Oh, Joe Hill. You’ve yet to write something that I didn’t eagerly devour. The Fireman is the story of a global pandemic known as Draco Incendia Trychophyton, or Dragonscale to the layperson. It’s a highly contagious disease, the method of transmission unknown, that first covers its host in surprisingly beautiful black and gold markings and later causes them to smoke and ultimately burst into flames. With people spontaneously combusting all over the world, society breaks down and thus emerges the true horror of The Fireman. Told from the perspective of a compassionate nurse named Harper Grayson who eventually meets the titular Fireman who has learned to control the fire within his flesh, the true horror here it isn’t the rampant, fatal disease, it’s how people react to it and to those affected by it, both on an individual basis and collectively. This wasn’t my favorite Joe Hill novel. Heart Shaped Box and N0s4A2 are still tied for that spot, but I found it thoroughly freaky, vividly told, and almost impossible to put down.