Boston PI Spenser faces a hot case and a personal crisis in the latest adventure in the iconic New York Times€“bestselling series from author Ace Atkins.  The fire at a boarded-up Catholic church raged hot and fast, lighting up Boston€s South End and killing three firefighters who were trapped in the inferno. A year later, as the city prepares to honor their sacrifice, there are still no answers about how the deadly fire started. Most at the department believe it was just a simple accident: faulty wiring in a century-old building. But Boston firefighter Jack McGee, who lost his best friend in the blaze, suspects arson.
McGee is convinced department investigators aren€t sufficiently connected to the city€s lowlifes to get a handle on who's behind the blaze€"so he takes the case to Spenser. Spenser quickly learns not only that McGee might be right, but that the fire might be linked to a rash of new arsons, spreading through the city, burning faster and hotter every night. Spenser follows the trail of fires to Boston€s underworld, bringing him, his trusted ally Hawk, and his apprentice Sixkill toe-to-toe with a dangerous new enemy who wants Spenser dead, and doesn€t play by the city€s old rules. Spenser has to find the firebug before he kills again €“ and stay alive himself.