is a gay Greek-American man. Nick's identity is also an essential part of the story, most notably as he starts an affair with the man who is the prime suspect for the fires on the island, but also through his connection with the island. It is always wonderful to read a book with strong, well-developed LGBT+ characters but, in particular in this book, it does an amazing job of showing that his identity as a gay man is an important part of who is but it is not the only part of who he is.
The pace of this book is quite slow so may not appeal to readers looking for a fast and gripping thriller, but if you want a mystery story with believable, interesting and well-rounded characters, with a dose of good humour thrown in, I highly recommend giving this book a go.
Thank you to Reedsy Discovery and Timothy Jay Smith for the ARC.
July 30, 2020
This novel really has a little bit of everything and all set on a traditional Greek Island - what more could anyone want?
Nick Damigos is an FBI agent stationed in Greece and has been sent to the island of Vourvoulos to investigate a series of fires that are threatening to destroy the livelihood and habitats. What he doesn't intend on is striking up a relationship with the main suspect and becoming invested in the life of the village and its inhabitants. Can Nick fight his own past and solve the crime before it's too late for everyone?
The book introduces many character in the early chapters and it took me a little concentration to link everyone - I guess I drew a map in my mind to link people and places. However, each of these characters are integral to the plot of the novel and once you become tuned into each one, the plot flows easily and the pages turn themselves. Each character is intricately developed and it's so easy to get a wonderful overview of life on the island. each character brings a different perspective and experience to the story which is why alongside the plot there are many other themes explored such as sexuality, sexism, the refugee crisis, racism and an interesting look at the role of religion. Despite covering a lot of ground, this novel never really feels heavy or overdone.
The main plot involving the fires and the investigation is thrilling and intense at times. Smith weaves so many potential suspects and motives into the plot that it becomes a great who dun it? style.
Overall I loved this crime mystery with a romantic sub-plot. Recommended for those who like their crime with depth to the characters and setting.
Nick Damigos is an FBI agent stationed in Greece and has been sent to the island of Vourvoulos to investigate a series of fires that are threatening to destroy the livelihood and habitats. What he doesn't intend on is striking up a relationship with the main suspect and becoming invested in the life of the village and its inhabitants. Can Nick fight his own past and solve the crime before it's too late for everyone?
The book introduces many character in the early chapters and it took me a little concentration to link everyone - I guess I drew a map in my mind to link people and places. However, each of these characters are integral to the plot of the novel and once you become tuned into each one, the plot flows easily and the pages turn themselves. Each character is intricately developed and it's so easy to get a wonderful overview of life on the island. each character brings a different perspective and experience to the story which is why alongside the plot there are many other themes explored such as sexuality, sexism, the refugee crisis, racism and an interesting look at the role of religion. Despite covering a lot of ground, this novel never really feels heavy or overdone.
The main plot involving the fires and the investigation is thrilling and intense at times. Smith weaves so many potential suspects and motives into the plot that it becomes a great who dun it? style.
Overall I loved this crime mystery with a romantic sub-plot. Recommended for those who like their crime with depth to the characters and setting.
July 5, 2020
Well, one thing is for sure: there is a lot going on in this book. The author writes about some difficult topics and tells it like it is. I like this approach. Why sugar coat? Those things happen and they should be out in the open.
I would not call this book a romantic thriller. It’s more a romantic suspense to me, but hey what’s in a name? As long as the story is good, that’s what matters the most. A lot of boxes were ticked for me:
a mystery to solve: check
romance: double check
well developed characters: check
well structured story: check
great setting: check
If I have to pick a favorite character, it has to be Ridi. He is so sweet, lovable and adorable.
Once again this story makes me realize that a person’s youth is very important to how they behave in the future. Children can be pushed and pushed and then someday they just can’t take it anymore with all its consequences …
There are a lot of reasons for tears in this book. Some brought on by pain or guilt, others by love or laughter. 4 stars.
Thank you, Timothy Jay Smith
https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com
I would not call this book a romantic thriller. It’s more a romantic suspense to me, but hey what’s in a name? As long as the story is good, that’s what matters the most. A lot of boxes were ticked for me:
a mystery to solve: check
romance: double check
well developed characters: check
well structured story: check
great setting: check
If I have to pick a favorite character, it has to be Ridi. He is so sweet, lovable and adorable.
Once again this story makes me realize that a person’s youth is very important to how they behave in the future. Children can be pushed and pushed and then someday they just can’t take it anymore with all its consequences …
There are a lot of reasons for tears in this book. Some brought on by pain or guilt, others by love or laughter. 4 stars.
Thank you, Timothy Jay Smith
https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com
July 3, 2020
Enjoyed reading this satisfying mystery. I picked it up while I was reading a non-fiction work that was heavy in the details. This work was just the relief I needed.
When Nick Domigos, a gay, Greek-American FBI agent, arrives on the Greek island to investigate a series of mysterious fires, he finds that there is a number of suspects. The island is being besieged by a large number of immigrants fleeing Turkey. The history of the island saw the removal of Turks from the island and the emigration of the Greeks from Turkey. This small island where everyone knows their neighbors fosters a familiarity amongst them.
Yes, there are a number of fires to investigate, but here are more fires in pants of the residents of the island. Who hasn't heard of the idyllic Greek islands with sun and sea being a conduit for love and sex.
In the end, Smith gives us lots of motives, and the journey to the solution is well outlined.
I really enjoyed was that the author didn't give in to a rom-com ending.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for this electronic edition.
When Nick Domigos, a gay, Greek-American FBI agent, arrives on the Greek island to investigate a series of mysterious fires, he finds that there is a number of suspects. The island is being besieged by a large number of immigrants fleeing Turkey. The history of the island saw the removal of Turks from the island and the emigration of the Greeks from Turkey. This small island where everyone knows their neighbors fosters a familiarity amongst them.
Yes, there are a number of fires to investigate, but here are more fires in pants of the residents of the island. Who hasn't heard of the idyllic Greek islands with sun and sea being a conduit for love and sex.
In the end, Smith gives us lots of motives, and the journey to the solution is well outlined.
I really enjoyed was that the author didn't give in to a rom-com ending.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for this electronic edition.
December 21, 2020
Fire on the Island is a crime mystery drama set in Greece. It is the fourth published novel by the author, and it begins with an arsonist who burns a village down by blowing it up. Nick, a Gay FBI agent, comes in to investigate the fires and to discover the reasons behind it.
At first, you may find things confusing or complicated, but as the story goes on, the book becomes a wild adventure filled with twists, sideline stories, mystery, and romance. There are also topics of rape and suicide included that may be a trigger for some.
Another notion worth mentioning is that the book is LGBT friendly. I found this matter and the overall storytelling to be suspenseful and different.
The literature was written well and had a steady pace to it. The perspective of the story is what stood out for me.
The protagonist had a very compelling personality, and that drew in more interest for me to read on. The work embarked on a fun journey, and I recommend it to anyone who likes to read dramatic fiction tales.
At first, you may find things confusing or complicated, but as the story goes on, the book becomes a wild adventure filled with twists, sideline stories, mystery, and romance. There are also topics of rape and suicide included that may be a trigger for some.
Another notion worth mentioning is that the book is LGBT friendly. I found this matter and the overall storytelling to be suspenseful and different.
The literature was written well and had a steady pace to it. The perspective of the story is what stood out for me.
The protagonist had a very compelling personality, and that drew in more interest for me to read on. The work embarked on a fun journey, and I recommend it to anyone who likes to read dramatic fiction tales.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews