After the traumatizing death of his mother, Mack Druneswald seeks comfort in setting fire around the small town he lives in. Mack's arson escalates as his story is revealed, and it probably goes without saying that ultimately it isn't the happiest story in the world.

I'm a sucker for a tragic story and this one got me. The characters were dark and troubled, yet likable, and the plot was not particularly action-packed, much to my liking. I'll admit the ending is kind of abrupt, and I wish the author had spent more time exploring Mack's relationships with his father and sister, as they both feel like they have potential but neither offer much depth, but other than that I liked pretty much everything about the book. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A depressing tale of a troubled teenager with an addiction to arson.

Opening Sentence: A firebug has woken inside my heart.

The Review:

This review is starting backwards but unfortunately I have to begin with my severe disappointment in the ending of The Firebug of Balrog County. The drama and excitement built up as the story progressed but then, just like the fires in the story went out, the spark died in the story. The events are told from Mack’s perspective and right at the end there is a horrible revelation from his father (no spoilers), after which it felt like Mack completely gave up and the story ended abruptly.

They could not, or would not, account for the chaotic randomness of chance in the selection process – to acknowledge that Giles’ boathouse was burned to cinders not because he was Teddy Giles, big time hero, but simply because it was there, unprotected and tempting, would have been the same thing as acknowledging the fact that the universe didn’t give a goddamn who you were and could turn on you in a second, which was absolutely true and terrifying and best not considered too closely, lest one go insane staring into the abyss of time and space etcetera etcetera.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, the story itself wasn’t too bad. Mack is clearly dealing with unresolved issues from his mother’s death and lighting fires is the outlet for his grief/anger. It doesn’t justify the vandalism, but in his twisted mind it sort of makes sense. The author portrays Mack’s views in a way that made me understand why he’s doing what he did. I could feel Mack’s guilt, his frustration with the town’s people, losing himself in his broken family and I genuinely felt sorry for him.

Our entire school only had three hundred and ninety students – I’d seen all these fools for so long it was like hanging out with turnips that could walk and talk and enjoyed calling me Drunesdick.

I also enjoyed the letters between the mayor and the firebug, and it was weird that behind the masks these letters were in fact between a grandfather and his grandson. Mack’s responses to the mayor’s plea to find the arsonist highlighted his wacky sense of humour. I don’t know how he then faced him in the light of day.

I liked writing stories but I always had a hard time coming up with an idea that didn’t seem derivative. Part of the problem with reading a lot of books was finding out how lame and unoriginal you were in comparison to every other writer who’d ever lived.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad read but I think the story lost its purpose along the way. Mack’s addiction to lighting fires eventually bites him in the back as we knew it would but I wish the story had emphasized an improvement in his mental state rather than complete doom…

Notable Scene:

And, while I feel no special need to defend myself, or explain my actions, I do feel compelled to respond to Mayor Hedley’s recent “The Mayor’s Corner” piece. In said piece he shamed me (for I am the firebug) and urged me, “to look deep inside (my) soul, which may need to be washed out with soap”.

My reply, in turn, would be to ask our beloved mayor if he truly believes it’s possible to know the soul of any man. Because I have my doubts, people. A man’s entire being is an impenetrable mask (and don’t even get me started on women) with as many layers as an enormous onion.

FTC Advisory: Flux Publishing provided me with a copy of The Firebug of Balrog County. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )