The Fire

Twenty years after THE EIGHT, Katherine Neville leads listeners on a merry chase in her sequel as heroine Alexandra Solarin searches for a chess set that holds the secret to immortality. Narrator Susan Denaker navigates the maze of mysterious puzzles, which draw on philosophical and mathematical theories, with clear diction, an affinity for accents, well-placed pauses, and emphasis that lets listeners know exactly where they are at all times. As the story begins, Alexandra must break codes to enter the home of her estranged mother, and Denaker soon convinces listeners of Alexandra's initial confusion and quick mind. Also coming through in Denaker's characterization is the heroine's longing for her dead father and her missing mother. Denaker's nuanced depiction of Neville's main character wins our compassion as she untangles one mystery after another. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from August 4, 2008
Fans of Neville’s debut, The Eight
(1988), which long before there was a Da Vinci Code
featured a complex historical setting, ciphers, conspiracies, puzzles and a hunt for an object that could change the course of the world, will welcome this stellar sequel. Alexandra Solarin, child chess prodigy now grown, finds herself immersed in “the Game,” searching for a legendary chess set, the Montglane Service, which when assembled spells out the formula for the secret of immortality. The quest for the set ranges from the harem of Ali Pasha in 19th-century Albania to present-day Baghdad and Washington, D.C., and involves such historic figures as Charlemagne, Isaac Newton, Lord Byron and Napoleon. Despite the staggering amount and quality of the research, nothing feels shoehorned or extraneous. The story’s relentless pace is matched by characters both sympathetic and real. In the end, readers will be heartened to find signs pointing to the continuation of the Game in future novels.

November 24, 2008
Neville's anticipated follow-up to her debut novel, The Eight
, finds protagonist Alexandra Solarin trying to decipher a series of clues surrounding her mother's sudden disappearance. Like its predecessor, The Fire
is infused with historical references and ties to the present, sending readers back to the days of the Ottoman Empire to help unravel the mystery. Susan Denaker offers an entertaining, almost theatrical reading. Her characters are rich and well crafted, always surprising and refreshing when the audience least expects it. A fun and ultimately thrilling listen. A Random House hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 4).

The sequel to Neville's ground-breaking epic thriller THE EIGHT continues the cosmically significant quest for a mystical chess service in a story that spans hundreds of years and three continents. Due to its plethora of intertwining plots, historical characters, enigmas, and ciphers, THE FIRE is perhaps best delivered as an abridgment. The thrilling global adventure taps such a multitude of linked clues that the listener might easily lose concentration or forget solutions to earlier puzzles if listening to the unabridged work. Narrator Susan Denaker is gifted not only with the ability to pronounce multiple languages, but also to speak English with their accents--Arabic, Slavic, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, British, Russian. . . . All is accomplished with sharp diction and a firm grasp of the Game's manifold players. A.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine