Fire Lover [Mass Market Paperback]

Joseph Wambaugh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2003

On an October evening in South Pasadena, a horrifying wave of flame swept through a large home improvement center, snuffing out the lives of four innocent people, including a two-year-old boy. Firefighters rushed to the scene, even as a pair of equally suspicious fires broke out in two nearby stores. Silently watching the raging inferno in the midst of the heat, smoke, and chaos was a man respected as one of California's foremost arson investigators, a captain in the Glendale Fire Department ...

From Joseph Wambaugh, the critically acclaimed, nationally bestselling author of The Onion Field, comes the astonishing true story of a nightmarish obsession -- and the hunt for a brilliant psychopath who lived a double life filled with professional tributes and terrifying secrets.

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR FIRE LOVER:“…lines converge in a sock-’em-between-the-eyes revelation…A barn burner.” (Arthur Salm, San Diego Union-Tribune )

About the Author

Joseph Wambaugh, a former LAPD detective sergeant, is the New York Times bestselling author of The Onion Field, The Blooding, The Choirboys, and many other fiction and nonfiction works. He has won a number of awards, including the Edgar Allan Poe award and the Rodolfo Walsh Prize for investigative journalism. He lives with his wife in California.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Avon (May 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060095288
• ISBN-13: 978-0060095284
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > True Accounts > True Crime

More About the Author

Joseph Wambaugh, a former LAPD detective sergeant, is the bestselling author of eighteen prior works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Choirboys and The Onion Field. Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times' said, "Joseph Wambaugh is one of those Los Angeles authors whose popular success always has overshadowed his importance as a writer. Wambaugh is an important writer not simply because he's ambitious and technically accomplished, but also because he 'owns' a critical slice of L.A.'s literary real estate: the Los Angeles Police Department -- not just its inner workings, but also its relationship to the city's political establishment and to its intricately enmeshed social classes. There is no other American metropolis whose civic history is so inextricably intertwined with the history of its police department. That alone would make Wambaugh's work significant, but the importance of his best fiction and nonfiction is amplified by his unequaled ability to capture the nuances of the LAPD's isolated and essentially Hobbesian tribal culture."
Understandably, then, Wambaugh, who lives in California, is known as the "cop-author" with emphasis on the former, since, according to him, most of his fantasies involve the arrest and prosecution of half of California's motorists. Wambaugh still prefers the company of police officers and interviews hundreds of them for story material. However, he is aghast that these days most of the young cops drink iced tea or light beer, both of which he finds exceedingly vile, causing him to obsessively fume with Hamlet that, 'The time is out of joint.' He expects to die in a road rage encounter. For more information please visit www.josephwambaugh.net or www.hollywoodmoon.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revealing how an ego can be dangerous!!, April 29, 2004

By 

Frederick A. Babb "An Author," (http://www.frederickbabb.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire Lover (Mass Market Paperback)

John Orr was a firefighter by destiny but not desire. His hidden wish was to someday be a policeman, but that never came to be. So he followed into the firefighting world after spending his boyhood days filled with marveling at firefighters rushing to extinguish blazes in life risking manuevers. Those impressions led him to become a firefighter with the Glendale Fire Department when he became an adult.

While there, he quickly climbed the ranks until he reached fire captain. Along the way he gained the reputation of being Southern Cal's most famous and respected arson investigator as well as an author of firefighting articles which lead to a fact-based book of his own. A rather storybook tale of a perfect life.

As Orr's ego grew, he needed more. The oportunity arose when one arson continuously escape his grasps. The arsonist, using the same simple yet devastating device, was basically terrorizing the area and his frolicing left four innocent people dead as well as destroying millions of dollars in property damage as well as the damage to nature itself. As is often the case, this arsonist got comfortable and made a mistake after years of devastation. One precious clue was left behind and fell into the wrong hands. This clue would reveal the true identity of the cruel arsonist and the horrid facts behind his hobby.

Orr had created the fires to create fame for himself. His ego wanted, needed the limelight and he needed a nemisis uncatchable that would keep him in the public's eye. Sadly, his own desire for the ultimate reward was of little value in a firefighter world and beyond his grasp. Probably acknowledging this, he created his own fame through terror. John Orr was a firefighter that did not belong in that world.

The author does an excellent job on this story and tells it like it is. The court room part is a bit longwinded and boring, but reality isn't always excitement, as John Orr himself can tell you.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WAMBAUGH'S SECOND BEST NON-FICTION EFFORT, June 21, 2003

By 

Jeff Howard (South Dakota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fire Lover (Mass Market Paperback)

This is right up there with THE ONION FIELD as a Wambaugh non-fiction book. Very interesting reading about a firefighter who was also a serial arsonist. Got a little long in the court room section of the book but other than that I found it very compeling. Wambaugh is always a great read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars captivating story, September 23, 2004

By 

K. Steward (New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fire Lover (Mass Market Paperback)

as a firefighter and one who specializes in fire investigation, this was a captivating read. Highly recommended.