Customer Reviews

Fire Lover

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've read all of Joseph Wambaugh's books, from THE NEW CENTURIONS to FIRE LOVER, and this was the least enjoyable.
FIRE LOVER probably doesn't measure up because there's not a whole lot of suspense. We know from the synopsis that arson investigator John Orr may have been the most notorious arsonist since Nero. Orr was a brazen offender, setting fires in the middle of the day when customers were in the stores, leading to the death of four at Ole's Home Center in South Pasadena. But he makes one big mistake, leaving his fingerprint on yellow legal paper that was used, along with a cigarette, a rubber band and three matches, to start a fire similar to the one at Ole's Home Center. The fingerprint was almost ignored because of the jealousy between firemen and police arson investigators.
Much of the book involves courtroom gymnastics. There are so many closing statements that you tell yourself, "this must be the last one." But you're wrong. There are more of them during the penalty phase and Wambaugh cites them all, practically verbatim.
Wambaugh is also famous for his irreverent narrative tone. This works in CHOIRBOYS, where we assume the narrator is a man in blue, but here he's supposed to be an objective journalist. He refers to jurors, lawyers, and judges as "...strange fish that lazily glide, blowing gas bubbles that pop ineffectually on the surface of the litigation tanks in which they live and breed." He likes this strange fish motif so much he uses it over and over again.
All of this said, I'm still looking forward to Wambaugh's next fictional tome. It seems an eternity since FLOATERS.

As a child in Los Angeles, John Orr revered firefighters watching them as if he was sitting in front of a TV set. He relished the way the firefighter risked his or her life in the line of duty. As a young adult, John joined the Glendale, California Fire Department and quickly became one of the best. Over time, he became a fire captain and eventually an arson investigator highly regarded by his peers as one of the foremost experts.

John also moonlighted as an arsonist who remained undetectable for years and whose fires killed four people and caused millions of dollars in damage. When he finally made an error and was caught, the entire firefighting community refused to believe that one of their heroes could be a serial arsonist.

The hardest thing about this true-life crime biography is that it is true crime caused by someone whose dangerous occupation most people respect even more so after 9/11. So chilling is this account this reviewer keeps wanting to paraphrase an old horror movie ad that it's only a book. However, Joseph Wambaugh brings the fiery duality of his subject vividly alive so that the reader observes a criminal considered by the FBI as "the most prolific American arsonist of the twentieth century". Fans of true crime will want to read this account that never slows down as FIRE LOVER: A TRUE STORY is Mr. Wambaugh at his finest.

Harriet Klausner

As someone who read and enjoyed "The Onion Field," "The Blue Knight," "The New Centurions," "The Blooding," and "The Secrets of Harry Bright," I was happy to see that Wambaugh served us up another fascinating true crime story, one about someone who was probably the most prolific arsonist in American history. The story of how John Orr was brought to justice is intriguing and gripping, without wallowing in grisly details.

I do have to deduct a star from my review for two reasons:

1. Just as he berates the lawyers trying the case for subjecting the juries to too much detail, the author overdoes it himself on occasion.

2. As a related point, some of the evidence Wambaugh cites would have been much easier to understand with some pictures, diagrams, and timelines. Yet these, as in his other true crime stories, are absent.

Joseph Wambaugh said a couple books ago that he would never write nonfiction again since he always got sued. I'm glad he decided differently, because I really enjoyed FIRE LOVER. The writing is good, it's gripping, and a good character study, too. It does slow down a bit during the trial, but obviously the prosecuting of the crimes is going to be less rivetting than the actually comitting of the crimes. An inadvertant red herring is thrown into the mix, that disappoints in the end. But Wambaugh couldn't change the facts just to suit me. But overall a fine book. I thought the GOLDEN ORANGE was so bad, I'd given up on Wambaugh and didn't bother to read FINNEGAN'S WEEK. But I'm glad I bothered to read FIRE LOVER. In reference to a previous comment of why didn't Wambaugh include photos and diagrams; Wambaugh has always based the style of his nonfiction books on Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD. When Wambaugh asked Capote why he didn't include photos, Capote said he wanted IN COLD BLOOD to read like novel, and have the narrative alone serve the reader, and Wambaugh has followed Capote's lead ever since.

This is one of Wambaugh's best. It is a return to the top quality books like The New Centurions and The Onion Field. The narrative flows and keeps the reader engaged even though the suspect has already been identified.

As a 23-year veteran in law enforcement I especially enjoyed his analysis of a major failing in our profession. Law enforcement agencies don't work together which often results in crimes going unsolved. His take on federal law enforcement challenges the myths created by their PR units and Hollywood. Wambaugh's years as a police officer shine through his narrative on the judicial system. It brings to mind the comparison of this system to the making of sausage-you really don't want to see how it is made.

This book should be required reading of all public safety administrators who without question, embrace and promote the ambitious shining stars in their departments. Wambaugh shows that they are not always who they seem to be.

I have always enjoyed Joseph Wambaugh. It seems a few years ago, he went through a "dark" period when his books were almost if not actually depressing. But "Fire Lover" is a very good book. What I like about Wambaugh is his insight into people and organizations. The interplay between the police departments, the fire departsments, the Federal Arson invesigators, etc, is very very interesting. Fire lover is a true story about a serial arsonist who is also the arson investigator for Glendale, California. He may have been the most prolific arsonist of the 20th century.

My only complaint is that the trial part of the book might be too long. But as usual, Wambaugh shows his insights into how the system works, or sometimes does not work. The system worked here, but it was a very long journey.

I think over the writing career of Joseph Wambaugh, we owe him a debt for telling us outsiders how police departments and now fire departments actually work. I feel we owe them a debt that they do work. The book is a very good read.

I first became aware of this strange and startling case several years ago via a PBS documentary, probably a Frontline production. I was just stunned: a fire captain exposed as a pyromaniac. Obviously the man had some serious "issues" with life, the world, and especially himself. In this lucid, detailed and somewhat spicy narrative, former LAPD detective sergeant and crime writer extraordinary Joseph Wambaugh expands on what was presented in that documentary. His tone and editorial attitude make it clear that he doesn't think much of one John Leonard Orr, former Glendale, California fire captain, who was eventually convicted of setting a string of fires in California. I don't blame Wambaugh. One of the fires that Orr started killed four people, including a child. It's only by fortuitous happenstance that more people were not killed.

Wambaugh's narrative is a little too detailed in recalling the trials, especially the long drawn out penalty phase of the murder trial (perhaps attempting to make it as excruciating for us as it was for the jury); and his early attempt at not disclosing Orr's culpability (for those very few readers who may not have heard of the case) came up a little short as his asides made it clear that Orr was definitely one very sick puppy. Otherwise this is a masterful piece of true crime journalism by someone who has the background to understand the police and detective work involved, someone who has done the extensive research necessary to give us a comprehensive account, and someone with the narrative and organizational skills to produce a compelling volume.

But Wambaugh also gives us a detailed psychological profile of John Orr. He does not use the word "pyromaniac" in his depiction. In fact, I don't think the word "pyromania" occurs in the book until near the end when it is used by a psychiatrist in the penalty stage of Orr's murder by arson trial. Wambaugh's position is that Orr is a psychopath who set fires to boost his ego and stimulate himself sexually. He cared not at all about who got hurt or what damage was done. There is also a strong sense of the "little guy" trying to make up for his feelings of inferiority by committing horrendous acts that would lend his deluded persona a sense of superiority over his fellow man. The fact that at no time does Orr feel any remorse or accept any responsibility for his actions argues for Wambaugh's position. Personally, for what it's worth, I've known a few psychopaths--or sociopaths, as they are alternatively called--and John Orr certainly fits the bill.

Still this is an unusual case of the psychopath at work, and I think it is revealed that part of what John Orr is about is pyromania. Indeed, Wambaugh's title, "Fire Lover," is meant in an almost literal sense. I recall literature from years ago that pyros "got off" on their fires. This is the first case I know of in which we have more or less direct evidence (from Orr's novel/memoir which turned up as evidence in the trials) that this is literally so.

Wambaugh does a good job of providing insights into how the police and fire departments and the criminal justice system operate. He is not shy about revealing carelessness, incompetence, turf warring, and ego side trips. He is particularly adamant in his criticism of the court system and its sometimes arcane procedures. In an extended metaphor he calls the participants in a trial, "strange fish that lazily glide, blowing gas bubbles that pop ineffectually on the surface of the litigation tanks in which they live and breed." (This from page 272. See also pages 291, 299 and elsewhere.)

I'm not sure about how appropriate that interesting metaphor is, but Wambaugh impressed me with his fairness, criticizing and complimenting both the prosecution and the defense. Especially effective was the way he showed how a decade's old case that was once called an accident was successfully prosecuted against what looked like heavy odds, mainly due to the bulldog-like determination of prosecutor Mike Cabral. Wambaugh's description of him in action vis-a-vis the jury on page 273 is an example of the very best in vivid and telling exposition. Clearly Wambaugh has a novelist's sense of characterization, making the principals, especially of course, John Orr, come to life. He side trips himself sometimes with the sort of crude but colorful humor the men in blue are famous for. The cascade of "woodie" jokes might offend some readers, and some of the sexual vulgarity from Orr's "novel" is quoted outright, so beware.

Bottom line: perhaps not Wambaugh's most compelling work, but a good read nonetheless about an extraordinary case.

Right after this book arrived in the mail, Court TV ran a show on John Orr's case. I thought I'd seen the cat let out of the bag. I'm glad I read the book. It had much greater detail than the TV show did. I was concerned about Wambaugh the former policeman writing about a fire investigation story but it was excellent! Glad to see he's still writing great stuff.

This is an incredible story. I am in the fire service and just reading about his progression was amazing. I am looking at other Joseph Wambaugh publishings now since he has grabbed my attention.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed four of Wambaugh's earlier books, I was sure this one would be a page turner; however, it was strictly the story and not the writing that kept my interest. So my feelings are mixed and my rating is lukewarm. Wambaugh tries too hard to depict John Orr as evil, yet without the hard-sell, the reader would come to that conclusion anyway. I finished the book still feeling that there is more on John Orr that could have been included in the book. An additional thought - one reviewer mentions that Wambaugh copies Truman Capote's style of not including photographs of the characters, yet Wambaugh's own picture is on the back. I'd much rather see who I'm reading about.