American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land - Monica Hesse

American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land

By Monica Hesse

  • Release Date: 2017-07-11
  • Genre: Sociology
Score: 4
4
From 81 Ratings

Description

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year
One of Amazon’s 20 Best Books of the Year
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by Buzzfeed, Bustle, NPR, NYLON, and Thrillist
Finalist for the Goodreads Book Award (Nonfiction)
Finalist for the Edgar Award (Best Fact Crime)
A Book of the Month Club Selection
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection

“A brisk, captivating and expertly crafted reconstruction of a community living through a time of fear.... Masterful.” —Washington Post

The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didn’t stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural Virginia coast with cameras and camouflage. Volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. The arsonist seemed to target abandoned buildings, but local police were stretched too thin to surveil them all. Accomack was desolate—there were hundreds of abandoned buildings. And by the dozen they were burning.

“One of the year’s best and most unusual true-crime books” (Christian Science Monitor), American Fire brings to vivid life the reeling county of Accomack. “Ace reporter” (Entertainment Weekly) Monica Hesse spent years investigating the story, emerging with breathtaking portraits of the arsonists—troubled addict Charlie Smith and his girlfriend, Tonya Bundick. Tracing the shift in their relationship from true love to crime spree, Hesse also conjures the once-thriving coastal community, decimated by a punishing economy and increasingly suspicious of their neighbors as the culprits remained at large. Weaving the story into the history of arson in the United States, the critically acclaimed American Fire re-creates the anguished nights this quiet county lit up in flames, evoking a microcosm of rural America—a land half-gutted before the fires began.

Reviews

  • Couldn't Put Down

    5
    By megsmariga
    Very well written and draws you in to this bizarre story and relationship. So well written, you'll think about it days or weeks after finishing.
  • Fascinating, compelling read

    5
    By Jdibler
    I didn't want it to end! Truly gripping, read this book now.
  • A must read from a "doesn't do reviews"

    5
    By Ahermen
    I have never done a review but feel compelled to write this. This was a compelling read, a page turner. However, it was written with such kindness, such compassion, such researched explanation that the reader feels deep sympathy for every player in this Greek tragedy. DO NOT start this book unless you have lots of free time to read because you will be very crabby in the time you will have to put it down.

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