There is a part of me that is sorry to see this book published. The reason? It means that the Brilliance Trilogy is coming to an end. Those who love stories, who love reading, will understand. The series --- which consists of BRILLIANCE, the ironically titled A BETTER WORLD and the appropriately titled WRITTEN IN FIRE --- has been an event that has straddled genres with one volume or another shortlisted for several annual awards. Those who have read the first two installments know why; others who have not done so have an experience in store.

Marcus Sakey had already established himself as a burgeoning master of suspense with novels like THE BLADE ITSELF, GOOD PEOPLE (a personal favorite of mine) and THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES. The Brilliance Trilogy marked a bit of a departure for him while incorporating the elements that made his other books so memorable: mystery, tension and characterization. With BRILLIANCE, Sakey took a left turn into old school science fiction, the type that many of us read before the genre...changed? Got hijacked? Whatever. In any event, if you have already read the first two volumes, please bear with me a moment while I attempt to, as briefly as possible, bring new readers into the fold.

"Part science fiction, part thriller, part metaphor (and possibly one [Sakey] did not entirely create), WRITTEN IN FIRE should be burned indelibly into your must-read list. And if you haven’t read the first two books, please do so. The pages will turn themselves."

BRILLIANCE introduced the concept of the “brilliants.” The premise is that one percent of the people born since 1980 are “brilliants,” folks who possess a special talent or ability such as reading emotions, sensing patterns within apparent disparate elements of information, and so on. One of these is an FBI agent named Nick Cooper, whose ability renders him uniquely suited for hunting terrorists, including other brilliants. The knowledge that there are those among us who are different-abled in a way that gives them an edge is the tipping point, if you will, for those with and without the gift. When the presence of the brilliants is made known, there are those on both sides of the divide who feel threatened and want something done. What has occurred in the first two installments --- under Sakey’s careful cinematic vision --- is a slow but inevitable spiral downward of the infrastructure as the center fails to hold, first in this or that major city, then nationwide.

As the newly published WRITTEN IN FIRE begins, American society from the top down is in chaos. The seats of government from the highest levels downward have been abandoned. New York is in chaos, with mobs of people attempting to leave the city even as it is doubtful that whatever destination they might or might not be able to reach is any better. And Cooper? He’s still around, trying to prevent an apocalyptic war between the brilliants and the normals that is on the verge of occurring in Wyoming and is being sparked by one driven and dedicated brilliant bent on creating a new future, even if he has to wipe out humanity to do it.

High stakes? It doesn’t get much higher than that. What will put you on the edge of your seat is that Sakey doesn’t imagine a world for his story. His world is ours, five minutes or one headline away from right now. Part science fiction, part thriller, part metaphor (and possibly one he did not entirely create), WRITTEN IN FIRE should be burned indelibly into your must-read list. And if you haven’t read the first two books, please do so. The pages will turn themselves.