Picks and Pans Review: It's Scary Enough That Newly Appointed New York City Fire Marshal Georgia Skeehan Must Capture a Sophisticated and Diabolical Arsonist Fond of Firing Off Quotes from the Book of Revelations—from Which the Book's Title Is Borrowed

UPDATED 03/12/2001 at 01:00 AM EST • Originally published 03/12/2001 at 01:00 AM EST

Married to a deputy fire chief, Chazin dazzles with her knowledge of pyrotechnics and comes up with plot twists aplenty. But what really lights up this fast-paced thriller is not the fires but the firefighters: Skeehan, a man-weary, guilt-ridden single mom ("I wish you'd joke less and date more," says her mother), is as conflicted and neurotic as any thinking person. Recognizable human beings are a rare bonus in whodunits, but here the cast is irreverent and laconic, more comfortable charging into burning buildings to save strangers than blathering on about their feelings. Chazin plans a series starring her scrappy and wry fire marshal. With this debut she should earn a devoted audience. (Putnam, $24.95)

Bottom Line: Hot stuff