THE BIG BURN is a tale of ... Life, death, love, and redemption - amidst a booming business of burning up dead people Viking-style. "Ray nodded and pulled on his leather work gloves. About the body he knew only what he had to know - it wasn't big, it wasn't heavy, and he would soon be lighting a massive bonfire to burn it up. All the way up, like ashes to ashes, dust to dust burned up." "Skinny dipping is an acquired taste, definitely ain't for everyone," Big Tom agreed as he poured another shovelful of ash onto the sifter. "Kim Keeney loved a mom she hardly knew, and that's what Ray saw. She wasn't just a hottie, looking for a dude, though Ray was sure she was, and, further, that he was that dude." "Every funeral supervisor's worst nightmare is a body drop, and Ray was staring right at it." "I found Jesus in Des Moines," said Bonnie, her voice lilting like a child who had discovered a bird's nest filled with eggs. "He was on the radio, talking to me."