Wildfire

The author of The Tower, Flood and Snowbound Six is back, and this time the catastrophe around which the plot revolves is Backslope, a wildland fire raging out of control in New Mexico's Sanrio National Forest. J. L. Harmon is the fire management officer, and he battles bureaucratic bumbling, changing winds and scandal-happy reporters while keeping the fire at bay. Caught up in the inferno are the usual array of crossed-purpose characters: a newlywed couple frolicking nude in the woods; a pair of cons on the run who pose danger to the reveling lovers; an oilman's daughter trying to make it on her own after her father's death; and two lawyers whose marriage ended when the husband fell in love with a younger woman. For the most part, this is a standard-fare disaster novel, but because several of the characters achieve significant growth and insight, the narrative gains an engaging dimension despite its otherwise mostly smoke-filled pages. Literary Guild and Reader's Digest Condensed Books selections. Foreign rights: Brandt & Brandt. January 20