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Children of Fire
Children of Fire is set in 1841, at the height of the industrial revolution in the North West England. The story is told through the eyes of Josiah Ainscough, who returns from travels on the continent, and he surprises everyone by joining the Stockport Police Force, rather than following his adopted father’s footsteps into the Methodist Ministry.
While Josiah was abroad, five men died in an explosion at the Furness Vale Powder Mill. Was this an accident, or did the Children of Fire, a local religious community, have a hand in it? As a policeman Josiah must uncover the truths behind the Children of Fire, and Josiah is forced to solve the puzzle of the violence loose in the Furness Vale, before more people die. Josiah is torn between his affections for Rachael, a leading member of the Children of Fire, and the vivacious Aideen Hayes, a visitor from Ireland. With more crimes unfolding rapidly, Josiah struggles to prevent a large illicit shipment of military grade gunpowder from getting to Ireland for use in terrorist attacks, and it becomes clear that he is out of his depth.
Author Paul Beatty lives in Marple, Stockport and his background is in the civil service, politics and academic research. Paul is a Methodist Preacher in his local area and focusses his time on his creative writing, where he has published a number of short stories, poetry, and more recently, a novel, “Heron Fleet”, in 2013. Paul is a member of The Storyteller’s Place – a local reading group which meets weekly.
While Josiah was abroad, five men died in an explosion at the Furness Vale Powder Mill. Was this an accident, or did the Children of Fire, a local religious community, have a hand in it? As a policeman Josiah must uncover the truths behind the Children of Fire, and Josiah is forced to solve the puzzle of the violence loose in the Furness Vale, before more people die. Josiah is torn between his affections for Rachael, a leading member of the Children of Fire, and the vivacious Aideen Hayes, a visitor from Ireland. With more crimes unfolding rapidly, Josiah struggles to prevent a large illicit shipment of military grade gunpowder from getting to Ireland for use in terrorist attacks, and it becomes clear that he is out of his depth.
Author Paul Beatty lives in Marple, Stockport and his background is in the civil service, politics and academic research. Paul is a Methodist Preacher in his local area and focusses his time on his creative writing, where he has published a number of short stories, poetry, and more recently, a novel, “Heron Fleet”, in 2013. Paul is a member of The Storyteller’s Place – a local reading group which meets weekly.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
241 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 26, 2017
5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 26, 2019
A curious mix of the historical fiction and murder mystery genres. The story is rich in historical detail and has a well-plotted murder mystery. The suspects are plentiful and the murders are vividly written. Josiah is a complex detective, who is ambitious, with secrets of his own.
The setting of the story in Victorian England, in an industrial setting, is of intrinsic interest, and the focus on a radical religious group explores, prejudice, religion and the communities that evolved, in the wake of the industrial revolution.
Its originality is appealing and it will suit those who appreciate historical fiction with a contemporary dash of a murder mystery.
I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
December 12, 2019
This is a historical fiction and crime novel that is set in the North West of England in 1841. Josiah is a constable who is asked to go to see a local religious group called the Children of Fire to see if they had anything to do with a recent explosion at the powder mill.
I will say that this book took me a few chapters to get into, there were several characters I had to get my head around and for some reason this took me a while. Gradually I started to become familiar with the names and their roles in the story and things started to fall into place and became easier to follow. There is quite a few things going on in the book as I followed Josiah into his investigation, met the Children of Fire members and also the local families.
I gradually started to find my interest in the book increasing, and I like the slower pace, it seemed to suit the slower pace of life for the setting. Being a hist/fic novel I like to come across things relevant to the time a book is set. This took me into some interesting facts about the powder mills and gunpowder. There were some really interesting facts that were given as part of Josiah’s investigation. The author had worked these facts and other issues into the story very well.
As I said this is a slower paced book, but there was a good amount of intrigue Josiah’s case continued, it often seemed that as he was starting to make headway something else would crop up only to add more mystery. As I passed the half way point of the story I noticed a slight shift in the pace and then things were starting to link up and took me to quite a dramatic conclusion.
This was a book that I enjoyed and is full of interesting history relevant to the time. If you like a slower paced historical fiction that has an intriguing crime element then give this one a try. It is one I would recommend.
I will say that this book took me a few chapters to get into, there were several characters I had to get my head around and for some reason this took me a while. Gradually I started to become familiar with the names and their roles in the story and things started to fall into place and became easier to follow. There is quite a few things going on in the book as I followed Josiah into his investigation, met the Children of Fire members and also the local families.
I gradually started to find my interest in the book increasing, and I like the slower pace, it seemed to suit the slower pace of life for the setting. Being a hist/fic novel I like to come across things relevant to the time a book is set. This took me into some interesting facts about the powder mills and gunpowder. There were some really interesting facts that were given as part of Josiah’s investigation. The author had worked these facts and other issues into the story very well.
As I said this is a slower paced book, but there was a good amount of intrigue Josiah’s case continued, it often seemed that as he was starting to make headway something else would crop up only to add more mystery. As I passed the half way point of the story I noticed a slight shift in the pace and then things were starting to link up and took me to quite a dramatic conclusion.
This was a book that I enjoyed and is full of interesting history relevant to the time. If you like a slower paced historical fiction that has an intriguing crime element then give this one a try. It is one I would recommend.
July 21, 2020
Oh boy. Finishing this book and not abandoning it halfway through was an act of willpower.
I went into this book almost as blind as possible. At the time I started, it had exactly one rating and zero reviews. There were only five people in total who had even added it. So I had nothing to warn me of the challenge that reading (or rather, finishing) this book will prove to be.
I don't remember buying this book. I only know that I was browsing my kindle for my next read (after a long absence of kindle-browsing), and I saw it there, a book I knew nothing about and had no idea how it had gotten there. I was curious and, I have to admit, the prospect of reading this book that almost no one else seemed to know about also appealed to me. So I started it, and now I kind of wish I hadn't.
Since it seems to have appeared on my kindle out of thin air, I have no idea if what I have is an ARC or a final version, but it was full of mistakes. And I'm not just talking about a few typos here and there, no. I'm talking about an abundance of typos and grammatical mistakes, sometimes multiple instances of them in the same paragraph or heck, even the same sentence. I'm sorry but this is not how I like to read a book.
Maybe that wouldn't have been so bad if the story had been at least somewhat interesting, but sadly it wasn't the case. It was the epitome of boredom. I didn't care about a single character or their actions. Their voices were so monotone and lacking any emotional impact. Do you know that feeling when someone has to read something out loud, and they do it using the same monotonous and expressionless voice, not distinguishing between the ordinary, funny and tragic parts? I experienced the same feeling while reading this book. Even when the characters were revealing their dark and tragic pasts, I just couldn't care less.
Apart from boring me to death, the story also, at times, made no sense. I got the impression, at times, that Constable Josiah Ainscough was playing one of those hidden object games where you have to search certain places and talk to certain people as part of the story line, to gather the necessary clues. It felt scripted, false. He also made some downright stupid decisions that did his investigation no favors, and the same goes for other characters as well.
The mystery of the book is also not very thrilling. You can guess pretty early on who's responsible for the murder, but it's not like there was a large pool of suspects to begin with. If there was, maybe the great reveal would have been less predictable and dull. There was also an attempt at a love triangle, but it's only a halfhearted one, for the love triangle in question lacks substance and ultimately leads nowhere.
What more is there to say about this book? In my opinion, the characters were uninteresting, the plot was stupid and terribly boring and the writing was awful. There was nothing to hold my interest and make me care. It seemed much longer that it actually was and I couldn't wait to finish it because I wanted to be done with it as soon as possible. I'm not in the habit of DNF-ing books, but if I were, I think I would have abandoned this one after just several chapters.
I went into this book almost as blind as possible. At the time I started, it had exactly one rating and zero reviews. There were only five people in total who had even added it. So I had nothing to warn me of the challenge that reading (or rather, finishing) this book will prove to be.
I don't remember buying this book. I only know that I was browsing my kindle for my next read (after a long absence of kindle-browsing), and I saw it there, a book I knew nothing about and had no idea how it had gotten there. I was curious and, I have to admit, the prospect of reading this book that almost no one else seemed to know about also appealed to me. So I started it, and now I kind of wish I hadn't.
Since it seems to have appeared on my kindle out of thin air, I have no idea if what I have is an ARC or a final version, but it was full of mistakes. And I'm not just talking about a few typos here and there, no. I'm talking about an abundance of typos and grammatical mistakes, sometimes multiple instances of them in the same paragraph or heck, even the same sentence. I'm sorry but this is not how I like to read a book.
Maybe that wouldn't have been so bad if the story had been at least somewhat interesting, but sadly it wasn't the case. It was the epitome of boredom. I didn't care about a single character or their actions. Their voices were so monotone and lacking any emotional impact. Do you know that feeling when someone has to read something out loud, and they do it using the same monotonous and expressionless voice, not distinguishing between the ordinary, funny and tragic parts? I experienced the same feeling while reading this book. Even when the characters were revealing their dark and tragic pasts, I just couldn't care less.
Apart from boring me to death, the story also, at times, made no sense. I got the impression, at times, that Constable Josiah Ainscough was playing one of those hidden object games where you have to search certain places and talk to certain people as part of the story line, to gather the necessary clues. It felt scripted, false. He also made some downright stupid decisions that did his investigation no favors, and the same goes for other characters as well.
The mystery of the book is also not very thrilling. You can guess pretty early on who's responsible for the murder, but it's not like there was a large pool of suspects to begin with. If there was, maybe the great reveal would have been less predictable and dull. There was also an attempt at a love triangle, but it's only a halfhearted one, for the love triangle in question lacks substance and ultimately leads nowhere.
What more is there to say about this book? In my opinion, the characters were uninteresting, the plot was stupid and terribly boring and the writing was awful. There was nothing to hold my interest and make me care. It seemed much longer that it actually was and I couldn't wait to finish it because I wanted to be done with it as soon as possible. I'm not in the habit of DNF-ing books, but if I were, I think I would have abandoned this one after just several chapters.
January 3, 2020
WOW! Children of Fire blew me away. It is incredibly detailed, feels historically accurate, and is paced well to keep you drawn in. Paul CW Beaty has weaved an intricate story without info dumping, and keeping the story interesting.
A historical ‘whodunit,’ that kept me guessing from the beginning to the end. I love that Beaty was able to drop hints without giving away the surprise. It felt realistic and I was constantly feeling like this was a true story! I love when Historical Fiction is written to be real. That makes me love this genre.
I’m very impressed with this novel. Paul CW Beaty has crafted a brilliant novel and I’m looking forward to reading more by him. Highly recommended.
*Received book from Book On The Bright Side Tours. All opinions are my own.*
A historical ‘whodunit,’ that kept me guessing from the beginning to the end. I love that Beaty was able to drop hints without giving away the surprise. It felt realistic and I was constantly feeling like this was a true story! I love when Historical Fiction is written to be real. That makes me love this genre.
I’m very impressed with this novel. Paul CW Beaty has crafted a brilliant novel and I’m looking forward to reading more by him. Highly recommended.
*Received book from Book On The Bright Side Tours. All opinions are my own.*
November 26, 2019
I always adhere to the saying "don't judge a book by its cover", but I have to admit the cover is what intrigued me first about this book. And after reading the book which has a mysterious and ominous tale, the cover reflects well with the storyline.
In 1841, Constable Josiah Ainscough's first big case is to go undercover to find out some information on Brother Elijah Bradshawe, leader of a religious sect called Children of Fire who is suspected "stirring up discontent" about the reopening of a black powder mill that hires children to work in it. After only a few days, Brother Elijah is found dead on a cross with a placard that says blasphemer and Josiah's case become more twisted and deadly than he expected.
There are many characters in the story and they are well-developed with interesting backgrounds. For example, Josiah, as the main character, is full of surprises with the loss of his parents as a young child, his life with Reverend Cooksley and his wife, his travels to foreign lands and his unfortunate past secrets. Rachael is also a strong character with her horrible past and unfailing faith in God.
I was pleasantly surprised by the historical depiction of life in the 1840s. The descriptions of how black powder charges were made are fascinating and the twists and turns in the mystery were surprising coming to a satisfying conclusion. If you like an original historical mystery set in the British countryside, I recommend you give this story a try.
Thank you to Mr. Beatty for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
In 1841, Constable Josiah Ainscough's first big case is to go undercover to find out some information on Brother Elijah Bradshawe, leader of a religious sect called Children of Fire who is suspected "stirring up discontent" about the reopening of a black powder mill that hires children to work in it. After only a few days, Brother Elijah is found dead on a cross with a placard that says blasphemer and Josiah's case become more twisted and deadly than he expected.
There are many characters in the story and they are well-developed with interesting backgrounds. For example, Josiah, as the main character, is full of surprises with the loss of his parents as a young child, his life with Reverend Cooksley and his wife, his travels to foreign lands and his unfortunate past secrets. Rachael is also a strong character with her horrible past and unfailing faith in God.
I was pleasantly surprised by the historical depiction of life in the 1840s. The descriptions of how black powder charges were made are fascinating and the twists and turns in the mystery were surprising coming to a satisfying conclusion. If you like an original historical mystery set in the British countryside, I recommend you give this story a try.
Thank you to Mr. Beatty for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
November 22, 2019
An interesting and original story. As with many historical fiction novels, the story is heavy on details in regards to the setting and the procedures involved in making the explosives. Alongside that information runs a fascinating - if not a little gory - murder mystery, and it is Constable Josiah Ainscough's job to find the killer of the leader of the Children of Fire. Eager to make a name for himself, Josiah is thoughtful. considerate and attentive in carrying out his duty.
The members of the Children of Fire community welcome him (initially undercover as a traveller), but when their leader, Elijah, is found brutally murdered, they are suspicious of him - and more so when he reveals his true identity as a police constable. Had it not been for Sister Rachael and the hinted-at romance between them, I doubt Josiah would have succeeded at Long Clough, and the openness they share brings another layer of intrigue to the story.
Not content with just the one "love interest", Josiah is captivated by Aideen Hayes, whom he meets at a social gathering where he is sussing out some of the business owners in the area. His attempts to question them creates friction, but he gets the chance to visit the mines and forges which gives him new leads on the killer.
When it seems the investigation is getting nowhere, a twist in the tale rekindles his hopes and within no time he is on the hunt for the killer, needing to stop his escape and further disasters. The pace picks up considerably at this point, resulting in a compelling chase along the canal banks and a watery encounter at the locks.
The ending presents yet another twist, and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion.
While the story is strong, the book could most definitely do with another pass with a proofreader or editor since there are numerous issues throughout that often made me re-read parts for clarity.
The members of the Children of Fire community welcome him (initially undercover as a traveller), but when their leader, Elijah, is found brutally murdered, they are suspicious of him - and more so when he reveals his true identity as a police constable. Had it not been for Sister Rachael and the hinted-at romance between them, I doubt Josiah would have succeeded at Long Clough, and the openness they share brings another layer of intrigue to the story.
Not content with just the one "love interest", Josiah is captivated by Aideen Hayes, whom he meets at a social gathering where he is sussing out some of the business owners in the area. His attempts to question them creates friction, but he gets the chance to visit the mines and forges which gives him new leads on the killer.
When it seems the investigation is getting nowhere, a twist in the tale rekindles his hopes and within no time he is on the hunt for the killer, needing to stop his escape and further disasters. The pace picks up considerably at this point, resulting in a compelling chase along the canal banks and a watery encounter at the locks.
The ending presents yet another twist, and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion.
While the story is strong, the book could most definitely do with another pass with a proofreader or editor since there are numerous issues throughout that often made me re-read parts for clarity.
November 26, 2019
If I were to list in order of importance the things that made a novel for me way up there would be the characters. Not that I have to 'like' them (in fact some of my favourite characters have been totally unlikable) but I do have to feel something for them and I'm afraid, their voices bland and expressionless, I found myself unable to connect with any of them, and alas this is where Children Of Fire fell flat for me.
Other than that ...
Obviously a thoroughly researched work of historical fiction. Perhaps a tad too heavy on detail at times ... but then I guess it all depends on where your interests lies (and as it turns mine doesn't necessarily lie in the methods used to make 'black powder'). However, take the Industrial Revolution, a police force in its infancy, the then unrest in Ireland (not a combination to generally feature in Historical Fiction I'm sure you'll agree) and throw in a religious community (I did enjoy the author's exploration of why it is people need some form of redemption interesting reading), a murder mystery and something of a romance and, well, ...
Despite the fact that I sussed on fairly early just who-dun-it, I felt that the murder mystery at the heart of the novel was the book's strongest aspect; the twist in the tale just when you thought things weren't going anywhere perfectly timed, the fact that its written in the present tense adding to the drama.
Something I can (generally speaking) either take or leave; whilst I'd have been more surprised if there hadn't been some kind of romantic entanglement I thought the notion of a 'love triangle' a surprising and yet gripping introduction to the plot. That the author uses vivacious visitor from Ireland Aideen to introduce the notion of the unrest in Ireland; that the marked differences between her and Children of Fire devotee Rachael causes main character Josiah to question his faith, heck, his very way of life, genius.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace terry @ Pen and Paper
Disclaimer ... One of several bloggers participating in the Book Tour, no financial compensation was asked for nor given
Other than that ...
Obviously a thoroughly researched work of historical fiction. Perhaps a tad too heavy on detail at times ... but then I guess it all depends on where your interests lies (and as it turns mine doesn't necessarily lie in the methods used to make 'black powder'). However, take the Industrial Revolution, a police force in its infancy, the then unrest in Ireland (not a combination to generally feature in Historical Fiction I'm sure you'll agree) and throw in a religious community (I did enjoy the author's exploration of why it is people need some form of redemption interesting reading), a murder mystery and something of a romance and, well, ...
Despite the fact that I sussed on fairly early just who-dun-it, I felt that the murder mystery at the heart of the novel was the book's strongest aspect; the twist in the tale just when you thought things weren't going anywhere perfectly timed, the fact that its written in the present tense adding to the drama.
Something I can (generally speaking) either take or leave; whilst I'd have been more surprised if there hadn't been some kind of romantic entanglement I thought the notion of a 'love triangle' a surprising and yet gripping introduction to the plot. That the author uses vivacious visitor from Ireland Aideen to introduce the notion of the unrest in Ireland; that the marked differences between her and Children of Fire devotee Rachael causes main character Josiah to question his faith, heck, his very way of life, genius.
Copyright ... Felicity Grace terry @ Pen and Paper
Disclaimer ... One of several bloggers participating in the Book Tour, no financial compensation was asked for nor given
August 19, 2018
A lot of typos. Need a better editor! Got tricked into thinking this was Paul Beatty (where every other word is MF or the N-word. So I only had to read the first page to realize it was a different guy.
November 13, 2019
A superb historical crime fiction move. More on the blog tour
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews