Product Description

William Logan has grown away from his roots, and away from the city of Glasgow. In twenty years in America, he has barely thought about the place, turning his back not only on the city of his birth, but the custom of his family, by going to America - and becoming a cop. Now, Logan is coming back, for his father's funeral. And try as he might, he cannot help getting involved in some unfinished family business...The Bad Fire is the place where children are told they will go for being naughty. Logan is about to find out that even after all these years, the fire never goes out. Lyrical, elegiac, suspenseful and thrilling, The Bad Fire is Campbell Armstrong's greatest novel since Jig.

Product Details

• Published on: 2002-02
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 10
• Binding: Audio Cassette

From the Publisher
A thriller by the author of JIG and ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS
Eddie Mallon has grown away from his roots, and away from the city of Glasgow. Eddie was just a child when his family fractured down the middle. He went to America with his mother; his sister Joyce stayed in Glasgow with their father, the charming, violent, mercurial Jackie Mallon.

Now Jackie has been murdered and the son he didn’t know is coming home for the funeral. Try as he might, Eddie cannot resist pushing beyond the bland front presented by the local investigators. And when he does, he finds himself spiralling into the mysteries of the past as well as the present.

The Bad Fire is the place where children are told they will go if they commit a sin. Eddie is about to find out that even after all these years, the fire never goes out.

• Campbell Armstrong returns to his native Glasgow with a novel as full of human insight and relentless suspense as anything he has written in his remarkable career.

• Lyrical, elegiac, suspenseful and thrilling, THE BAD FIRE is populated by a cast of superbly drawn individuals, with the city of Glasgow a brilliantly evoked character in its own right.

‘Armstrong is a wonderfully atmospheric writer who shines a light into the dark corners of the human heart’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

‘Armstrong is among the most intriguing of blockbuster writers . . . near to unputdownable’ GQ

From the Author
Returning Home...
The Bad Fire is the first novel I've written that's set entirely in my home town: Glasgow. Although it's a story of a crime, and the sometimes contorted relationships inside a broken family; although it's the story of a criminal investigation and family secrets and one man's memory of his absentee father - I've also tried to make the city a character in its own right. I've tried to evoke an atmosphere that emphasises Glasgow's changing moods and appearances, vibrant, dark, rough, sophisticated, beautiful, ugly, divided - a brilliant city, a great city, where the past and the present sometimes conjoin in an uneasy way.

Customer Reviews

Great stuff!
There's not much wrong with this book and I eagerly await Armstrong's next one.

This is a very well-written novel with a great plot which manages to retain the reader's interest throughout. In this sense, Armstrong manages his readers very well - I knew there was something coming, but couldn't pick it. I wasn't frustrated in the interim as the pace of the book had me absorbed in all the goings-on.

Not often that I rate with 5 stars, but this book achieves it easily in my view.

Excellent Suspense Story
Gripping and authentic, The Bad Fire is basically the odyssey of one man searching a city - Glasgow - for an insight into the life and death of his estranged father. He uncovers some nasty family secrets on the way. Some lovely descriptions of Glasgow here, and some intriguing characters, and some surprises of the unpleasant variety. The book has plenty to offer any discerning reader. It's intricate, maybe too much for some readers, but well-worth the effort.

Suspensful,smart, and good character study
This is a gripping and intelligent suspense novel. Skeletons in a family closet with a corrupt system combine to give a fast and satisfying read-recommended.