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Deep Fire Rise
2019 Spur Award Finalist for Best Western Contemporary Novel "The greatest geological event of our times finally has the novel it deserves." --Robert Michael Pyle, 2x Washington State Book Award winner and author of Wintergreen and Where Bigfoot Walks It is 1980 and Deputy Wilson has been banished to a backwoods district in the shadow of Mount St. Helens. His duty is to protect a humble rural populace from the miscreants and misfits who lurk at this fringe of society – an all-too-human cast of white supremacists, PCP brewers, Sasquatch hunters, and hermetic schizophrenics. That spring the volcano awakens from its long dormancy. Earthquakes rock the locals in their beds. Plumes of ash blot out the sun. Amidst the rising threat of eruption, a horrific act of bloodshed will propel Deputy Wilson to the very flanks of the smoking volcano on a mission that blurs the line between justice and vengeance. Dark yet tender, comedic yet sincere, this carefully crafted novel builds into a climax as shocking and unforgettable as the events of May 18, 1980. More praise for Deep Fire “Deep Fire Rise is a murder mystery, a character study, and a depiction of place that builds in tension like a swelling volcano. Having covered the eruption of Mount St. Helens as a journalist and ridden with Clark County deputies, I can testify just how impressively Jon Gosch has captured that time and culture.” --William Dietrich, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and NY Times bestselling author of the Ethan Gage adventure series "For every one hundred authors . . . there is one Jon Gosch." --Jordan Nailon, The Chronicle “Jon Gosch’s Deep Fire Rise rings with authenticity. The intimate, complicated, and downright strange relationships amongst the people in these small towns are pitch perfect, as is the music of the dialogue and rhythms of the prose.” --Bruce Holbert, 2015 Washington State Book Award Winner of The Hour of Lead "A bright young talent is on display in this vivid, avant-garde take on our local lore." --Michael Gurian, NY Times bestselling author of The Wonder of Boys "Deep Fire Rise perfectly captures the world of Mount St. Helens at its most terrifying moment. A magnificent read." --Terry Trueman, Printz Honor author of Stuck in Neutral
232 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 18, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 14, 2023
A perfect distillation of time, place and culture — in this case, early 1980 in Clark County, Washington state, in the shadow of streaming, ash-spewing Mount St. Helens — through the eyes of a sheriff’s deputy who’s wise but constantly bumping up against situations so strange and awful that they test the limits of that wisdom. Including murder.
Not a crime novel per se, with genre constructs, but a well-told window into the worlds of the desperate, the hungry, the poor, the poisonous and the eccentric folks who populate the county’s most rural folds and draws. One with the same pull of pleasurable uncertainty found in a crime novel confidently striding into known-but-unknown territory at every turn. One of which setting is as much a co-starting character as the overwhelmed but mostly centered Deputy Tom Wilson:
““Even with his eyes closed Wilson would have known he was approaching Longview. Most days the sulfuric funk of the pulp and paper mills was as foul as though he’d messed himself. Sad as it was, it smelled like home. He entered the city as a long, graffitied train clacked along the lumber yards and log ponds and landfill. Beyond this the mills glowed with innumerable orange lights like some sleepless festival while plumes of chemicals billowed from the smokestacks toward a bright, bronze moon. It was the only home he’d ever known, and God willing, he hoped to keep it that way until the day he died.”
DEEP FIRE RISE is a small-press literary gem, accessible and propulsive, shot through with low-key pleasurable uncertainty on every page and a beating, bleeding heart for people and place. It’s like a rich rural
Southern gothic story set in the Pacific Northwest. It deserves a wider audience and regional acclaim — at the very least.
Not a crime novel per se, with genre constructs, but a well-told window into the worlds of the desperate, the hungry, the poor, the poisonous and the eccentric folks who populate the county’s most rural folds and draws. One with the same pull of pleasurable uncertainty found in a crime novel confidently striding into known-but-unknown territory at every turn. One of which setting is as much a co-starting character as the overwhelmed but mostly centered Deputy Tom Wilson:
““Even with his eyes closed Wilson would have known he was approaching Longview. Most days the sulfuric funk of the pulp and paper mills was as foul as though he’d messed himself. Sad as it was, it smelled like home. He entered the city as a long, graffitied train clacked along the lumber yards and log ponds and landfill. Beyond this the mills glowed with innumerable orange lights like some sleepless festival while plumes of chemicals billowed from the smokestacks toward a bright, bronze moon. It was the only home he’d ever known, and God willing, he hoped to keep it that way until the day he died.”
DEEP FIRE RISE is a small-press literary gem, accessible and propulsive, shot through with low-key pleasurable uncertainty on every page and a beating, bleeding heart for people and place. It’s like a rich rural
Southern gothic story set in the Pacific Northwest. It deserves a wider audience and regional acclaim — at the very least.
June 17, 2018
An Excellent book chronicling the time before Mt. St. Helens explosion by a Clark County Deputy Sheriff. It gives the flavor of the personalities inhabiting Clark County before the eruption. One gets to ride along with the Deputy Sheriff as he makes his rounds and the kinds of adventures he encounters. There is a murder mystery to be solved all the while the mountain is getting ready to blow.
August 27, 2018
A mediocre novel set in rural Clark County and Cowlitz County, Washington State, at the time of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980. I had read about this book in our local newspaper so decided to check it out. It is your basic murder mystery that while readable, and interesting for the eruption history, still read like an average 1st book by an inexperienced author. Maybe a better editor could have helped?
May 21, 2020
I don’t rate many books 5 stars, and I don’t write many reviews, but this book, in its unimposing size and print, delivered great images of Washington environment, cultures, and personalities. As in larger society, many are good, many are destitute, and a few are bad. Same with the environment: the lush greenery, the plentiful nature, the exploding fiery volcano. I loved “visiting” the area with his targeted descriptions, e.g. “Wilson walked briskly down the damp pungent trail, hopping over roots and rivulets and the trash discarded by anglers and skinny dippers and the occasional truant.” “He paused and shined the (flash)light around him in a full circle as if to cauterize his fear.”
As the first quote implies, he marries the environment seamlessly with the full spectrum of characters, each with convincing motivations and actions, and a combination of bad actions with not necessarily bad intent.
I’m looking forward to more of his writing.
As the first quote implies, he marries the environment seamlessly with the full spectrum of characters, each with convincing motivations and actions, and a combination of bad actions with not necessarily bad intent.
I’m looking forward to more of his writing.
October 22, 2020
A short read that takes you to a time and place in the past; a past I remember well. What I like most about it is the dedication of the Deputy the story centers on. There are many in law enforcement like him, or at least there were before SWAT teams, that are there for the betterment of their communities. The story in based in the communities around Mt. St. Helens during the time it erupted and the people living there at that time. I found it to be an interesting story.
June 22, 2020
Well Done
Author seems to know a lot about rural law enforcement. He constructed a believable character with a heart of gold and the resolve to do the right thing by the people he was responsible to protect. I enjoyed the book and was sad when it ended.
Author seems to know a lot about rural law enforcement. He constructed a believable character with a heart of gold and the resolve to do the right thing by the people he was responsible to protect. I enjoyed the book and was sad when it ended.
February 17, 2025
Deep Fire Rise couldn’t be more polar opposite of Eruption if someone tried to. The book is almost entirely about the characters who live near Mount St. Helens. And characters they are!
The novel inspired me to make Volcano Fudge. See recipe here Literary Baker.
A retired sheriff, a thief, hermits living off of squirrels, and average joes. The people intersect and intertwine, living their daily lives under the ever-present, ever-expanding bulge on Mount St. Helens. If you remember the explosion or if you watch videos, you know there were months of uncertainty and only minutes of the powerful explosion. Gosch spends the vast majority of the novel growing his characters before the explosion. I would characterize this novel as stories of the lives of small town Washington. The characters do lead interesting lives and their stories are intriguing, but this is not an action packed novel in the same way as Eruption is.
The novel inspired me to make Volcano Fudge. See recipe here Literary Baker.
A retired sheriff, a thief, hermits living off of squirrels, and average joes. The people intersect and intertwine, living their daily lives under the ever-present, ever-expanding bulge on Mount St. Helens. If you remember the explosion or if you watch videos, you know there were months of uncertainty and only minutes of the powerful explosion. Gosch spends the vast majority of the novel growing his characters before the explosion. I would characterize this novel as stories of the lives of small town Washington. The characters do lead interesting lives and their stories are intriguing, but this is not an action packed novel in the same way as Eruption is.
August 28, 2018
This book might be a little short, but it is pretty interesting and worth the read. I remember when this volcano erupted in the early 1980s. This book reminds me of many of the stories coming out after that. My father-in-law recently passes away from Alzheimer's, and this book also reminded me of him and the things he did that made no sense. But I digress....
I liked the characters, the triumphs, the pain and misery, etc. This was put together very well.
I liked the characters, the triumphs, the pain and misery, etc. This was put together very well.
June 21, 2020
Jon Gosch is a capable writer. If you are familiar with that place at that time he gets a lot of it right. Easy to read with enough of the local quirks to keep things interesting he's got a good story here. It loses a star because the main character drifts into a sniff of the John Wayne stereotype of soft hearted cops who do cringeworthy things. It was 40 years ago so maybe that holds up but it was a pothole.
January 15, 2019
One word.....AWESOME!
Grab your coffee and sit back for a AWESOME ride! Never a dull, drawn out story, like a lot of disaster books. This author will make you feel like you are riding shotgun! A must read for all !
Grab your coffee and sit back for a AWESOME ride! Never a dull, drawn out story, like a lot of disaster books. This author will make you feel like you are riding shotgun! A must read for all !
May 19, 2019
Was overly descriptive and embellished and I lost track of the story. Reminded me of when I was in college and had to write an essay of 2000 words and I used every adjective I could think of. Good plot but you lose it in all the descriptive words.
July 8, 2020
This has been one of my favorite Pacific Northwest reads in a long time. Jon masterfully shares a time in history in the Pacific Northwest that many of us remember with a storyline that you cannot put down!
June 23, 2018
Great
A great read. One of those you can't wait to get to the end but then are sad it is done.
A great read. One of those you can't wait to get to the end but then are sad it is done.
June 29, 2018
Interesting read. Enjoyed reading the bits of the pre-eruption of St. Helens, written by someone who knows the area well. Characters and the mystery added to the development of the total novel.
March 16, 2019
Kept my interest
Learned about Mt.St. Helen and also about people who are good in their actions. I hope I can be as kind as Tom was.
Learned about Mt.St. Helen and also about people who are good in their actions. I hope I can be as kind as Tom was.
November 6, 2019
Pretty good read
There are a lot of good deputies out there who always put themselves In Harm's Way for the innocent. The backdrop of the story was pretty spectacular
There are a lot of good deputies out there who always put themselves In Harm's Way for the innocent. The backdrop of the story was pretty spectacular
December 30, 2019
Heroes and villains share an unexpected and optimistic humanity in this small-town murder mystery set in the shadow of Mount Saint Helen in 1980.
January 26, 2025
A tender yet sometimes disturbing novel about Southwest Washington. Nothing cozier than reading about home.
October 2, 2023
I picked this book up after reading an encouraging review about it from one of my top noir lighthouses, Jim Thompsen.
Unlike the vast majority of Jim' recommendations, this one didn't click with me, except for the second chapter which on its own was worth solid 5 (the one where a newbie cop get to know the ropes of the old country from the old one). The rest was disjointed and left a lot to be desired in terms of prose and theme.
Unlike the vast majority of Jim' recommendations, this one didn't click with me, except for the second chapter which on its own was worth solid 5 (the one where a newbie cop get to know the ropes of the old country from the old one). The rest was disjointed and left a lot to be desired in terms of prose and theme.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews