Heaven's Fire
| Heaven's Fire | |
| Sandra Balzo | |
| CreateSpace (2012) | |
| Rating: | **** |
| Tags: | Romance, Thriller, Family Saga |
"Heaven's Fire" may be what Pasquale Firenze, patriarch of the family-owned Firenze Fireworks, calls his painting of the night sky with light, color and sound, but television producer Wendy "Jake" Jacobus has more practical considerations than her featured showman's artistry. Or so she believes, until Pasquale is killed--live on-camera--by an explosion, and Jake is hurled into a tangled web triggered by her job, her legacy as a cancer survivor, and her growing attraction to Simon Aamot, the federal agent assigned to the investigation.
Aamot has problems as well, but when the two are forced together by the tragedy, the man unable to let go of his past and the woman afraid to trust her future must race to prevent another catastrophic explosion--this one at the county's Fourth of July celebration.
“Equal parts thriller, romance and family saga . . . a compelling and deeply human read.”
--Joan Johnston, New York Times bestselling author of Texas Bride
“Rooted in the dangerously exotic world of a multi-generational fireworks company . . . spell-binding.”
--Jeremiah Healy, award-winning author of The Only Good Lawyer and Spiral
“A fast-paced mystery that explodes off the page.”
--Ali Brandon, national bestselling author of Double Booked for Death
"What moves Balzo high above other writers who try to cover the same territory is a sharp and often amusing skill that convinces us that this is real life, and that it matters.”
--Chicago Tribune
"Equal parts thriller, romance and family saga . . . a compelling and deeply human read."
--
Joan Johnston,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Texas Bride
"Rooted in the dangerously exotic world of a multi-generational fireworks company . . . spell-binding."
--
Jeremiah Healy, award-winning author of
The Only Good Lawyer
and
Spiral
"What moves Balzo's book high above other writers who try to cover the same territory is a sharp and often amusing skill that convinces us that this is real life, and that it matters."
--Chicago Tribune on Uncommon Grounds
". . . crisp dialogue, complex characters and a puzzle that can't be beat."
--Kirkus (starred review) on Bean There, Done That
"[Balzo's] new franchise is a full-throttle joyride. "
--Kirkus on Running on Empty
My "day job" for nearly 25 years was public relations and event managment for a large bank holding company in Wisconsin. One of those events was Milwaukee's Fourth of July fireworks on Lake Michigan, a celebration that was actually held on July 3rd, so as not to interfere with the smaller civic celebrations the next day.
It was a wonderful job, but the highlight was getting to know and work with the Bartolotta family of Bartolotta Fireworks, just outside Milwaukee. I've dedicated
Heaven's Fire
to late patriarch and founder, Sam Bartolotta, whose son John died with two other people in a 1991 explosion at the factory one awful morning.
I'd also like to express my gratitude to--and appreciation for--Sam's oldest son, Joe, and Joe's wife Linda, who have been great friends and know, all too well, the gain and loss, joy and sorrow, push and pull, of this singular family business.
This one is special.
Sandy
SandraBalzo.com
Heaven's Fire
by
Sandra Balzo
In memory of Sam Bartolotta,
H
eaven's artist
in residence
ther books by Sandra Balzo
The Maggy Thorsen Mysteries
-Wisconsin Coffeehouse-
TRIPLE SHOT
The Main Street Murders
-High Country Mysteries-
RUNNING ON EMPTY
DEAD ENDS
Award-winning short stories
**
Available for Kindle
June 29, 2001
"
What I remember was being on my feet--all of a sudden on my feet, but I didn’t know how I got there. And everyone around me, they were on their feet, too, and I could see their hands slapping together and I could see their mouths moving, but I couldn’t hear them. Couldn’t hear anything because I was standing in this place of pure light and noise, a place like nowhere I’d ever been before. And I thought, right then: This must be what
heaven is.
"
--Pasquale Firenze
Heaven?
To TV8 producer Wendy "Jake" Jacobus, the video on the monitor in front of her looked more like hell.
But hell sure made for great TV.
A fireworks shell had just burst low over the northernmost of three barges anchored on Lake Michigan for the show. And now, as Jake watched, burning debris from the errant shell was falling into a plywood box the size of a truck bed.
Since the
box
in question
contained all the fireworks shells that hadn't been launched yet, that seemed like a very bad thing.
"Luis!" Jake called to her camera operator on the barge. "Talk to me. What's going on?"
Confined to the TV8 production van for the duration of the broadcast, Jake had only the eight video monitors in front of her to serve as her eyes, and a radio connection to serve as her ears. Most of the time she was just as happy to be the impartial observer. All of a sudden, though, being stuck on the inside looking out was near intolerable.
On Luis
Burns
’ monitor, Pat Firenze--son of fireworks patriarch Pasquale Firenze, the man who had been speaking on the voiceover—was levering himself up onto the edge of the box. As Jake held her breath, Pat lunged, grabbing at the flaming cardboard and looping it up and over the side and onto the deck of the barge, before he landed hard, himself, on top of the shells.
Jake, who had been hovering about two inches above her chair, sank back down as Luis's camera followed the debris, staying with the shot until the fire burned itself harmlessly out. Then the camera slid back over to Pat, already climbing out of the box. In the background, other men scarcely missed a beat as they hustled to pull shells out and get them loaded into the cardboard mortars.
"Luis!" Jake tried the radio again.
Still nothing. She turned to her technical director. "Archie, ready Camera One."
It was Jake's job to choose which shot from the eight cameras to
use
and then call it out to Archie, who made it all happen. He was very good at his job.
"Take Camera One," she told Archie now, sending a wide shot from the top of the Waverly Apartments out onto the airwaves...or through the cables, more accurately these days.
On the monitor, anchor
George Eagleton was deep into "happy talk"
: "Wow, Martha, I think we here at the Lake Days Fireworks in Liberty, Wisconsin, were just treated to one of Pasquale Firenze's very special fireworks shells."
"A
very special misfire
,"
more likely,
Jake thought. But then, George loved everyone and everything, even the awful
"
George and Martha: The First Couple of News
"
ad campaign TV8 launched when George teamed up with co-anchor Martha Malone. Martha had flatly refused to wear the Martha Washington costume, but George had bounded around the station spouting,
"
I cannot tell a lie,
"
for days.
As Martha had put it then, "He reminds me of an over-enthusiastic puppy in a tri-corner hat. I'm afraid he's going to piddle on my foot."
But
then
Jake had more to worry about than her on-air talent piddling on each other.
Like finding out if everybody
was okay out there. In addition to Luis and Pat, Pasquale Firenze's best friend Tudy and the rest of his crew were on the barge, along with a thousand pounds or so of explosives. And a TV8 microwave truck. A very
special
TV8 microwave truck. Or at least a very expensive one.
"Luis, talk to me," Jake pleaded,
all the while scanning
the bank of monitors in front of her for the next shot.
One screen showed the crowd that packed Shore Park. Another, the barges on the lake. Then there was the wide shot of the fireworks Jake was taking currently. And a tight shot of same. George, still talking. Martha Malone frowning at the notes on the desk in front of her. Reporter Neal Cravens prepping for a post-fireworks interview with an unnaturally blonde family of four.
Nothing, though, from Luis's camera, and that worried Jake. Luis Burns had a tendency to be a cowboy, even under the most innocuous of circumstances.
And these weren't the most innocuous of circumstances.
"Luis!" she yelled into the radio.
Silence.
Jake groaned and, with much reluctance, added: "Over."
She hadn't figured ou
t whether Luis was a closet ham-
radio operator or he had simply watched too many old war movies. Either way, his radio interaction was always sprinkled with "roger"s, "over"s and even the occasional "wilco."
"
You're going to love this, Jake," Luis's voice finally crackled over the radio.
What Jake would love was to ring his disembodied neck.
"I got it all," he was saying. "This big ass fireworks shell explodes low. A mussel burst, the old guy, Tudy, said--I didn't know we had mussels in Lake Michigan, did you?
"
Luis was talking so fast, his words were even more tangl
ed up in themselves than usual.
"
I think he meant 'muzzle,' Luis," Jake offered, "not 'mussel.' But is everyone--"
"So, anyway, part of the burning shit fell into the b
ox with all the unfired shells. '
Fire in the box,' they call it. The thing was so close I could have reached down and touched it. Junior--I mean, 'Pat' dove in and pulled it out before the whole mess blew. It was so cool. Over.
"
Jake closed her eyes and counted to three. She usually counted to five, but she was short on time today. Ten had fallen by the wayside years ago.
"
Luis." She opened her eyes. "Is everyone okay?
"
"
Roger. Over.
"
"
In
English
, please.
"
Jake ran her hand over her face. "Hold on a sec." She checked the monitors again. "Archie, ready Camera Three."
Camera Three appeared on the preview monitor. Luis's monitor was back on now, but it was showing only the dark lake, with a sprinkling of lights from the spectator boats that dotted the water.
"Listen, Luis, I want the camera pointing up, okay? Fireworks? Sky? And I used your shot of Pat and the 'fire in the box,' but we didn't understand what we were seeing.
"
She thought for a second, chewing on her thumbnail.
"
I’ll get hold of Gwen and find out if she wants it for news.
"
Gwen Sonntag was TV8's news director and Jake's direct boss.
"
That's cool, Jake, just make sure I get credit.
"
"
Yeah, okay.
"
She flipped off the radio and turned to the tech director.
"
Take Camera Three, Archie, and then let's see if we can get hold of Gwen...
"