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American Fire

byMonica Hesse

Genres: Crime True Crime Psychological Thrillers

Who is this book for? Readers interested in true crime, social issues, and historical narratives.

Topics CommunitySurvivalJustice

MoodSuspenseful, Reflective

RomanceMajor Subplot

ViolenceModerate

Shocked by a five-month arson spree that left a Virginia county reeling, reporter Monica Hesse drove to Accomack to cover the trial of Charlie Smith who pled guilty to 67 counts of arson. But Smith wasn’t lighting fires alone: his crimes were galvanised by a twisted love story. Hesse uncovered the motives of this troubled addict and his accomplice, Tonya Bundick. In depicting the dangerous shift in their passionate relationship, Hesse brings to life the once-thriving coastal community and its distressed inhabitants, decimated by a punishing economy and increasingly terrified by a string of fires they could not explain. Incorporating this drama into the history of arson in the US, American Fire re-creates the anguished nights of this quiet county lit up in flames, evoking a microcosm of rural America—a land gutted before the fires began.

Language

Published on

22/06/2018

Pages

272

Format

Paperback

ISBN

9781631494512

Price Comparison

waterstones

Paperback

12.99 £

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