TUNNEL VISIONS by Kurt Kamm

  Gritty Realism and Eco-Terrorists in This Firefighter Adventure
Published in August of 2014 by MCM Publishing

 Over the years I have read a ton of books about police officers of all sorts: cops on the beat, homicide detectives, FBI agents, Secret Service and more. But, Kurt Kamm specializes in writing very detailed, authentic feeling books (as far as this high school teacher can tell, anyway) about an equally visible group of first responders that I have rarely read any books about: firefighters. 

 In Tunnel Visions fire captain Nick Carter, an expert in underground search and rescue missions, is called in to a task force that is investigating a possible terror attack on a gigantic underground tunnel that helps supply the water for Los Angeles. His fiancee, an ATF Special Agent, is on the ground looking for the same eco-terrorists.

 The book uses a series of flashbacks to go back and forth from the current day story of the terrorists to Nick's childhood and early career. He was inspired by the story of his father, a man who died in a horrible accidental explosion while digging the very same tunnel that the terrorists want to destroy. But, as the story progresses we learn that Nick has been hiding multiple secrets about his father and those secrets could destroy his career and even his relationship with his fiancee. The Sylmar Tunnel explosion was an actual event. It happened in 1971 and killed 17 miners. Click here for more information.

 This is a very readable book with lots of danger and suspense (and really bad traffic). The flashbacks sometimes feel like they are getting in the way of the real story but, in the end, the flashbacks pull the whole thing together in an ending that may be a little too nice (but a happy ending is okay every now and then!)

  Note: I was sent a review copy of this book at no charge in exchange for an honest review.

 I rate this novel 4 stars out of 5.
Reviewed on September 12, 2014.

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