When Jillian hears of a political rally being staged in rather dangerous Little Mexico, she smells an important story. Her boss tries to discourage her from attending, as does her childhood friend, now a fire inspector, Ash McGraw. Jillian, accompanied by her best friend, photographer Randi Smith, takes off for Little Mexico. Randi is reluctant to go, citing her responsibilities as a single mother, but Jillian prevails. Shortly after their arrival at the scene of the rally, Jillian and Randi realize there are protesters in attendance.
Tempers flare, and soon they are in the midst of a full-scale riot.
Some of the rioters are armed and Randi is hit by stray bullets and killed. Jillian is devastated, blaming herself for her friend s death. Ash, having been in a similar situation where his friend died in his arms, tries to help Jillian by asking for her input in a serial arson investigation as well as suggesting counseling to help her deal with her grief and guilt. Initially, I was quite put off by Torch . I am not fond of books with multiple plots, even though I realize with the possible exception of police procedurals, multiple plots usually merge at some point in the book.