My first Lee Archer novel and I would try another one. Although the plotting was complex and there were almost two many characters to keep track of, I was fascinated by the backdrop of the plot: a California wildfire rages while Archer tries to unravel the seeming kidnapping of a young boy and the disappearance of his father. Macdonald obviously familiarized himself with wildfire and firefighting for the writing of this book. Worth worth a read.