This is something unusual from Swiniarski (the author behind the pen name) and something of an experiment. It’s a novel about troubled youths, comic books, a secret CIA mission, and spontaneous human combustion.

Told through four viewpoint characters, we start out with Jimmy Somerset, a troubled youth. He’s been placed in several foster families and plenty of schools. He’s learned to fight for himself from his time in several juvenile detention facilities. But Jimmy has some anger issues, so, when the star quarterback starts something with him, Jimmy ends it. Or, as Jimmy thinks of it, the Jimmything takes care of it.

But a straightforward case of self defense – at least that’s what Jimmy remembers – is not supported by witnesses or video, and Jimmy finds himself railroaded into a new government program, TRACE, for troubled youth. Part of the evidence against him is the violent comic book he draws featuring Cain (yes, it seems to be Cain from the Bible), trying to get in good with God after several thousands of years and frequently battling the demon Baphomet.

Then there’s Nate Adriano, an independent computer forensic consultant who has become obsessed with the mystery of nineteen teenagers who spontaneously combusted. To pursue his investigation, he uses his law enforcement contacts and impersonates CDC officials, doctors, and even FBI agents.

The last draws the attention of then FBI agent Boyd who almost caught Adriano in one such impersonation. Boyd’s now with the CIA, and his project concerns those burning teenagers. Except, they aren’t the product of some covert government project. The CIA is genuinely baffled and regards the matter as a national security threat.

And they are alarmed by a leak. A government contractor dying of brain cancer turned over a secret database on the children to an independent reporter, Abby Springfield, who has contacted Adriano. And Springfield may have ties to Chinese intelligence.

We get quite a bit, with Adriano, of how you go about getting information out of a cryptic and corrupted database drawn, no doubt, from Swiniarski’s own work as a database manager.

Examining Jimmy in the TRACE facility Dr. Husam. He notes some odd things in the metabolism of Jimmy and his surprisingly good health. He and Adriano also learn that Jimmy made a miraculous recovery from his extensive burns in a fire that killed his parents.

Nate independently arrives at some of the same conclusions about the timing of the combustions as the CIA, but its developed a disturbing theory about their causes.

And when a troubled resident of TRACE spontaneously combusts after biting Jimmy, they fear the burnings may be infectious.

Krane propels his story along quite quickly. Jimmy’s comic book creations are an integral part of the puzzle. And the whole thing comes, of course, to a fiery and somewhat enigmatic conclusion on a rooftop in Cleveland. This was another winning novel from Swiniarski despite the questions raised – and the broad, untapped potential for a sequel – at its end. ( )