Find out the latest indie author news. For FREE.

ADVERTISEMENT

Formats
Paperback Book Details
  • 06/2019
  • 9781595986887
  • 340 pages
  • $16.95
Hardcover Book Details
  • 06/2019
  • 9781595986870
  • 340 pages
  • $26.95
Gregory Renz
Author
Beneath the Flames
BENEATH THE FLAMES is an intimate combination of love, race, and the complexities of life through the eyes of a young urban firefighter. A Rookie firefighter, Mitch Garner, is assigned to the busiest firehouse in the heart of the Milwaukee Ghetto. The vicious hazing by a senior firefighter, the anguish of dealing with the intense violence of the streets, and terrifying firefights has him on the verge of quitting within weeks. He’s an outsider in this strange world of the inner city. His salvation comes in the form of a brash adolescent girl who he’s assigned to mentor. They’re worlds apart culturally, but Mitch and Jasmine eventually overcome their racial biases and contempt for each other. Jasmine’s courageous dedication to her little sister inspires Mitch to stay on the job, and Mitch’s belief in Jasmine pulls her away from the streets. He discovers helping Jasmine and other inner-city children overcome the crushing poverty and violence of the hood is what brings him peace; not proving his bravery as a firefighter. Both of their futures rest on Mitch risking his life to back down the savage leader of the One-Niner street gang who's intent on putting Jasmine on the street. Margaret J. Wheatleys quote sums up the theme of the book. "You can't hate someone whose story you know."
Reviews
Readers' Favorite Reviews

Beneath the Flames by Gregory Lee Renz is a mesmerizing story that brims with life and humanity, a story that explores themes of race, love, family, and an adventure within the firefighting department that evokes hope and personal transformation. Mitch Garner is a young farmer and volunteer firefighter who experiences a tragic event and, driven by guilt, leaves his small town in Wisconsin for Milwaukee, seeking to prove his worth and redeem himself. But new challenges await him, including a challenging firefighting assignment in the heart of a busy and dangerous city. When he meets Jasmine Richardson through the mentoring program where he is assigned to teach her younger sister, a new path opens before him. Follow his story as he navigates a delicate dilemma, torn between moving back home to life with his high school sweetheart or risking his life trying to protect Jasmine from a dangerous gang. 

Told in a voice that is strong and filled with compassion, Gregory Lee Renz's story demonstrates characters with depth. They are richly developed and with deep psychological and emotional layers. The internal conflict is so brilliantly handled, reflecting the struggle of the protagonist with guilt and his quest for redemption. The prose is gorgeous and, from the very beginning, the author had me captivated by the wonderful imagery and the lyrical nature of the story. “Mitch Garner had been mowing row after mind-numbing row of hay since early morning…” is one of the phrases that offer insight into the life of the protagonist and this manner of expression deepens the narrative and builds the connection between readers and the characters.

News
05/09/2019
From life to the page: Retired firefighter draws on experience for first novel

After 28 years of working for the Milwaukee Fire Department, Madison native Gregory Renzhas seen a thing or two.

Renz was a fire captain in inner-city Milwaukee, often encountering much more than dangerous fires — though he certainly saw his share of those. Renz observed how poverty, racism and social injustice divided one of the most segregated cities in the country.

When Renz retired in 2008 and moved back to Madison, he thought about all he had experienced, particularly a dramatic rescue in which he saved two boys from the basement of a burning building on Dec. 6, 2004. He’s shared the story several times, including when he was honored for the rescue and inducted into the Fire and Police Hall of Fame in 2006.

“When I shared that story, I saw tears coming down people’s faces,” Renz says. “It hit me: the power of a story and how it can move people.”

In retirement, Renz took up writing. It took him nearly 10 years, but on June 1 he is launching his first novel, Beneath the Flames (Three Towers Press.)

The novel follows farmer and volunteer firefighter Mitch Garner’s journey to salvation after he blames himself for a devastating loss of life at a fire in his small, rural Wisconsin hometown. Garner falls into a depression and decides the only way to redeem himself is to be somebody else’s hero.

 

 

He applies for and is accepted into the Milwaukee Fire Department, where he confronts a culture and community he knows nothing about. Then he meets 12-year-old Jasmine and her little sister, Alexus, through the department’s mentoring program.

“They are as far apart culturally as you could possibly get, and they don’t understand each other,” Renz says of his main characters. “Jasmine starts helping him [Mitch], and this huge racial divide starts narrowing.”

Renz’s debut novel tackles such themes as forgiveness, redemption and family. It also provides a behind-the-scenes look at a fire department, as Doug Holton, a retired Milwaukee Fire Department chief who worked alongside Renz, points out. He says Renz’s book was a “realistic portrayal” of how racism plays out both in the city and on the staff. “His book is very dynamic,” Holton says. “People have a perception of firefighters that they’re heroes. But when the door is closed, and you’re living with somebody for 24 hours, what’s going on?”

Those dynamics are what make the story work, according to writing instructor Christine DeSmet, who coached Renz in writing classes through UW-Madison’s Continuing Studies program. “Greg relished the revisions that helped him hone his storyline and characters,” DeSmet says. “He seemed to be a treasure hunter with his own material. He loved scraping away at words to find even more emotional depth for his characters.”

She says the novel is packed with emotional twists and turns, weighty themes and humor. “They say a novel is only as good as its ending,” Desmet says. “Greg Renz’s debut novel has one of those thought-provoking endings that doesn’t leave a reader. I suspect a lot of readers will be asking, ‘When’s the next novel coming out?’”

Renz is working on it. He’s drafting ideas for a second firefighter-themed novel. He’s got more stories to share.

Formats
Paperback Book Details
  • 06/2019
  • 9781595986887
  • 340 pages
  • $16.95
Hardcover Book Details
  • 06/2019
  • 9781595986870
  • 340 pages
  • $26.95
ADVERTISEMENT

Loading...