Burning Paradise Cover

Hello world!

Burning Paradise

IF IT’S HOT ENOUGH, EVERYTHING BURNS.

Burning Paradise, written by author Terry Hughes, is a mystery about a serial wildland arsonist burning the hills and homes of the wealthy in an ocean-front community of Southern California.  The arsonist calls himself Smoke, and because of his knowledge of fire behavior, many of the outraged citizens feel that Smoke is a fireman.

After a particularly disastrous fire, the city is compelled to hire a private arson investigator, Monte Raleigh.  A former firefighter himself, Monte investigates the city, federal and volunteer fire departments, stepping on a few toes along the way.  He also talks to a professional arsonist who torches buildings for a price.

During the course of his investigation for Smoke, Monte encounters Darcy Delaney, a Smoke Jumper on medical leave from the US Forest Service.  Together they help solve the mystery of Smoke’s identity.  Burning Paradise is more than a mystery, however.  it is also a genre’ bending novel of action-adventure, thriller and a romance.

Terry Hughes was a volunteer fire chief in the hills above Santa Barbara when the infamous Pained Cave arson-lit fire erupted and took out over five hundred homes.  The radio dispatches from that incident inspired the beginning of Burning Paradise and is the common thread woven throughout the narration.

Burning Paradise will be published on June 28, 2011, and pre-order information can be viewed at http://www.graydogpress.com.  Terry Hughes can be contacted at terryhughes.author@gmail.com.