About a year ago, I read and reviewed Judgment by Joseph Finder, a standalone novel featuring Judge Juliana Brody, a happily married up-and-coming judicial star who goes to a legal conference and does something out of character: she has a one-night stand. All kinds of legal (and other) wrangling went on as a result, and I totally enjoyed the character and the book. When I saw that Finder’s latest, House on Fire, was coming out, I hoped it would feature Juliana Brody again, because I think Finder did a good job with a female protagonist, and I was curious if he would do it again. Although it turns out that House On Fire is #4 in the series featuring private security specialist Nick Heller rather than Judge Brody, I was happy to receive a copy from Thomas & Mercer in exchange for this honest review.

Nick is devastated by the opioid-related death of his old army buddy Sean. After saving Nick’s life in Afghanistan, Sean became addicted to the pills he used to treat the chronic pain from his war-related injuries. It seems that the powerful drug Oxydone was too addictive, and he OD’ed on an Oxydone inhaler. Nick soon has a new client, who he meets at Sean’s funeral: she happens to be part of the multi-billionaire Kimball family, the owners of the pharmaceutical company that makes Oxydone, and she wants Nick to help her with her whistleblower efforts, saying her family has been responsible for enough deaths. She claims that the company knew the drug was overly addictive, but buried the study that showed it in order to get the drug to market. Things get a little complicated between Nick and his client, and being kind of a sensitive and introspective guy, he realizes it: ”I’ve always taken on other people’s battles, even when I shouldn’t. It’s a lesson I still haven’t really learned.” As his investigation gets underway, he encounters his old flame Maggie, who has apparently been hired by another family member, and all the Kimballs seems to want the 80-something year old patriarch to move on and let them take over.

It’s a fairly quick read, but has an engrossing plot with well-drawn characters and just the right amount of non-gratuitous violence and surprises (I did NOT see the end coming, but then, I usually don’t). I really like Finder: five stars.

"And the snake says, 'Yeah, but you knew what I was when you picked me up.'"

This fourth installment of the Nick Heller series has the elite private investigator taking on the rich Kimball family. They own a pharmaceutical company whose main product is an opiate, Oxydone, a nasal inhaler that quickly delivers a powerful dose of the substance. Result - almost instant addiction. In addition, lots of deaths due to overdoses. Nick is hired by one of the Kimball daughters to find evidence to take her family business down -- the hidden clinical study that shows how addictive the drug is and she feels that it should be taken off the market and all the victims compensated. So he's off...NO SPOILERS.

Lots of action and nonstop fight scenes with clever Nick finding all sorts of ways to get the information he wants. He soon has a personal stake in the hunt and ramps up his investigation to even higher levels. It's all quite predictable and a fast read. The narrative is told in the first person POV with Nick integrating himself into the Kimball family and using all sorts of cool spy toys to find out what he wants to know. It gave me a couple of hours of entertainment. I've read two of the other books in the series. I'm sure fans of this type of character and story line will enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this e-book ARC to read and review.

A quick easy thriller. Nothing exciting, a tad simplistic. The story is about an opioid crisis and a pharmaceutical company that is ofcourse invested in making money, not making sure people are not dying from their drugs. An ex military man gets pulled into family drama by one of the family members that seems to want to repay their dues to the suffering folk.

The family itself was interesting. A lot of different characters, but we never go deep to find out more about them. Same with the main character, Nick. Who kind of goes where he's needed. Whether it's his family that needs help, or a friend. He seems like the type who can fix it all, even be a therapist when needed. I can't say I didn't like Nick, but he wasn't something to love - he kind of floated in this story, and kept on trucking as they say through the mystery of the disappeared drug trial paperwork.

It was a lighter read for me, which I appreciated, but I wasn't invested.

I haven’t read any of the other books in the series, but this book works fine as a standalone. It is an unexceptional thriller that held my interest enough for me to keep reading. There were too many tedious descriptions of Nick Heller breaking into places and/or getting beaten up. Heller seems to have zero personality, so maybe the fight scenes are what his fans are looking for. There is a mild twist at the end, once all of the motives of the various unlikeable characters are sorted out. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

HOUSE ON FIRE
Joseph Finder
Dutton
ISBN 978-1-101-98584-7
Hardcover
Thriller

HOUSE ON FIRE provides thriller readers --- and everyone else --- with the opportunity to welcome Nick Heller back. Joseph Finder’s unique private investigator series combines Finder’s penchant for utilizing high finance and business topics with tantalizing takes on the mystery genre. Heller is a bit of an enigma. He keeps his agency off the radar, if not on the down-low, by relying on word of mouth and, in his own words, naming his agency “Heller Associates --- Actuarial Consulting Services” to cut down on the foot traffic, a tactic which undoubtedly works. Heller accordingly takes only those cases which he is interested in taking, even if he is not always in a financial position to do so.

That said, Heller’s world in HOUSE ON FIRE is rocked in the early pages when he learns that his old friend Sean Lenehan has died suddenly. Sean was more than a buddy, having saved Heller’s life when both men were members of the U.S. Special Forces A-Team. Sean became addicted to opioids after leaving the service. He had been clean for nearly a year, which is why Heller is dismayed to learn that Sean died of a drug overdose. When Heller attends Sean’s funeral he is approached by a woman named Susan Kimball. Susan, it develops, is the daughter of Conrad Kimball, the founder of Kimball Pharmaceutical, the developer and manufacturer of the opioid drug that Sean had overdosed on. Susan has made a practice of attending the funerals of individuals who have died as the result of overdosing on the drug that her father’s company has manufactured. Her aim is to become a whistleblower by exposing her father for burying a report which produced before the drug was released and which concluded that the drug was dangerously addictive. The result is that hundreds of thousands of people have died, including Sean. Susan wants to retain Heller to find the report in order to prove that her father and Kimball Pharmaceutical knew about the drug’s dangerous propensities but released it anyway on an unsuspecting public. Heller accepts the assignment. It is both an interesting and deadly one. A copy of the report is supposedly secreted away in Conrad’s home office, resulting in Heller finding himself attending Conrad’s birthday party as Susan’s guest in order to gain access to the premises. Finder uses the occasion to rachet up the suspense in HOUSE ON FIRE as well as to make the stakes even more personal to Keller when a surprise encounter results in what is at least a suspicious tragedy and at most a deliberate homicide. Keller puts himself in danger when he goes the extra mile to retrieve the elusive report, an effort which eventually results in a conclusion which uses a traditional mystery setting with a twist to expose some surprising secrets.

Finder, as is his wont, utilizes his extensive research abilities with current events to make HOUSE ON FIRE yet another winner in his already significant oeuvre. There are subtle but significant parallels displayed in HOUSE ON FIRE between Heller and Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe, with enough differences incorporated into Finder’s creation to make him very much unique. Fans of financial thrillers and private eye fiction will both find much to love here. Recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2020, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Dutton on January 21, 2020

House on Fire imagines a pharmaceutical company that bears a close resemblance to Perdue Pharma. The family that controls it bears a close resemblance to the Sackler family. The company manufactures a drug called Oxydone, a drug that bears a close resemblance to OxyContin, except it is delivered through an inhaler. Like the Sacklers, the Kimball family promoted the drug aggressively to doctors, assuring them that the potential for patient addiction was low, and in the process made a fortune while creating a public health crisis. The Kimballs, like the Sacklers, have also squirreled money away in a variety of shell companies so that the family fortune will remain intact when their company inevitably goes bankrupt to avoid liability for all the lawsuits the family’s nefarious scheme has spawned.

In his Acknowledgements, Joseph Finder says the Kimball family isn’t based on any real-life family. Har har har. Okay, Finder and his publisher don’t want to be sued, so you can’t blame him for saying that. You’d also have to be blind to ignore the obvious parallels between the Sacklers and the Kimballs.

Putting aside the background, the plot departs (presumably) from reality; this is fiction, after all. It is difficult to prosecute families for the crimes committed by the corporations they control, but Conrad Kimball not only buried a study that revealed the addictive properties of Oxydone (the corporate crime of defrauding the government), he orchestrated some murders to keep the truth hidden (the very personal crime of homicide). It is up to Finder’s hero, Nick Heller, to expose Conrad’s evil deeds. Initially, he is hired by Conrad’s daughter Susan to locate a copy of the study. A friend of his, Maggie Benson, tells Nick she has been hired by a different daughter to find Conrad’s estate plan. Nick and Maggie both discover that it is dangerous to snoop into the business of a ruthless family. The novel’s second half is largely devoted to Nick’s exploits as he fights, jumps, shoots, rappels, and otherwise proves himself to be an action hero in his quest to bring Conrad to justice.

Finder’s specialty is corporate and financial crime. Given its prevalence, his novels are usually timely. This one offers reasonable insights into wealth crime: profiting from human weakness “is the greatest business opportunity there ever was”; the wealthy view bankruptcies as sinful when poor people use them to avoid debt but as a legitimate business tool for corporations that want to jettison the consequences of poor decisions; wealthy families market themselves by giving money to museums and hospitals and universities, where their names will be etched in stone, washing the filth from the money they made.

Heller is an interesting character. His father is in prison, a successful white-collar criminal until he got caught. Heller’s friendship with Maggie was derailed seven years earlier because he tried to seek justice for a military rape that Maggie endured, never thinking about whether Maggie would approve of his actions. With that background, Heller engages in more self-reflection than is typical of a thriller hero.

On the other hand, life might be a bit too easy for Heller. He outshoots multiple armed opponents and despite bringing his fists to a knife fight, dispatches his adversary with relative ease. Things need to go Heller’s way to keep the plot moving, so a password is guessed, a door is conveniently left unlocked, a desk clerk hands over a room key without checking ID, and a character confesses at the end when silence would be a more prudent option. Still, credibility issues are common in modern thrillers, and the ending features a surprise or two. While the novel’s action tends to overshadow its suspense, Finder knows how to hold a thriller fan’s attention. If for no other reason, the novel is fun because corporate outlaws face the kind of justice that only happens in fiction.

RECOMMENDED

I intended to finish House on Fire before the New Year and was totally on track to do that but I my best friend decided it was time to break my New Year's tradition of sleeping in and having an impromptu party/double date at my house. Once that happened, I knew that life would resume to normalcy including work and school with Finder's novel being its first victim. Ultimately, I finished House on Fire a week ago. In traditional fashion, I am now finally able to share my thoughts.

So...

Let's go!

House on Fire is Joseph Finder's fourth Nick Heller installment. For those unfamiliar with Nick Heller, you will not get a recap here. Pick up a damn book! Just kidding...

Heller is a bad-ass private eye who runs his own firm that specializes in getting things done. In this title, Heller is hired to expunge secrets about a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company that develops a drug that is highly addictive and has caused the deaths of its many users. The catch with this employment opportunity is that the one financing Heller's investigative prowess is the daughter of the company who's hellbent on seeing the demise of the company.

Nick Heller's personal attachment to the case doesn't hurt either. Actually, he has a few personal attachments to seeing this case through... regardless... Heller's a bad-ass and that's all you need to know.

Not convinced?

Fine then...

Let's start by putting aside any reservations one may have of reading House on Fire before any of the other Heller titles. It's OK. I've been a longstanding fan of Finder's work and I've missed a couple here and there including other Heller novels. In the interest of full disclosure, I have read a Heller novel or two, bu that's neither here or there. There's enough backstory that Finder includes without pulling readers from the story at hand.

That's why I love Joseph Finder titles (and the fact that he's tweeted me once... so cool). I digress...

Finder writes novels that are draw readers in with a momentum that never slows long enough for boredom. That's why I thought I would easily finish this novel by New Year's. At 60%, I was well on my way if it had not been for my best friend and the promise of tequila shots.

What I loved most about House on Fire is Nick Heller's honest narrative that accounted for his aging body when faced with situations that require that he go all "Mission Impossible" on someone. Along with the realistic and descriptive fight scenes, Finder's novels are well researched. House on Fire capitalizes on the Opioid crisis that's "ravaging" America.

Sidenote: I placed ravaging in quotes because the crack epidemic was used as a means to incarcerate those who sold the drug as well as abusers of the drug. Once opioids began to kill white Americans, addiction was suddenly something that needed to be treated as opposed to being a tool used to RAVAGE families. That's not what this novel is about... I just saw an opportunity to get on my soapbox. As a black female my family wasn't torn apart due to a my father having a crack addiction or selling it. But a year and a half ago, my ex-boyfriend was a victim of this crisis. It's just unfortunate that a bunch of white people had to die before anyone could see the parallels.

Sorry! Sorry! My sincere apologies.

Joseph Finder remains one of my favorite writers and kept me guessing until the end with House on Fire. Cleverly placed red herrings sent me off in the wrong direction plenty of times. Those unfamiliar with the Nick Heller series do not need to binge read the proceeding novels to feel caught up. It won't hurt but also not necessary. Overall, House on Fire lights a match under the reader to finish the novel like none other. I highly recommend this suspenseful mystery to those looking for an intriguing, fast read that is hard to put down... unless there's tequila involved of course.

Copy provided by Penguin Group via Netgalley

This winner of a book will have you flipping pages as fast as you can to find out what is going on. Buckle in for the ride of your life. Happy reading!

Our hero, Nick Heller, learns one of his former military buddies has succumbed to his opioid addiction and races to comfort his family. At the funeral, he is approached by the estranged daughter of a wealthy family that is in the pharmaceutical business. She has an axe to grind and wants Nick to assist her. Twists and turns galore in a story that parallels, somewhat, the current issues facing the Sackler family. Another enjoyable romp from Joseph Finder. I received my copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

PI Nick Heller, while attending the funeral of Sean his friend and fellow veteran, is approached by a woman who wants to hire him for a job. Sean died of an overdose to a pain killer he was addicted to. The woman, Susan Kimball, is the daughter of Conrad Kimball, the founder and head of Kimball Pharmaceuticals, creator and distributor of the drug. Susan claims she wants to take down her family’s business empire due to the harm it is causing mankind. She asks Nick to locate a scientific study which claimed the drug is highly addictive. This, she believes, will be enough proof to put them out of business. As Nick tries to locate the study, he gets embroiled into the family dynamics, which proves to be quite deadly.
HOUSE ON FIRE is one of Joe Finder’s best books in years. There are enough plot twists to keep the reader on their toes throughout. The well crafted characters are a complex but untrustworthy bunch. The plot is compelling and the pacing rarely flags. This is an excellent thriller and perfect for the plane or the pool.

Larry Gandle
Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this ARC of House on Fire, by Joseph Finder.
In this book, we discover that people you should trust, like pharmaceutical companies and your family, are not always trustworthy. Nick Heller is attending the funeral of his best friend, who died of opioid addiction, and he is approached by a Kimball family member to help her stop this drug crisis. The drug crisis, she believes, starts with her family and their business, and needs to be stopped before too many people die. As Nick searches for a document that will put an end to lethal drug sales, he discovers that no one is to be trusted, even the family you call your own. This book is timely and informative, as well as exciting and entertaining. I never miss reading a Joseph Finder book and enjoyed this one tremendously.

This is a terrific book. The latest installment of Finder’s Nick Haller series, it is a mixture of a thriller and a private detective story. Haller is a former Special Ops soldier who now has his own agency in Boston. He is everything a private detective should be; strong, resolute, smart, accomplished, well, you get the drift. He is an honest man in a dishonest world.

If you have not read any of the other Haller books never fear, this reads as a complete standalone. “House on Fire” starts with Nick attending the funeral of his army buddy, Sean, who saved his life while they were in the service. Sean died of an opiate, having become addicted, leaving behind his widow and three young children to whom Haller is Uncle Nick. He is approached by a woman who turns out to be the daughter of Conrad Kimball, whose company made the drug which killed Sean. Sukie Kimball is an independent filmmaker who has become angry and ashamed at her family’s role in the opioid epidemic, and she hires Nick to help her find proof that the company knew its products were addictive and killing people. I don’t like spoilers, so I am not going to say anything more about the plot.

I really enjoyed this book. It flowed beautifully, was full of tension, and has a crackerjack ending. Finder has the reputation of an excellent thriller writer, and he deserves it. I am looking forward to the next outing of Nick Haller, and I urge you to read this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. The opinions are my own.

Nick Heller is investigating a case involving a rich family that owns the opiate sector pretty much and there is a murder too that kicks off the mystery. It felt more like a classic detective mystery plot with necessary twists at the end. I definitely empathize with the vets who suffer due to addiction to opiate meds but I felt that part was described as sub-plot but I wish the author had ended it up nicely regarding that part of the plot. There is decent amount of action, and cyber hacking stuff involved.

But bringing light to and more awareness on opiate crisis is really needed at this time. Overall it was a fast paced mystery and was enjoyable too! I liked Nick Heller a lot. I would prefer this one as a movie more I guess.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for granting my wish!

The Opioid Crisis Exposes Intrigues in a Dysfunctional Family

Nick Heller, ex-Special Forces now a detective, is devastated to learn that his friend Sean, a man who saved his life, has died from an overdose of an opioid, Oxydone. He is particularly upset to discover that the drug was prescribed by the VA when Sean was a patient.

At the funeral, Nick is approached by Sukie Kimball, daughter of Conrad Kimball who heads Kimball’s pharmaceutical company, responsible for developing and marketing Oxydone. She wants to hire Nick to expose the fact that Kimball Pharma had research evidence that Oxydone was extremely addictive. The information was withheld so the public had no idea about the dangers of the drug.

Nick agrees to take the case which involves finding a hard copy of the report about the drug. It is one way to avenge Sean’s death. Getting into the Kimball mansion won’t be easy, but Sukie has a way. She invites Nick to Conrad’s birthday party as her date. The party becomes the scene of a murder investigation and Nick finds himself teaming with Maggie, an ex-lover now a detective.

With fast action and a well structured plot, this novel provides a good read if you enjoy detective stories. Nick Heller is a character you have to like. He’s a well trained PI who’s not afraid of danger, but he is also loyal to his friends and wants to protect their reputations. The other characters, Sukie and her family, and particularly Maggie are well drawn, but Nick is the center of the action.

I particularly enjoyed the background focusing on the social issue of addiction to pain killers. It’s a significant issue and the author treats it with appropriate seriousness. It makes you think about the issues of profit vs human life and how for some people an opiate is the only solution to dreadful pain.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

Nick heller continues to get to the bottom of issues. Good read, love Joe Finder as a local author. The characters are believable and work well to tell the story.

Fast-paced thriller! 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Nick Heller, a private detective, is hired by an heir to the Kimbell fortune to try to find evidence against Kimbell Pharma, the reviled maker of a highly addictive opiate. As Nick gets closer to the family, the jobs gets more personal for him and his life soon becomes in danger. Can Nick get to the bottom of this and escape alive?!?

A quick read focused on the very timely opiate crisis. I enjoyed the short chapters and the non-stop action against a solid plot line.

Thank you Joseph Finder, Dutton, and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley #HouseOnFire

What a page turner! And the topic is so timely and relevant. Love the main character, Nick Heller. Will look forward to more of his adventures.

When Nick Heller is hired by Sukie Kimball, it's to find a critical memo about her family firm's opioid product. Nick's friend has just died of an overdose of the drug- Oxydone- so he takes it on, going to the family compound to search. It's Conrad Kimball's birthday so there are a number of guests, including, much to Nick's surprise, Maggie, once a romantic interest but now a rival. Unfortunately for everyone, the Kimball family is a rats nest of nastiness and, of course, someone ends up dead. This merges a topical issue with a twisty little mystery. Nick's a good character, the plot pops along, and it has a social conscience. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is fine as a standalone and perfect for travel.

House on Fire, the first Joseph Finder book I've read, has a bit more action-adventure vibe than the typical private-investigator novel, and is better written. The main character, Nick Heller, was a Special Forces operative, which gave him the skills to do a higher level of surveillance and intrusion than your average gumshoe.

Those skills were called upon in this story, with Heller investigating a family-owned Big Pharma firm which aggressively and deceptively marketed its opioid products. (Ring any current-event bells)?

I appreciated the smart dialogue and tight plotting. Finder never insulted the reader's intelligence. There were a few minor continuity glitches and typos, but this was after all a digital galley I was reading, so I trust those will be fixed before publication.

All in all, enough for me to plan on seeking out more of this author's books. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance readers copy.

Investigator Nick Heller’s friend Sean saved his life in Afghanistan and when Sean became addicted to pain medication for his own wounds, Nick stepped up to get him help. Believing that Sean had conquered the habit, he was stunned to receive a call from Sean’s wife Patty to notify him of his friend’s death from an overdose. At Sean’s funeral, he is approached by Susan Kimball. It is her father’s company that manufactured the drug that killed his friend.

Susan wants to hire Nick to find the results of a drug trial that was done in Eastern Europe that proves that Oxydone is highly addictive. Her idea is to use the report that was suppressed by her father to force him to open addiction treatment centers across the country. Posing as her latest boyfriend, he attends a family gathering at the Kimball estate, where Conrad Kimball supposedly has the only copy of the trial. There he runs into Maggie, a woman from his past, posing as the date of Susan’s brother. She is there to discover the terms of Conrad’s will since he plans to re-marry. Working together, they find Conrad’s hidden files, but a murder disrupts the weekend. Fearing that the assignment is too dangerous to continue, Susan fires Nick.

Joseph Finder introduces episodes from Heller’s past throughout the story that explain his relationships with Sean and Maggie. After he is fired, he still feels a responsibility to them and devotes himself to find the murderer as well as the trial. With stories of the addiction to opiates prevalent in the news, this is a story that is relevant today. It is also a story of greed and family dynamics that builds to a surprising ending. If you are not currently familiar with Joseph Finder, House on Fire will convert you to an instant fan. I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group/Dutton for providing this book for my review.