Product Description
From master crime writer Joseph Wambaugh, the acclaimed author of such classics as The Onion Field and The Choirboys, comes the extraordinary true story of a firefighter who may have been, according to U.S. government profilers, "the most prolific American arsonist of the twentieth century."Growing up in Los Angeles, John Orr would watch in awe as firefighters scrambled to put out blazes with seeming disregard for their own lives. One day he would become a fireman himself, and a good one. As a member of the Glendale Fire Department, he rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a fire captain and one of southern California's best-known and most-respected arson investigators, as well as a writer of firefighting articles and finally of a fact-based novel. But there was another, unseen life, one that included many women, a need for risk, and a hunger for recognition.While Orr busted a string of petty arsonists, there was one serial criminal he could not track down. The fire lover used the same simple yet devastating device and was unerring in his execution. His lethal handiwork led to the death of four innocent people and countless millions of dollars worth of property damage. Homes, retail stores during business hours, fields of dry brush in stifling summer heat -- little was safe from his obsession to see them burn.But after years of terror and destruction, he would make a mistake. He would leave behind a precious clue that investigators would use to lead them to the true identity of the fire lover, to the shock and disbelief of the firefighting community.Chilling, colorful, and vivid, Fire Lover is Joseph Wambaugh at his best. He explores the making of a deviant personality, the fascinating intricacies of fire science, the uneasy relationship between firefighting and law-enforcement communities, and a legal system gone haywire.Based on his trademark meticulous research, interviews, case records, and thousands of pages of court transcripts, Wambaugh fashions a powerful narrative. You will never look at fire the same way again.
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Fire Lover: A True Story
- Hardcover: 662 pages
- Publisher: Thorndike Press; 2002-10
- Label: Thorndike Press
- Format: Large Print
- Studio: Thorndike Press
- ISBN: 0786245956
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 27 reviews
- Sales Rank in Books: #1879662
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A well-written attempt to get into the mind of a serial arsonist 2007-06-04
Comment: In Fire Lover, Wambaugh attempts to get into the mind of a convicted serial arsonist, one who nevertheless has never (at least as documented in this book) admitted to his crimes. The story is well-written, intriguing, and at times even a page-turner. The few occasions when the story drags are most often in the telling of Orr's trials, when Wambaugh seeks thoroughness in telling the story of the trial, but occasionally at the expense of the reader's interest. But all told, this is a good, even haunting story of a true case.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
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Summary: Amazing Story 2006-01-19
Comment: 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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
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Summary: Strange book about a strange character 2004-06-12
Comment: This is an unusual book. I don't think I've ever read a book about an arsonist before, certainly not a non-fiction book, and the story that it tells is so fantastic that it's one of those stranger-than-fiction tales that defies belief.The book tells the story of John Leonard Orr. Orr was a frustrated individual, from a split household, who tried to become a policeman and failed, and wound up becoming a firefighter, both in the Air Force and then in the city of Glendale here in Southern California. He rose to become Glendale's senior arson investigator, actually teaching classes that other arson investigators, even Federal ones, attended. He was considered one of the leading authorities on arson fires and arsonists in California. Then suspicion fell on him and his activities, and he was arrested and accused of being an arsonist himself. The accusation was followed by a pair of trials. Now I live in Montrose (yards from the border of the city of Glendale) and used to actually live in Glendale, so it was interesting to read about the locale and the people of my new home (I've lived here for five years). Everything's reasonably well-recreated, though I didn't think Glendale was made that unique compared with other Southern California cities. Orr comes across as something of a nerd, a doofus who's always trying to fit in while never quite making it, and always cheating on the current wife with the prospective one, while paying child support to the ex. Wambaugh's writing style is interesting, in that he uses a lot of slang and emphasis to show what he means, and has a very conversational style. It'd be interesting to hear Ken Howard read this book: it reads as if it would sound better than it looks on the page. I will confess that the cast of characters is large enough that I had trouble keeping track of all of the investigators and attorneys involved, and I think it would have helped if the author provided a dramatis personae at the beginning of the book. One note: several of the other reviewers presented the idea that the author thinks cops are somehow better than firefighters. This is erroneous. It's his position, stated and restated through the book, that the crime spree was solved by a firefighter turned arson investigator, and that he was ignored by his cop colleagues until the evidence confirmed his suspicions. He does say, several times, that cops themselves sometimes think themselves firefighters, but he's clear that he thinks this is unfortunate. Strange when people have read the same book as you, and come to a different interpretation of what was written. Altogether a good book, though.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
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Summary: Too long 2003-12-20
Comment: I think he could have written in 200 words or less that he hated John Orr, thinks cops are better than firemen, and thinks prosecutors should always have the upper hand. One thing he could have included was photos, to make the book less boring. And, he could have explained just how we went from the judge disallowing Orr's manuscripts into evidence to the prosecution being allowed to use them as evidence.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
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Summary: Totally biased, arrogant author 2003-12-20
Comment: This is the first Wambaugh book that I've read. I've heard lots of good things about his books. I work in law enforcement and have enjoyed other true crime books written by former law enforcement personnel, so thought I would Wambaugh as well. I had seen the documentary about John Orr and wanted to know more. However, although the author is an excellent writer, this book was very biased and Wambaugh comes across to me as very arrogant -- a trait that I cannot tolerate under any circumstance. In fact, his bias that police officers are better than firefighters is downright cocky. Although I knew the story of John Orr and felt he was guilty, while reading Fire Lover, I found myself wanting him to get off from page to page because of the cockiness of the writer. I would NOT recommend this book to anyone.
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