cover image Walking Through Fire

Walking Through Fire

Sherri Cook Woosley. Talos, $15.99 trade paper (420p) ISBN 978-1-945863-33-2

In this promising debut, a single mother and her son must work together to survive the end of the world as they know it. Rachel Deneuve already has enough on her plate with fighting her son’s leukemia; she has no time to battle the apocalypse. But when ancient Mesopotamian gods and biblical figures begin crashing into Baltimore in the form of coruscating meteors, Rachel must flee to her summer cottage to protect young Adam’s life. It soon becomes clear that she and Adam are pawns in a larger game, and the victor will control Earth’s destiny. All around her, gods are setting up camps, drawing worshippers to them to increase their power, and sending out raiding parties. When Adam is hurt, Rachel is forced to leave their sanctuary and seek out a god powerful enough to heal him—and maybe even cure his cancer. Rachel is so numbed by being a “cancer mom” that she barely reacts to the strange events around her, contrary to early descriptions of her severe anxiety, and Adam sounds younger and more naive than one might expect from a tween cancer survivor. Underdeveloped side characters and lazy depictions of nonwhite characters make it difficult to empathize with anyone but Rachel. A handful of plot holes and pacing issues make for a slow start, but Woosley’s unusual interpretation of biblical myths and vivid imagery help this debut come together. (Sept.)