Publisher's Synopsis
"I can't do this, guys," Stanley Francis Martinez said as he and his buddies were about to register for the Selective Service. Stanley is at a nexus point when he makes the most fateful - or it is fatal? -- decision of his young life. Swept up in the chaos of the Great World War amidst the chaos caused by an unknown revengeful arsonist who sets major fires in and around Phoenixville proper, he helps Fire Chief David Mendowski, Constable Luke Tucke, and Detective Simon Hoolmes try to identify and catch the arsonist. In doing so, ur reluctant hero learns that fighting fires on the home front can be just as deadly, if not deadlier than fighting enemy fires "over there." Coupling salient and interesting aspects of the 332-year-old Borough's rich, diverse history with that of Phoenixville's own Phoenix Hose, Hook & Ladder Co., No. 1, chartered in 1874, June J. McInerney, with her own unique stylistically bold imaginative story-telling, has once again regaled us with yet another intriguing historical novel about her adopted hometown. Will Stanley and his four buddies, against all odds, fulfill their respective destinies? Will the mysterious arsonist be revealed and finally caught? And will the affected residents of Phoenixville rise up once again from the ashes of their current crises as the vibrant and stalwartly caring community for which it is now renowned?
