Lady in Flames
By Ian Lewis
ISBN# 9781611874198
Author’s Website:  http://www.ianlewisfiction.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro

Spoilers!!!

Review:

Lady in Flames, follows the lives of several people good, bad and lost of Halgraeve, a forgotten place as the ‘Driver’ calls it. The Driver in his Camaro turns up at this place that seems to be in great need of help, looking for one of his lost souls. As the Driver passes through town, we get to see the difficulties of the people that live here; such as a father waiting for his long gone daughter, a preacher trying to change the world with his words, a girl doing the best for her family, a lost boy trying to find his way in life and several others with same or even bigger problems trying to do justice in their own ways.

As much as I would like to make it free of spoilers, I feel that I can’t. This short novel is as good as any long book. The author shows us the world just as it is: cold, ugly and violent, through the people that live in this forgotten town, that can easily be anywhere in our real world.

While reading through the authors words I just couldn’t help but compare it to what we live nowadays. Every sentence kept me thinking and reflecting on our way of living and how the author is right in seeing the world out of this fictional story. Parents worry more about their kids and the environment they’re trying to raise them in, with the hopes that they don’t smoke, drink or even worse. But at the same time there’s parents like the ones Johnny has, a kid who enjoys playing with fire and is in need of some good advice, but the only person he really trusted is now dead. What more hope does this kid have?

Then, we have those who ruin peoples’ lives, like Buck Armstrong a powerful man in a small town who doesn’t mind hurting people until he sees the consequences in front of him. I have to say that his turn out at the end was quite unexpected, A Simple Maniac, definitely played a good role in this story.

“I feel I’ve arrived to find life so deadened as to never see the light of the sun again. The primary reason for us to exist, to fellowship with the Lord in all of our being, is lost in the hearts of nearly all. The fire of our souls needs stoking. I just don’t know if I’m the man to do it.”

This was definitely my favorite phrase of all, everyone can lose hope easily now, especially if there is no one to help us out.

This is, in my opinion, why the Night Drivers need to appear in this fictional world. The author introduces them as those who come in the rescue of the ones in need, and I just loved the idea of these entities that cross over to the human world when needed, but not in a Superman way of justice but a more dark punishing way.

It has good background stories for every character that appears just as it makes you wonder what will be there next move in each new chapter and even the Driver tells you an interesting story to explain things.

I feel that I’ve read too many fantasy books and I’ve kept myself in them but Lady in Flames gave me a good refresh of the mind, a good deserved dose of reality to keep me wanting for more Night Drivers. I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for something to keep you thinking at night and if you want more the author recently released The Camaro Murders.

Oh, but let me tell you, there is no lady in the flames