The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Chad Dundas delivers fast-paced plot in new book, ‘The Blaze’
“The Blaze,” Chad Dundas’ second novel following his critically acclaimed “Champion of the World,” is both a cleverly plotted mystery and a touching account of a wounded veteran trying to rebuild his life.
Matthew Rose, an army veteran whose memory was “scrubbed clean” by a traumatic brain injury suffered in Iraq, returns to his unnervingly unfamiliar hometown in Montana to settle the affairs of the late father whose face he cannot remember..
On his first night back, he wanders the streets hoping something familiar might jump-start his memory. There, he stumbles onto a house fire that takes the life of a college student trapped inside. The fire, it turns out, was deliberately set.
This sparks a hazy memory of another fire he witnessed 15 years ago, one that he senses might hold the keys both to the latest arson and the central mystery of his own life.
Matthew teams up with a local newspaper reporter named Georgie Porter, a former girlfriend he can’t remember.
With beautifully realized protagonists driving the action, Dundas delivers a fast-paced plot filled with unexpected twists. Their small town is vividly portrayed, and the writing is superb throughout, occasionally verging on poetry.
John Legend on Grammys, new ‘dark’ single and ‘This Is Us’
Some artists record Christmas albums to fulfill a recording contract. But not John Legend. And now he has a Grammy nomination to prove it.
The 10-time Grammy winner said when he was recording 2018’s “A Legendary Christmas,” he didn’t treat it like a part-time project, which might be the reason it earned a Grammy nod for best traditional pop vocal album, competing with records from Barbra Streisand, Elvis Costello, Michael Bublé and Andrea Bocelli.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” Legend said. “I never bank on things like that happening. With Christmas albums, sometimes they’re treated more like novelty albums or not kind of considered in the main body of people’s career and their work, but I put a lot of love into that Christmas album and worked with some of the best musicians in the world.”
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq produced the album, which features guest appearances from Grammy favorites Stevie Wonder and Esperanza Spalding.
“We just had so much fun making it and I’m very happy it got the recognition it got,” he said.
Legend is set to perform at Sunday’s Grammys alongside DJ Khaled, Meek Mill and others in a special tribute to late rapper Nipsey Hussle. Legend’s collaboration with Hussle and Khaled, the song “Higher,” is nominated for best rap/sung performance.