FIRE ON THE ISLAND is a playful, romantic thriller set in contemporary Greece, featuring Nick Damigos, a gay Greek-American FBI agent, who is undercover on the island to investigate a series of mysterious fires. Set against the very real refugee crisis on the beautiful, sun-drenched Greek islands, this novel paints a loving portrait of a community in crisis.
Nick Damigos arrives on the island just in time to witness the latest fire and save a beloved truffle-sniffing dog. Hailed as a hero and embraced by the community, Nick finds himself drawn to Takis, a young bartender who becomes his primary suspect, which is a problem because they’re having an affair.
Theirs is not the only complicated romance in the community and Takis isn’t the only suspicious character on the island. The priest is an art forger, a young Albanian waiter harbors a secret, the captain of the Coast Guard station seems to have his agenda, and the village itself hides a violent history. Nick has to unravel the truth in time to prevent catastrophe, as he comes to terms with his past trauma. In saving the village, he will go a long way toward saving himself.
As the people of Vourvoulos grapple with declining tourism, poverty, a refugee crisis, family feuds, and a perilously damaged church, the invasion of an arsonist in their midst may just send the village past the point of no return. Each of the characters is intriguing and crafted with true care that reveals Smith’s love for, and knowledge of Greece, where he has spent some seven years. This new romantic thriller charms in a way reminiscent of Zorba the Greek, while also shedding light on the very real challenges of life in contemporary Greece.
I loved this book for the wonderful imagery of the Island and the characters that Timothy Jay Smith can convey through his colorful writing. He provides many details of this small village in Greece and the culture that encompasses it. You feel the division, heartbreak, and pain between the locals and the refugees. You feel the drama, thrills, and romantic passion of the intriguing cast of characters. This is a fast-paced, engaging book that keeps you on the edge of your seat with romantic character developments and a thrilling plot that builds to a wild, chaotic, fantastic ending! I highly recommend this book!
About The Author
Raised crisscrossing America pulling a small green trailer behind the family car, Timothy Jay Smith developed a ceaseless wanderlust that has taken him around the world many times. En route, he’s found the characters that people his work.
Polish cops and Greek fishermen, mercenaries and arms dealers, child prostitutes and wannabe terrorists, Indian Chiefs and Indian tailors: he’s hung with them all in an unparalleled international career that saw him smuggle banned plays from behind the Iron Curtain, maneuver through Occupied Territories, represent the U.S. at the highest levels of foreign governments, and stowaway aboard a ‘devil’s barge’ for a three-day crossing from Cape Verde that landed him in an African jail.
Tim brings the same energy to his writing that he brought to a distinguished career, and as a result, he has won top honors for his novels, screenplays, and stage plays in numerous prestigious competitions. Fire on the Island won the Gold Medal in the 2017 Faulkner-Wisdom Competition for the Novel, and his screenplay adaptation of it was named Best Indie Script by WriteMovies.
His recent novel, The Fourth Courier, set in Poland, published in 2019 by Arcade Publishing, was critically acclaimed. Previously, he won the Paris Prize for Fiction (now the Paris Literary Prize) for his novel, A Vision of Angels. Kirkus Reviews called Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite” and selected it as one of the Best Books of 2012.
Tim was nominated for the 2018 Pushcart Prize. His stage play, How High the Moon, won the prestigious Stanley Drama Award, and his screenplays have won competitions sponsored by the American Screenwriters Association, WriteMovies, Houston WorldFest, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Fresh Voices, StoryPros, and the Hollywood Screenwriting Institute. He is the founder of the Smith Prize for Political Theater.
