When an inferno in Manhattan claims fifty lives, Georgia Skeehan, a rookie marshal with the New York City Fire Department, is thrust into command of the investigation. Georgia suspects the fire may have been started by something New York has never seen before: HTA, a kitchen-sink concoction with the thermal power of rocket fuel. HTA fires—though rare over the last decade—are so ferocious that they can melt a building's steel and concrete framework in minutes. Georgia soon unearths another startling possibility: the blaze may be connected to three other unsolved New York fires—and to several eerie, scripture-laden letters from a madman who calls himself the "Fourth Angel." As she races to unravel the clues before more lives are lost, she is troubled by the erratic behavior of her partner and by the betrayal of another marshal—a man she trusted with her heart and her life. As Georgia battles for respect in the nearly all-male bastion of the FDNY, the "Fourth Angel" tightens his grip on his real quarry—and plots an even more catastrophic and fiery finale.

As Fire Marshal Georgia Skeehan investigates the deaths of two doctors, both victims of "flashover" fires and on the board approving "line of duty" compensation for disabled fire fighters, her whole world is shattered when her boyfriend and fellow marshal Mac Marenko is found murdered in her best friend's apartment. Reprint.

After a fire kills two of New York's bravest, Georgia Skeehan is forced to collaborate with an arsonist-turned-FBI informant—a man she believes is a master "torch." As Georgia is drawn deep undercover, the truth—and her own desire for vengeance—bring her closer to a killer. Close enough to burn.