ARC Review: RAGING INFERNO by Janine Infante Bosco

Jimmy Casale 
Seventeen years on the job, I still remember my first day like it was yesterday. I fixed my probie patch to my uniform, strapped on my gear and ran to catch the Staten Island Ferry, making my way to the burning towers. My boots pounded the pavement of lower Manhattan as the dire need to save lives pulsated through my veins.
It was a day I became a hero.
Throughout my career, I often thought about the man I saved that day. I wondered about his life. If he had eventually married and had a family of his own. I never expected to find the answers.
Meeting her was a twist of fate.
Lying to her was my choice. But falling in love with her was beyond my control.
* Previously published as a novella in the Burn Me Anthology, Jimmy and Melissa’s story concludes in this full-length version of Raging Inferno. *

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 ★★★★☆

The events of 9-11 will be forever firmly embedded in my mind. The horrors of that day still haunt me and I both love and hate reading stories that revolve around its theme. However, Raging Inferno was one to love because on that day, like so many first responders, Jimmy Casale became a hero. While he may be a fictional character, he encapsulated everything I believed in on that day - bravery, determination, fighting in the face of utter hopelessness, and the unity of people in the middle of such devastation.

What else is there really to say? Janine Infante Bosco's writing was as brilliant as ever. This story that she wove left me spellbound from beginning to end. I was caught up in the drama of Jimmy's life and was hoping he would get a truly happy ending. I wasn't Melissa's biggest fan, especially with her lash out against the true hero of this story, but she was who Jimmy wanted so I was rooting for them. 

This is a story of love lost, love found, and the beauty of second chances. Jimmy was a firefighter with a heart of gold, he was a wonderful father, an honorable and trustworthy and amazing man, and he was the picture of what is good in this world.