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Reviewed by Carol Thompson for Readers' Favorite
Daniel Oakman’s Fire in the Head is an immersive novel that explores memory, trauma, and the blurred boundaries between past and present. Narrated by James, a data analyst and amateur cyclist, the story begins with a seemingly unrelated act of arson and then winds back into a deeply personal investigation of childhood, family secrets, and long-silenced truths. As James works with a police officer to provide testimony in a reopened case, the narrative shifts between the physical rigors of his cycling world and the emotional labor of confronting buried abuse. The book’s structure balances immediate, sensory experiences with introspective, almost dreamlike recollections of family life in suburban Australia. Oakman masterfully captures how everyday rituals, like watering lawns or listening to music while stoned, can either mask or trigger long-dormant trauma. James’s memories are fragmented, surfacing in flashes of imagery and detail, and it is only by drawing a map of his childhood home that the full extent of what occurred begins to cohere.
Daniel Oakman’s prose is fluid and evocative, using recurring heat, music, and cycling motifs to mirror James’s emotional state. The storytelling has a rhythm that mimics a rider's physical cadence and the mental loop of someone haunted by their past. Relationships are sharply drawn; James’s bond with his sister Cindy, his friendship with Luke, and his complicated feelings toward his stepfather Martin are deeply human. Fire in the Head also meditates on what it means to speak a truth long buried, how memory is both a refuge and a prison, and what justice looks like for once-voiceless victims. The novel resists easy resolution, offering a portrait of hard-won and honest healing. Oakman doesn’t rely on melodrama; instead, he crafts a story whose power lies in its emotional precision and the quiet, determined voice of its narrator.