Cara Putnam's Trial by Fire ~ Reviewed

Trial by Fire
By Cara Putman
Published by: Steeple Hill
221 Pages

Back Cover: Her mother’s house was first, then her brother’s. County prosecutor, Tricia Jamison, is sure she’s next on the arsonist’s list. But who is after her family? And why does every fire throw her in Noah Burst’s path?

Noah can’t forgive Tricia. Her failure to protect him on the stand the previous year meant his father’s reputation was ruined. Yet every time the firefighter is near her, he’s drawn to her again. The vulnerability she hides under her confident veneer surprises and moves him.

REVIEW: Tricia Jamison has a tough job and has seen things the average person won’t see in their lifetime. Tricia says this about her job, “Somehow she had to take joy in the small victories rather than focusing on the fact that domestic violence hadn’t ended and likely never would. She could help victims—one at a time—reclaim control of their lives.”

If only she could have that happen in her personal life. Tricia had done a great job at keeping people and her emotions under control--by shutting down relationships in her life. Stuffing her emotions down deep so that they didn’t affect her, how long could she do this? Who was she kidding? This latest case has her confronting her past - up-close and personal. She had a choice...she could let anger and bitterness run her life and isolate her, or she could reveal the secrets of her past and deal with the outcome. How was she going to push through? She couldn’t do it without God’s help.

Tricia realized for the first time that ”Maybe she’d never understand why God had allowed the horrors happen to her, but she could choose to accept His love and commit to moving forward to the future.”

Things get crazy when her mother's and brother's houses burn. What’s going on? Who is doing this? One firefighter, Noah, wants to help her discover who is starting these fires. Tricia will have to trust Noah and deal with her feelings toward him. Again she’d have to lean on God to see her through.

Cara weaves a very interesting web of mystery as fires are breaking out all around the characters. I learned a lot about how firefighters go about investigating a fire to find out how it started. It was fascinating.

I received a review copy of this book and I’m glad I did. I like how the author has the characters deal with the hurts in their life in a very real way. They struggle to let God heal their hurts and trust Him to complete the work He’s started.


Reviewed by: Nora St. Laurent
Finding Hope Through Fiction