Publication Date: April 29, 2025
When a shocking death rocks the exclusive writing program at a prestigious campus, a student journalist, Tess Azar, sets out to discover the truth. Rumors abound of the writing program’ s cultish atmosphere and its zealous members, who will stop at nothing to ensure the sanctity of their own secrets. As an extreme right-wing student group swells in numbers, Tess finds herself in the crosshairs, dangerously at the center of the growing chaos. Simmering with tension, this provocative novel portrays the nation’ s current-charged political climate, highlighting the immovable structures of our society and the dangers of navigating a post-truth world.
When a shocking death shatters a prestigious campus’s writing program, Tess Azar, a student journalist, is on the hunt for the truth about the murder—putting herself in the crosshairs of a far-right student group in A Campus on Fire by Author Patrick O’Dowd.
The writing was sharp, the characters well-developed, and the dialogue was snappy. It certainly wasn’t hokey or stilted. The dialogue was realistic, pulling from real life.
The story was a bit plodding, and the plotline was too complex for this typical cozy mystery reader to get through. I’m used to cats, dogs, and quirky, humorous characters in a small town. While I wouldn’t usually pick up this book, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a fantastic read.
Dark and brooding A Campus on Fire highlights life in a prestigious university where not everything is as it seems.
Patrick O’Dowd’s work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Quagmire Literary Magazine, The Write Launch, and Sequoia Speaks, where he currently serves as fiction editor. Born and raised in New Jersey, he studied at Montclair State University, where he met his partner, Cassie. A Campus on Fire is his debut novel.
