"The greatest geological event of our times finally has the novel it deserves." (Robert Michael Pyle, Washington State Book Award-winning author of Wintergreen and Where Bigfoot Walks)

“Having covered the eruption of Mount St. Helens as a journalist and ridden with Clark County deputies, I can testify just how impressively Jon Gosch has captured that time and culture." (William Dietrich, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and NY Times best-selling author of the Ethan Gage adventure series)

It is 1980 and Deputy Wilson has been banished to a backwoods district in the shadow of Mount St. Helens. His duty is to protect a humble rural populace from the miscreants and misfits who lurk at this fringe of society - an all-too-human cast of white supremacists, PCP brewers, Sasquatch hunters, and hermetic schizophrenics. 

That spring the volcano awakens from its long dormancy. Earthquakes rock the locals in their beds. Plumes of ash blot out the sun. Amidst the rising threat of eruption, a horrific act of bloodshed will propel Deputy Wilson to the very flanks of the smoking volcano on a mission that blurs the line between justice and vengeance. 

A genre-defying blend of mystery and history, Deep Fire Rise is also an homage to the everyday heroism of a profession so often maligned in America today. Dark yet tender, comedic yet sincere, this carefully crafted novel builds into a climax as shocking and unforgettable as the events of May 18, 1980.