“Fire Files” - A crime novel series aiming at humanistic values

3/6 volumes of "Fire Files" have won awards from the Ministry of Public Security and the Vietnam Writers Association. This is also the crime novel series that has just set a Vietnamese record for the most volumes by writer Lai Van Long - author of the once famous work "The Good Murderer".

From a boy who loves reading…

Lai Van Long said he loved reading comics before he could read or write. From the age of 6 or 7, he loved comics, then novels. When he was in elementary school in Da Lat, the boy Long often skipped snacks to earn money to rent comics to read, daydreaming about talented and heroic characters... and dreamed of growing up to become a writer, writing thick, fascinating stories about heroes who fight evil and enforce justice.

That dream followed him throughout his teenage years to form a plan and the will to carry it out. Since he returned to Ho Chi Minh City to study at university, he was able to read books freely in libraries full of books; he was able to hold thick, world-famous novels in his hands, that dream became even more urgent. Because of that dream, Lai Van Long planned to work for only 7-10 years after graduating from university to help his parents, support his younger siblings' education, and then devote his life to writing.

In early 1992, with the work "Ke nhan cong nhan cong nhan" winning the first prize in the 1990 - 1991 short story contest of the Literature and Arts Newspaper - Vietnam Writers Association and becoming a reporter for the Ho Chi Minh City Police Newspaper, he became more confident in the writing path he had dreamed of and chosen. Since then, he has quietly accumulated documents and emotions for his "dream novel". It was the journalism profession and the working environment at the Ho Chi Minh City Police Newspaper that helped Lai Van Long fulfill his dream after more than 30 years of thinking, researching, accumulating knowledge and emotions.

Throughout that long journey, despite the difficulties and pressures, he did not give up his dream. At first, he wrote a series of articles in a few issues, a few dozen issues in the Ho Chi Minh City Police newspaper to "make ends meet". When the opportunity came (the Editor-in-Chief assigned him to write the script for the 1,100-episode "Fire Files" film project), he worked enthusiastically, sleeping only 3-4 hours a day. Having seen the shape of the "dream novel", the author was even more determined to overcome all difficulties when he had to work as a journalist, take care of his family, work on the film project, and quietly arrange for that elaborate book series through the scripts, film stories, etc.

… to the dream book

Episode 1 of “Fire Records” is “Codename D9” which was adapted into a 38-episode film, broadcast on nearly 40 TV channels, including foreign channels. It won the “Green Star” award in the “Most Favorite TV Series” category - the remaining episodes were all copyrighted by investors to be adapted into films. 3/6 episodes of “Fire Records” won the “Golden Pen” award from the Ministry of Public Security in 2018 and the “For National Security and Peaceful Life” novel competition for the period 2017 - 2020, co-organized by the Ministry of Public Security and the Vietnam Writers Association. The novel is the result of 30 years of creative work by writer Lai Van Long. That is also the reason why the Vietnam Record Organization awarded the record certificate for the most-volume crime novel series to “Fire Records” and author Lai Van Long.

The crime novel series “Fire Files” consists of 6 volumes and 2,400 pages, describing the history of the arduous and heroic struggle of the army and people of the Southeast region under the leadership of the Party in the resistance war against France, Japan, America... to gain national independence and unify the country. Besides, there is the decades-long struggle to prevent and combat crime by the Ho Chi Minh City Police force.

In that process, from the ironies of history, a family of 4 generations of generals was born, and at the same time, there were also members who were leaders of provinces, military regions, police forces... especially Hoang Duc Dinh - a criminal police officer, but was the son of the brutal bandit Hai Cuoc, the grandson of the notorious female bandit Tam Lai. The struggle between the two forces of good and evil surrounding the generations of this family is closely linked to the history of the revolutionary struggle of the Southeast region and the process of innovation and development of Ho Chi Minh City in particular, and the whole country in general...

In each historical period, this struggle between good and evil bears the mark of different eras, between two forces with different ideals, personalities, and strengths. From there, ironic tragedies arise for each character. From there, more than 500 characters in the entire novel dominate and tear each other apart to increase the heroic drama in the struggle between good and evil that lasts for a whole century. Finally, the 4th generation, although having a few new bandits, has seen the emergence of outstanding intellectuals, excellent police officers, talented doctors and artists. They look back on the past of their grandparents and parents with more sympathy than blame, and contribute to eliminating hatred and moving towards a bright future.

Towards human values

It can be seen that the red thread running through this work is the tendency to be kind and awaken. Since childhood, when reading “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo, the author of “Fire Records” has loved and admired the humanistic and charitable thoughts of this writer, so when focusing on composing the “dream novel”, Lai Van Long set the goal of being a “kind pen”, full of noble humanity.

Therefore, police officers from the time of fighting against the French and the Americans, such as Heroic Colonel of the Armed Forces Hoang Duc Liem (Ut Liem), to the generals leading the Ho Chi Minh City Police during the period of renovation and integration, to the current generation such as Colonel Ut Liem's ​​grandson, Captain Hoang Duc Dinh, and his superiors and comrades, all enforce the law with the ideology of tolerance and generosity, creating all conditions for criminals to repent, reform, and strive to rebuild their lives.

In all cases, even when facing cold-blooded killers who kill without mercy, they use human love, love between husband and wife, father and son, mother and son, and brotherhood to awaken the seeds of goodness, even though very few, in those criminals, helping them pay for their crimes as human beings with conscience, not as brutal, vicious "machines".

In the last case in the book series "Fire Files" (volume 6 - Hong nhan suong khoi) - Colonel Minh - Head of the Criminal Police Department of Ho Chi Minh City Police also named it "Buddha's Hand Case" to clear the name and save the life of bandit Son Cut. His subordinates such as Major Thanh, Captain Hoa, Captain Dinh, Senior Lieutenant Thu... also created conditions for Son to fulfill his first love's wish to heal each other's wounds. From then on, Son had the motivation to strive in prison to soon return to his wife and children. Dancer Saly - Son's first love also gave up her ambitions for fame and fortune to live a peaceful and happy life, waiting for Son's sentence to be reduced and return home, for the family to reunite...

Although written over a period of 30 years - quite a long time for writing a novel, one can see the author's steady, consistent and consistent style. That is also the appeal of this thousand-page crime novel.