The Fire Line

Ted Thring is a book reviewer for the Queen’s University radio
station.

Reed Kitchen is a hearty, daring, carefree fellow who talks too much, a
habit that gets him into trouble with the construction gang he joins on
the Skeena River near Prince Rupert, British Columbia. These
rough-and-tumble characters are assigned the task of replacing an old
bridge on the river. Traffic cannot be interrupted, so they must build
the new bridge within the framework of the old one—a complicated,
time-consuming task. To make matters worse, it rains nonstop and there
are violent—sometimes fatal—encounters with the locals. More
violence ensues when the gang is drafted to fight a forest fire and Reed
finds himself at the fire line confronting enemies he made earlier.

The Fire Line is a great yarn, featuring an unusual setting and
engaging characters. Less appealing is the excessive, and very graphic,
violence.