Bone Fire - Book Review

"Bone Fire" [Mark Spragg/Knopf/256pgs] tries to take an aspect of long, respected, on-the-field Western practicality and put it within the structure of life with the motivation of living falling by the wayside. The motivation of the novel initially seems to be based on the aspect of a man finding a boy killed in a meth lab because the mortality of his actions weren't able to bear his intelligence. What this does to this local sheriff who learns that he has Lou Gehrig Disease begins to have little to connect the two. The drama mostly exists when the daughter of a former love who happens to be his ex comes back around into play asking questions. His current wife is puzzled by his sudden urge to be around his former wife. In a consecutive method, his investigation into the cause of the explosion leads him to a girl who reveals that the fall-out for this explosion, both physically and emotionally, could be much worse. The end of the novel is a paradox of Darwin's Theory but its intention seems a bit lost. The book wants to engage the reader in a tale of second guesses but the lack of passion save for the current wife (who is drunk most of the time) takes one away from any empathy for the characters. The sheriff seems unwilling to help himself in a larger scheme of perception but the pacing never quite plays into this possibility. Character creation and a widening landscape help somewhat but most of what the author is trying to relate is either too subtle or disjointed to truly make an impression. Despite some interesting but ultimately lopsided dramatic scenes, "Bone Fire" lacks a true interest. Out of 5, I give it a 2.