← Back to search
Cover of Furnace

Furnace

Muriel Gray (1997)

SubgenreSpace Opera
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingR
Pages ()
Setting
Goodreads3.54

Content levels

ViolenceNot rated
Sexual contentNot rated
LanguageNot rated

Trigger warnings

Not yet tagged

Positive tags

Not yet tagged

Tropes

Not yet tagged

Themes

Not yet tagged

Synopsis

Josh Spiller is a long-distance truck driver. Although his girlfriend is pregnant, he's got no major personal problems--until the day he rolls into a small town called Furnace, where a middle-aged woman pushes a baby carriage straight into his wheels and then vanishes. The dead baby's teenage mother and other passers-by swear the wind caused the carriage to roll, and the police take Josh for a troublemaker when he insists on writing a statement to the contrary. Shaken, Josh hits the road again, only to find that it's not so easy to get away from Furnace; something inhuman is hot on his heels. A pretty hitchhiker recognizes a mysterious scrap of writing in his truck as ancient runes spelling out--on human skin--a horrific curse. From then on, all roads lead back to Furnace as Josh races to unscramble a weird puzzle involving a wealthy town councilor, the Philosopher's Stone, and a demon who will destroy Josh in three days unless he returns the runes to their rightful place.