Fire In The Mountain
By AJ Aberford
Fire in the Mountain is another terrifically gripping book published by Hobeck Books, who invited me onto the blog tour to give a review in-exchange of a book.
Blurb
A colleague in need
Superintendent George Zammit is persuaded to go to Sicily to investigate the disappearance of his superior’s niece.
There, George discovers a city overshadowed by the mighty Mount Etna, a huge volcano perilously close to a major eruption that would have disastrous consequences around the world.
The magic of volcano
George finds the volcano not only provides unlimited energy, but has long been worshipped by an ancient and mysterious cult, which believes it has the power of renewal and rebirth. Strange priests and monks wander the volcano’s flanks and the old volcanic tunnels, risking the wrath of Mother Etna to keep its secrets safe.
Unlimited power, unlimited wealth
The dark forces of organised crime have captured the green energy of the volcano and grown rich on the profits. Others have noticed this deep source of wealth and they gather to plot and scheme to take a share of their own. Rival organisations play their cards, leaving George trapped between the warring factions.
George enters a world beyond his control
In his quest to find the missing girl, George, and his unlikely allies, find themselves caught between the forces of nature, superstition and organised crime. It is time for a hero to step forward and risk all to take on all these competing threats. Can it be George? And how does he learn an important lesson about trust and loss?
Review
Fire in the Mountain is action-packed with the strange forces and energy of a volcano, family, mafia and fracking. George Zammit has his work cut out between the corruption and dark forces of Sicily and Malta. The juxtaposition of wonderful picture postcard scenery and food and the darker sides of the islands creates an explosive, gripping story.
Assistant Commissioner Gerald Camilleri‘s niece has gone missing, whilst out protesting against fracking. AJ Aberford brings politics, nature, family, power and policing very well together in what is a gripping, well-researched, tightly written crime book with superstition, cultish behaviours and crime. It’s quite the unexpected page-turner, after a slow-burn that will sweep the reader into the darker-side of life and will throw any misconceptions of the islands of everything being just right, deep in the water.
Fire In The Mountain is part of a series, but it is also, in terms of the crime, complete in itself, so works very well as a standalone novel.
Bookmarks and Stages by Lou 