The Furnace by Timothy S Johnston

The first lines of The Furnace by Johnston had me hooked: Certain death approached. It had been following me for days, but I had stopped every effort at stalking.

In The Furnace, Timothy S. Johnston creates a gripping story that combines detective work and science in a way that is understandable to readers who don’t typically read science fiction. The 2401 AD future that Johnston imagined was far enough from the present to be intriguing, while still being plausible enough for me to find it engaging.

The allusions to “historical” scientific accomplishment were likewise quite well done. Lieutenant Kyle Tanner, a homicide investigator, is a well-rounded hero despite the overwhelming odds against him. He has a charming never-say-die attitude.

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Although I was immensely pleased by this book, I did get annoyed by Johnston’s tendency to overexplain things in his character dialogue and to be overly helpful to his readership. A specific example that comes to me is a laborious exposition of the idea of exponential growth.

Do not misunderstand me; the notion was crucial to the plot and was well conveyed; it is only that less in this instance would have unquestionably been more. What is a really brilliant tale would have shone much brighter with a more thorough editing of this book as a whole.

The Furnace, according to Timothy S. Johnston, is “a work of passion for him because the stories that inspired it are epic in theme, psychology, and visuals.” It is clear that the author has a love and ambition for writing stories.

About The Book

Lieutenant Kyle Tanner has been a part of more criminal investigations and captures than any other security officer in Security Division as a homicide investigator working the most remote outposts in the solar system. When no one else can, he sneakily pursues his prey, following the trail of blood left in his wake, and successfully captures it. He has witnessed the deformed ruins, which were once human but are now barely meat. And he put to death those responsible for such heinous crimes.

In his most recent instance, he visits SOLEX One, a power plant that perilously orbits the Sun. A killer, a deranged crewman who for some reason hasmutilated his victim, is one of the fifteen residents. However, Tanner is astonished to discover that this murder is not your typical murder when he arrives and starts his investigation. There doesn’t seem to be a rationale for the murder or the mutilation after death.

Tanner is unaware that something horrible is spreading among the station’s staff, though. Moreover, the extinction of the human race might occur if he fails to answer the issue. THE FURNACE is a locked-room murder mystery that combines investigative work with techno-thriller and horror elements.