California Fire and Life
by Don Winslow
Published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
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Reviewed by Laura Langer
Don Winslow’s California Fire and Life is a fascinating combination of police procedural, mystery, and a quick tutorial in the physics of fires. Winslow succeeds at all three, and does it in high “page-turner” style.
Jack Wade is a former cop, a former arson investigator, in a familiar model. He was thrown out of the police department after beating up a suspect to get a confession, planting evidence, and then lying about it all. The suspect was guilty, the evidence was phony, Jack was self-righteous. He gets set up for his fall from grace and he steps neatly into the trap, which loses him his job and his self-respect. He sinks into a beer-drinking depression and is rescued from it by Billy Hayes, the head of the claims department of California Fire and Life.
Billy hires Jack as an arson investigator, and Jack excels at his job. He is just as dogged investigating arson for the insurance company as he was for the police department. He doesn’t leave behind his righteous anger though, and when he is sent out to investigate the fire that killed Pamela Vale in her own bed, he embarks on a crusade to find the truth.
Winslow weaves together an amazing amount of information on how fires start and burn, and how investigators determine what’s arson and what’s accidental. He manages to do that without letting the science and data overwhelm the action or the characters. He keeps you guessing and turning pages as fast as you can right to the end of the book.
In Jack Wade, Winslow has created a classically flawed hero–one who goes after the truth so hard and fast that he misses the very signs that would tell him how to avoid personal and professional catastrophe and protect those he loves. Wade doesn’t entirely succee–the justice served out isn’t always what he wants, and he doesn’t end up quite where he wishes to be. That makes this novel all the more satisfying for a reader in the end–no neatly tied bow, but justice for almost all.
Armchair Interviews says: If you’re looking for suspense, excitement, strong characters, and a novel you won’t want to put down for a minute, pick up Don Winslow’s California Fire and Life.
Author’s Web site: http://www.DonWinslow.com