ShortBookandScribes #BlogTour #BookReview – The Time of the Fire by Emma Kavanagh

It’s my stop on the blog tour for The Time of the Fire by Emma Kavanagh which is published by Orion and available now in hardcover, eBook and audiobook. My thanks to the publishers for the review copy and to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the place on the tour.



Northern California, end of summer. Fire Hazard Severity Zone: Very High.

A mysterious death.

On the anniversary of her mother’s death, CEO-in-waiting Robyn Sandoval goes for a morning run. She knows her father – a local fire fighting hero – is desperate to speak to her, to tell her something he wants her to know before she starts her new job leading the corporation that owns most of their Northern Californian town of Destino. But when Robyn arrives, she finds him dead.

A devastating fire.

Meanwhile, after months of drought, a freak forest fire ignites on the mountain ridge looming over the town. Destino has never burned; its unique position protected by the seemingly insurmountable barrier of the ridge, a favourable wind direction, and a belief long held by the community that they are categorically safe.

A life split in two.

Robyn is shaken to the core by her father’s death, and her life is shattered in two, the fabric of her reality shorn by the sheer force of her grief.

The next time she wakes, everything is different: her father is alive, and there’s no sign of the fire on the ridge.

To understand what is happening, she has to confront not only the secrets of her past but both versions of her present. Because back in her world, the fire is spreading and the time to find answers is running out…



The Time of the Fire has a premise that really fired up my imagination (excuse the pun). It’s based around a theory that a life-changing event can cause a split in the world. For Robyn, that event is the death of her father which makes her black out and when she comes round she’s in a different version of her world, one in which her father is still alive. I found this absolutely fascinating, especially the way she then flips between both worlds.

The story is woven around wildfires in California which has proved to be rather prescient given recent events. The sense of panic the characters feel as the fire draws closer comes across well, as does the small-town vibe and the effect of a large corporation owning much of it, one that Robyn is very much involved with but which her alter ego is not.

It was really interesting to follow both lives and see the directions that the butterfly effect took them in. If you ever wonder what might have happened if you had made a different decision then you’ll enjoy this smart and unique thriller which is plotted well and has intriguing characters.





Emma Kavanagh was born in Wales in 1978 and currently lives in South Wales with her husband and two young sons. She trained as a psychologist and, after leaving university, started her own business as a psychology consultant, specialising in human performance in extreme situations. For seven years she provided training and consultation for police forces and NATO and military personnel throughout the UK and Europe.
For more information, tweet Emma @EmmaLK

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