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    Set The Night On Fire: A '60s Crime Thriller
    Set The Night On Fire: A '60s Crime Thriller
    Set The Night On Fire: A '60s Crime Thriller
    Audiobook10 hours

    Set The Night On Fire: A '60s Crime Thriller

    Written by Libby Fischer Hellmann

    Narrated by Diane Piron Gelman

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Lila Hilliard returns home to Chicago for the holidays only to find someone is stalking her. Her father and brother are trapped in a fire, and a man on a motorcycle tries to shoot her. As she desperately tries to figure out who is after her and why, she uncovers information about her father’s past indicating he was part of the volatile movement of young people during the late Sixties. Which means her parents were not the people she thought they were. Part thriller, part historical novel, part love story, Set The Night on Fire tells an extraordinary tale about the stormy late Sixties, and a group of idealists who were sure they would change the world.

    A tremendous book—sweeping but intimate, elegiac but urgent, subtle but intense. This story really does set the night on fire. Lee Child

    A top-rate thriller that taps into the antiwar protests of the 1960s… A jazzy fusion of past and present, Hellman’s insightful, politically charged whodunit explores a fascinating period in American history. Publishers Weekly

    A brilliantly-paced thriller, transitioning seamlessly from modern-day Chicago to the late ’60s. First-rate characterization… Best to start early in the day, as it is easy to stay up all night reading it. Foreword Magazine

    Electric… a marvelous novel. RT Book Reviews

    Haunting… Rarely have history, mystery, and political philosophy blended so beautifully… could easily end up on the required reading list in college-level American History classes. Betty Webb, Mystery Scene

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Red Herrings Press
    Release dateJan 1, 2017
    ISBN9780984014118
    Set The Night On Fire: A '60s Crime Thriller
    Author

    Libby Fischer Hellmann

    Libby Fischer Hellmann left a career in broadcast news in Washington, DC and moved to Chicago 35 years ago, where she, naturally, began to write gritty crime fiction. Twelve novels and twenty short stories later, she claims they’ll take her out of the Windy City feet first. She has been nominated for many awards in the mystery and crime writing community and has even won a few. With the addition of Jump Cut in 2016, her novels include the now five-volume Ellie Foreman series, which she describes as a cross between “Desperate Housewives” and “24;” the hard-boiled 4-volume Georgia Davis PI series, and three stand-alone historical thrillers that Libby calls her “Revolution Trilogy.” Last fall The Incidental Spy,  a historical novella set during the early years of the Manhattan Project at the U of Chicago was released. Her short stories have been published in a dozen anthologies, the Saturday Evening Post, and Ed Gorman’s “25 Criminally Good Short Stories” collection.  In 2005 Libby was the national president of Sisters In Crime, a 3500 member organization dedicated to the advancement of female crime fiction authors. More at http://libbyhellmann.com * She has been a finalist twice for the Anthony, three times for Foreword Magazines Book of the Year, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Daphne and has won the Lovey multiple times.

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    Reviews for Set The Night On Fire

    4/5

    20 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Forty years ago, idealistic young Americans wanted to end the Vietnam War, make a more just society, change the world. Forty years later, a secret involving one group of those once-young people is causing a string of murders.

      Dar Gantner, Alix Kerr, Julie Bergman, Casey Hilliard, Teddy Markham, and Payton meet accidentally in Chicago the summer of the 1968 Democratic convention. They're all to varying degrees involved in the protests, and in the aftermath they become housemates and friends, becoming both closer and more divided as their political and personal interests develop and change. It culminates two years later, with the bombing of a downtown Chicago department store that three of them are involved in. Alix, though not involved, is killed. Dar Gantner is the only one arrested and charged.

      Forty years later, Dar is just emerging from prison. He starts to pick up the threads of his life, getting acquainted with four decades of social and technological change. He has a lingering question, though, about his old comrades and the bombing. He starts contacting people.

      Casey Hilliard has raised the twins, Lila and Daniel, that Alix gave birth to shortly before her death. Casey hasn't got the answers Dar wants, but he gives him some information and Dar goes on his way.

      Not long after, while the now-grown twins are visiting for Christmas, an electrical fire destroys the Hilliard home. Lila was out buying new Christmas lights, but her father and brother are killed.

      Just a tragic accident.

      Except that Rain and Payton are also soon dead in tragic accidents, and Dar returns from one of his trips to find that his apartment has been rather thoroughly tossed.

      When Lila is nearly killed in a grenade attack on her brother's condo, Dar becomes even more determined to find answers. The problem is that Lila has no reason to trust a man who did forty years for murder.

      The story winds through both time periods, and the characters grow, change, and reveal their true selves. It's a neat historical thriller, and a contemporary mystery, and a compelling story of well-drawn and complex characters. Recommended.

      I received a free electronic copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Set the Night on Fire by Libby Fischer Hellmann vividly recreates that sense of not fitting into a changing world which characterized both the sixties and the present. A protagonist recently released from jail struggles to understand how technology has moved on—“appalled at how disposable capitalism had become… fascinated by phones smaller than a pack of cigarettes…” Meanwhile an intriguing young woman displays a love for numbers and patterns that immediately endears her to this reader. But how will she recover from tragedy? Is the stranger following her a threat or a protector? And more importantly, how will she define her identity as the patterns shift and change?Moving smoothly from the 60s to the present, building convincing characters and themes, and slowly piling mystery on threat, this novel of the past is wholly relevant to the present. Thought-provoking, absorbing and hard to put down, I really enjoyed this novel.Disclosure: I heard it was on a deal and I offer my honest review.
    • 2/5
      2.5***

      Lila Hilliard has reluctantly come home for Christmas; her father is recovering from hip surgery and needs her, but she doesn’t really get along with her twin brother Danny any longer. A quick errand to get some new lights for the Christmas tree takes longer than she expected, and when she returns the house is in flames. Both her father and brother perish in the inferno. The official verdict is a faulty string of lights, but Lila was certain she had unplugged the tree before leaving the house. A few days later a stranger on a motorcycle shoots at her, missing only because a good Samaritan intervenes. Clearly someone is after her and her family. But why?

      Before Lila (or the reader) can get an answer to this present day mystery, we need some back story. And so Hellmann drops the suspense to take us back to 1968-1970 Chicago and a group of college drop-outs who are passionate about challenging the establishment, ending the war in Vietnam, and changing society.

      Hellmann is a good writer. The first and third part of this book prove that she can craft a suspenseful plot with sufficient twists and turns to keep the reader’s interest (though I had figured out the bad guys much earlier than our heroine and hero, who seemed ridiculously clueless and naïve in their actions). The main problem I had with this book, however, is the long detour back in time that Hellmann took in the Part Two (Chapters 22 through 44) in order to set up the great conspiracy. This took far too long to explain the important connections and motives, and completely disrupted the flow of the central plot.
    • 5/5
      I’ve enjoyed all of Libby’s novel, but this is the best one yet. IMHO

      This book brought memories, as I live about 90 miles from Chicago and was a in college at the time of the Democratic Convention in Chicago. The book is an exciting trip down memory lane.

      The book starts out in the present day with Dar, who has recently been released from prison for a crime he committed during the convention in Chicago. He is able to contact one of his friends that he lived with in Chicago. One of the others is already dead and the one he contacts soon dies. Then a fire in the affluent suburbs kills a third.

      Then the book returns to 1968 and the story behind the reason that Dar was sent to prison in the first place. Hellmann does an excellent job of presenting the background of the behind the scene conflicts without taking sides.

      Then the book returns to the present day and ties everything up in a very exciting finish.

      Check all her books out, as they are all great reading.
    • 5/5
      An AudioBook Review:
      I’ll be thoroughly honest and say that I know I am hooked on romance in AudioBook format, but wasn’t sure that a thriller or suspense novel would strike me in the same way. After a one-sitting, never remove the headphones listen; I can gladly report that this could easily become my new obsession! What a terrific way to spend a few hours, or entertain yourself during a long commute. Although, be warned: you will be itching to get back to this story.

      Libby Fischer Hellmann has managed to incorporate history into a current story, bringing the reader the feel of the late 60’s, and providing an interesting storyline that will have you on the edge of your seat as the past moves forward to influence the present. The late 60’s in Chicago was a volatile time, with various groups seeking to make change in the social fabric of the United Sates, protesting against the Vietnam war, the ‘man’ and most all things establishment. While I am familiar with the more radicalized writings and justifications of bad acts, Hellmann brought forward the immense sense of guilt, confusion and the ease with which some may have been caught up in actions that escalated beyond their control.

      With a clever separation of the book, the author has divided it into 3 parts: first and last are dealing with the present, the middle section weaves in the history providing a unique opportunity to present a character that is caught up in events that quickly spiral out of control, and he is left taking all of the blame and punishment. Narration throughout the story manages to delineate the characters with a subtle variance in tone that is not distracting to the ear, but gives a distinct feel for each of them.

      The villains are rather lackluster in both approach and feel: although the tension created by their never-ending appearance is palpable, if not wholly effective. This is a story that will catch you up in the first few minutes, and not release you completely even hours after you finish. A must-listen for fans of thrillers and characters who will grow on you in surprising ways, this is the best 10 hours you will spend, continually or broken up in sections. I will, however, defy you to not want to reach and push that play button.

      I received an AudioBook copy from the author for purpose of honest review for the Heard Word at I am, Indeed. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
    • 4/5
      Seldom has a novel left me with such a set of conflicted impressions as has Libby Fischer Hellmann's first stand-alone novel, Set the Night on Fire. One part of me loves the book as a solidly written thriller, another part cringes at how accurately Hellmann pegged the absurdity of the 1960s revolutionaries, and a final part of me just cannot take the book's two main villains seriously. The first two points are so solidly in Hellmann's favor, however, that I can easily get past my villain problem. Lila Hilliard is on the run. Her father and brother have just died in a mysterious house fire and now someone is trying to kill her. Her problem is that she has no idea who is chasing her, or why. What she does know is that she is still alive only because her would-be assassin is not very good at his job - so far - and that she seems to have acquired a human guardian angel somewhere along the way. And when that guardian angel steps forward to identify himself, Lila learns things about herself and her father that turn her life upside down. She learns that her parents, along with a few thousand other college students and college drop-outs, came to Chicago in 1968 to protest the Viet Nam War at the Democratic National Convention being held there. Unfortunately for Lila, her parents became involved with a small group of domestic terrorists willing to use bombs to make their point. Innocent people were killed, arrests were made, and people went to prison - her father, among them. Now someone wants to kill anyone even remotely connected to that group of friends, including, apparently, their children. This is good thriller material and Hellmann develops it well. More than a third of the book is told in flashback to the years between 1968 and 1970. This is the portion of the book in which Hellmann develops her characters and introduces political and personal conflicts between them that will have major repercussions in the present. To Hellmann's credit, this is also the portion of Set the Night on Fire that I found most difficult to read. Her portrayal of the radicals is so accurate that it reminded me of everything I hated about the sixties, especially the naïve pretentiousness of empty-headed terrorists willing to bomb private property at the risk of innocent lives in order to make some political point they only half understood. Sadly, just as in real life, some of the people in Hellmann's novel still live in Chicago where they are corrupting yet another generation of young people. That Hellmann could make me feel the same level of contempt for these people that I felt in the sixties and seventies is, indeed, a credit to her writing skills. Set the Night on Fire is a nice blend of thriller with historical fiction, one that should be of interest to those that have been around long enough to have experienced the sixties for themselves and to those who only remember hearing their parents speak of those days. Rated at: 4.0