See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Fire Baby
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

The Fire Baby (Paperback)

by Jim Kelly (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


22 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover Order it used
Paperback £7.99 £5.99 38 used & new from £0.01
Mass Market Paperback 10 used & new from £1.82
Hardcover (Large Print) £16.99 £16.99 2 used & new from £16.99
Audio Cassette (Audiobook) £34.95 £34.95 2 used & new from £34.95

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Water Clock

The Water Clock

by Jim Kelly
4.5 out of 5 stars (13)  £5.99
The Moon Tunnel

The Moon Tunnel

by Jim Kelly
4.2 out of 5 stars (4)  £5.99
The Coldest Blood

The Coldest Blood

by Jim Kelly
3.4 out of 5 stars (9)  £5.49
The Skeleton Man

The Skeleton Man

by Jim Kelly
4.4 out of 5 stars (5)  £5.99
Death Wore White

Death Wore White

by Jim Kelly
4.3 out of 5 stars (10)  £5.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd (5 Feb 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0718145526
  • ISBN-13: 978-0718145521
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 14.6 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 672,900 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description
1976. A US plane crashes on the fens. Out of the flames walks a woman, Maggie Beck, carrying a baby. 2003. Maggie is dying and Laura Dryden hears her dying confession from her hospital bed, through a coma - a confession that will blow open a murder story.

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
Check a corresponding box or enter your own tags in the field below
(6)
(5)
(3)
(4)
(4)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(3)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Fire Baby
60% buy the item featured on this page:
The Fire Baby 4.1 out of 5 stars (8)
Death Wore White
16% buy
Death Wore White 4.3 out of 5 stars (10)
£5.99
The Water Clock
15% buy
The Water Clock 4.5 out of 5 stars (13)
£5.99
The Coldest Blood
5% buy
The Coldest Blood 3.4 out of 5 stars (9)
£5.49
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Yet another sign that a great series has begun, 1 Jun 2004
By A Customer
I read and enjoyed 'The Water Clock' last year, and was really looking forward to the sequel, 'The Fire Baby' - and what a treat! 'The Water Clock' introduced us to Dryden, the local journalist at the centre of these books, and this follow-up confirms that he has the potential to make a truly great series character.

It isn't just Dryden, but the characters around him who make the books something special - the friendship between Dryden and Humph the taxi-driver is developed further, as is the story of Dryden's relationship with his wife, in a coma in a hospital bed. I did worry that the coma would become a very static part of Dryden's back-story, but Kelly uses all of his elements to great effect, not only as character traits and influences, but as part of a plot that moves forward at a great pace, twisting and turning before reaching a skillfull and dramatic finale. And of course the Fen landscape is as much a character as any of the people, reflecting and heightening the mood and darkness of the story.

'The Fire Baby' confirms that Kelly has created a series character with the potential to grow. I for one hope there will be many more outings for Dryden and the other characters in this wonderful series.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a great read, 26 May 2004
By A Customer
What a great read! This book is brought springing to life by an absorbing array of characters described very deftly - and often very humorously – by Kelly.
The plot revolves around Philip Dryden, a slightly world-weary ex-Fleet Street journalist now earning a living writing for Ely’s ‘The Crow’. The two people he spends most time with are his wife – who happens to be in a coma and Humph, who’s almost in a coma too for the amount he manages to communicate. Humph is the hilariously taciturn cab driver permanently on call to ferry Dryden around the Fens – and he alone is reason enough to read the book.
There are multiple strands to the plot – including people smuggling, the peddling of pornography and the secrets of a woman who lost her infant many years before in the inferno caused by a US Air Force plane crashing on to her farm. Now on her death bed – and in the same room as Dryden’s wife – she decides that it’s time to finally come clean about what really happened on the night the plane plummeted from the sky. The result is that she sets off a chain of events with increasingly violent consequences.
Kelly has produced a first rate thriller here, but what I loved about the book most were the many poetic turns of phrase – used to great effect in evoking the atmosphere of the brooding and mysterious Fens landscape.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A murder mystery in the Fens, 17 Mar 2004
By A Customer
Sometimes there is something about a book that repeatedly catches your attention and you have to buy it; that is how I came to read Jim Kelly's The Fire Baby. The cover did not appeal to me and creates an image that the contents of the book do not quite match; it is better than the cover design suggests. It is not a light weight sensationalist book but Kelly's writing flows in a way that makes it an easy read. He is able to establish the characters of Dryden and his driver Humph, and their relationship, in a very natural way; they are sympathetic characters and believable; Humph's quirkiness adds to the overall appeal of the book. Kelly does not labour the unpleasantness of some of the other characters; he lets their actions or Dryden's observations convey things.

At first I wondered about the way the central theme, the story of the baby saved from the plane crash, could be linked to the secondary themes (pornography and illegal immigrants) without making it all too false and contrived, but it has been managed. Everything to do with the baby is intriguing and Kelly nicely builds up the layers and adds a few twists.

I have now bought the prequel to the book, The Water Clock, and am about to take it into the bath with me. The Fire Baby made an ideal book for in the bath or on a train. I started it after reading a long, non-fiction book and found it to be just the right contrast. Entertaining, one to make you think, not too light but not overly demanding.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended
I would highly recommend this book. An atmospheric mystery novel, it kept my attention throughout and never disappointed. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Mr. P. A. Rees

4.0 out of 5 stars who needs a stereotypical copper
Always on the lookout for a book which is not formulaic in charactor, story or reading and got this, a story without a run of the mill dard on his luck alcholic copper - there are... Read more
Published 9 days ago by Mr. R. Thomas

3.0 out of 5 stars An Out of Control Fire
`The Fire Baby' is a book that starts off a little confusing and never really manages to get over it. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Sam

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-constructed story and an enjoyable read
A 9 out of 10 rating may have better reflected my views about this book and I would find it hard to be too critical. Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2006 by johnverp

2.0 out of 5 stars Downbeat
I am afraid I did not finish it despite reading over 100 pages. It was too depressing. The characters were all unhappy, but even more the countryside, whether man made or... Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2006 by Colin Ingram

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

The Body Shop

The Body Shop - Vitamin C Skin Boost
Protect and boost your glow with The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost.

›Shop The Body Shop

  

More From Jim Kelly

Death Wore White

Death Wore White by Jim Kelly

At 5.15 p.m. Harvey Ellis was trapped – stranded in a line of eight... Read more
£7.99 £5.99

 

We've Got Converse

Converse
Stock up on your favourite styles with great deals on Converse shoes.

›Shop Converse

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
4.5 out of 5 stars (72)£3.86
 Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer
4.1 out of 5 stars (458)£6.49
 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
4.1 out of 5 stars (162)£3.99
 The Host
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
4.2 out of 5 stars (80)£3.86

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates