In the tradition of Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion and Karl Marlante’s Deep River, In Jerusalem’s Fire  gives the reader a tale of love, war and redemption set in the great forests of the Pacific Northwest during World War I.

Austin Chase, a young fighter pilot badly disfigured by burns from the crash of his fighter plane in France, has been transferred to the woods of Oregon as part of an army unit formed to log the spruce needed to build yet more warplanes. In these forests, the army has left him to, as he says, “get well, die or go mad, as I please.”

As Austin struggles to recover his health and his humanity, he is torn between the attentions of two young women; Emily the beautiful daughter of a powerful timber baron, and Dolores, a member of the Siletz tribe, whose scars from childhood smallpox mirror Austin’s own scars.

The story reaches its climax in the fight against a raging forest blaze, forcing Austin to either face down his terror of fire or run away.