Remarks on The Fire Inside by Raymond Rose

The Fire Inside by Raymond Rose

The Fire Inside by Raymond Rose is an action packed science fiction novel that is the first of the Sidekicks series.  The book follows a former “Teen Protector,” Jack, as he tries to solve the murder of his best friend Bruce.  The “Protectors” and “Teen Protectors” are a form of super heroes that in the world Rose creates have either died or retired.  The novel initially begins with them having moved past the days of fighting villains and these individuals with super powers leading semi-normal lives.

The book bounces from past to present as it introduces you to the characters and the world.  At first this was a tad confusing, but as the novel went on it became enlightening and I looked forward to the flashbacks.  The strength of the flashbacks themselves make me think that this story would do well with a prequel.

The novel flows from a variety of character perspectives, though Jack, the protagonist, is the one who is developed the most.  The characters are well written and flow together wonderfully.  Each has their own unique powers which are described in great detail and with much style.  Rose is quite adept at creating emotional connections from the reader to his characters.  While reading the book, I found myself many times picking sides and cheering on certain characters and distrusting others.  This is a sign of well developed characters and a wonderful writing style.

The best part of this book stems from the action scenes and there are plenty of those to choose from.  The fight scenes in the book are well choreographed and very interesting as they use a variety of powers as well as weapons.  Both male and female characters are strong and hold their own in the book.  Though each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, no one character is shown as being excessively weak or excessively strong.  This made for very interesting and lasting fight scenes.

What was wonderful about this book was that though it was the first in a series, it didn’t leave you with a bunch of questions hanging at the end.  Everything was wrapped up smoothly, but with lots of room for more action and adventures to be had.  The action and mystery created a book that was hard to put down and was a constant page turner.  The characters in the book are both well written and interesting.

A drawback of the book is that the world is not as well developed as I would have liked.  Though you get to know the characters, it is hard to understand whether the world is supposed to be this one or another world altogether.  I think the background dimensions could have had more time spent on them.  Some of my questions about the world were answered towards the end of the book, but not enough to make me understand fully the environment the characters were living in.

Overall The Fire Inside  by Raymond Rose was a great science fiction novel and well worth picking up and reading.  It is not a long novel and definitely keeps you turning the pages, so it can be read easily and quickly.

“Osprey said nothing but they’d been best friends long enough that a glance was sometimes as loud as a scream.”

I received this book from the author to review.  It is available in eBook format from Christopher Williams Books, www.cwbooks.net.  For a free preview of the first two chapters of the book and further information on purchasing the books please visit http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/54667.