A STORY OF LOVE, OBSESSION, MONEY AND CRIME.... Arson -- a crime with as many motives as murder -- from the greed of a crooked businessman to the psychotic lust of a pyromaniac -- and ten times tougher to solve. Stretch Jackson was blackmailed into starting his first fire. Then he learned it could be a profession, a six-figure income, a way of life... an art form. Until falling in love made him ask if it was too late to change. Tom Farley was the private investigator called in before the ashes cooled, the man for whom every fire had a fingerprint, every torch his telltale signature. He'd sworn to stop the plague of deadly arson sweeping San Francisco. To do it he enlisted the aid of his fireman friend, Jonah West, Captain of Ladder One. Karen Canfield was a teacher who was so violently abused sexually that she left teaching, but life requires money. After falling in love with Stretch she had to confront the question of whether or not she could love a criminal. This is the novel about arson by pros that preceded Backdraft.