The Fire in Fiction Read Online Free PDF Page A

leaving me with a dull, throbbing headache.
    I was selfish. I was a coward. I was a bitch.
    Some of it was true. Maybe all of it. ...
    Here's the other side of this kick-ass heroine: She's not perfect; she knows it, admits it, and (at least a little) regrets it. At this point we don't need to know what the argument was about, or with whom, we just need to know that Elena Estes is human. She is not the embodiment of an impossible ideal. She has personal problems, just like everyone. By quickly cutting her heroine down to size, Hoag makes her not only real but a character who has room for change; that, in turn, signals to us that there also is story to come.
    It's a strong story, too. Elena finds in a canal the body of a beautiful young woman with whom she worked in the stables. Drawn into the investigation, she runs afoul of a group of Palm Beach bad boys who provide alibis for each other when needed. One of them is a hated ex-fiance. Who really did it, though, is a question unanswered until the final pages.
    Lisa Gardner is another top suspense writer with a handy knack for tough detectives. In The Survivors Club (2002), she introduces Providence, Rhode Island, police detective Roan Griffin and immediately lets us know that he's not a superhero:
    At 8:31 A.M. Monday morning, Rhode Island State Police Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin was already late for his 8:30 briefing. This was not a good thing. It was his first
    day back on the job in eighteen months. He should probably be on time. Hell, he should probably be early. Show up at headquarters at 8:15 A.M., pumped up, sharply pressed, crisply saluting. Here I am, I am ready.
    And then ... ?
    "Welcome back," they would greet him. (Hopefully.)
    "Thanks," he would say. (Probably.)
    "How are you feeling?" they'd ask. (Suspiciously.)
    "Good," he'd reply. (Too easily.)
    Ah, shit. Good was a stupid answer. Too often said to be often believed. He'd say good, and they'd stare at him harder, trying to read between the lines. Good like you're ready to crack open a case file, or good like we can trust you with a loaded firearm? It was an interesting question.
    He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and tried again.
    "Welcome back," they'd say.
    "It's good to be back," he'd say.
    "How are you doing?" they'd ask.
    "My anxiety is operating within normal parameters," he'd reply.
    No. Absolutely not. That kind of psychobabble made even him want to whoop his ass. Forget it. He should've gone with his father's recommendation and walked in wearing a T-shirt that read "You're only Jealous Because the Voices are Talking to Me."
    At least they all could've had a good laugh.
    Measure your feelings about Roan Griffin after this introduction. He's your prototypical wounded detective. (Why has he been off the job for eighteen months? His wife died of cancer.) What makes him appealing despite his all-too-typical psychological flaw? I believe it is the self-deprecating humor that Gardner gives him. At least the guy can laugh at himself.
    In the next few paragraphs we find out that before his compassion leave, Roan Griffin was the lead investigator on many high-profile cases. Had Gardner begun with that information, we'd already be pulling away from her protagonist. He'd be too perfect, cardboard, an example none of us could live up to. By first making him human, Gardner makes it possible for us to like him before he even makes a move.
    Roan Griffin will have to make some big moves, too. He's immediately plunged into a twisty case in which a brutal rapist is assassinated on the opening morning of his trial. Minutes later, the assassin's car blows sky high. The trail of culpability is thus neatly covered. The chief suspects are the three victims who escaped the rapist alive, the Survivors Club of the title. Roan's story is layered with other problems, as well, making for a high-impact read.
    Wounded heroes and heroines are easy to overdo. Too much baggage and angst isn't exactly a party invitation for