The best books about arson

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16 authors created a book list connected to arson, and here are their favorite arson books.
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Book cover of Rest in Pink

Susan B. James Author Of Maybe This Time

From Susan's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Actor Writer Bookaholic Grandma TikTok Icon

Susan's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Susan B. James Why did Susan love this book?

The second book in the series lives up to the first. Do you know the best part about this series? These two are New York Times best seller authors.

Of course, they had an offer from a major publisher to publish these books, but they didn't want to wait and they self-published them. Can I say how grateful I am? P.S. I adore the covers.

By Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rest in Pink as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the NY Times Bestselling duo that wrote Agnes and the Hitman, the second book in the Liz Danger series.

Liz Danger is a ghostwriter, trapped in her old hometown for the summer. Good thing she has Vince Cooper, her recurring one-night stand living down by the river in his old diner car, making her feel happy and safe and normal until September when sheā€™ll be leaving again, although sheā€™s starting to wonder if she really wants to.

Vince Cooper is a cop in a town with a shady new housing development thatā€™s bringing a lot of armed strangers, aā€¦


Book cover of Trombone

Brad Barkley Author Of Another Perfect Catastrophe and Other Stories

From my list on for a melancholy day.

Why am I passionate about this?

Behind every cloud, a silver lining, right? You have to take the good days with the bad. But those clichĆ©s miss that life is funny, sad, hilarious, mournful, at the same time. We understand that the happiest of days have a tinge of sadness about them. Conversely, real sadness or missing someone possesses a strange beauty. But sometimes we forget that when it comes to our books. We want our novels to be ā€œa comedy,ā€ or ā€œa romance,ā€ a ā€œlaugh riot,ā€ or ā€œtear-jerker,ā€ even though Life doesnā€™t put itself into those separate boxes. Funny, sad, romanticā€“all have informed my own writing, and all are present in this list of books as well.

Brad's book list on for a melancholy day

Brad Barkley Why did Brad love this book?

Craig Novaā€™s beautifully sad novel Trombone was much overlooked when it was first published. As melancholy as the trombone solos that neā€™er-do-well father and arsonist Dean Golancz plays every time one of his many affairs ends, this book is about dangerous criminals, love, familial loyalty, and big moral questions. Mostly itā€™s a father-son story and love triangle in the guise of a crime novel, with beautiful, lush, gritty use of language throughout.  

By Craig Nova,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Trombone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Craig Nova's classic novel Trombone is a powerful and poignant portrait of the complexities between an arsonist father and his good son. Dean Gollancz is an easygoing man of modest means. He longs for the Big Time, and when his job at the Print Shop doesn't pay the bills, he commits arson for a Chinese gangster in Los Angeles. His son Ray feels deep love and loyalty for his father, but when he wins an Ivy League scholarship, Ray must decide how much of his own life to sacrifice for Dean's respect. The destructive nature of their relationship is broughtā€¦


Book cover of Dark of the Moon

Kellen Burden Author Of Flash Bang

From my list on brutal thrillers with heart.

Why am I passionate about this?

There's something about broken people trying to do good that has always resonated with me. In basic training, a drill sergeant with debilitating PTSD told us what combat would be like through a storm of choking sobs and a haze of tears. He needed us to know. Even if it broke him. Working as an investigator in Denver and Washington, I watched people with complicated pasts and uncertain futures fight tooth and nail (sometimes literally) to put human traffickers behind bars. Literature has always been a bridle for that wildness I saw in the world. A tool for taking the ghashing, stomping, unruliness of the human experience and making it rideable, relatable, survivable.

Kellen's book list on brutal thrillers with heart

Kellen Burden Why did Kellen love this book?

The first of the Virgil Flowers novels, which is an offshoot of the (also spectacular) Lucas Davenport series. The story follows BCA investigator Virgil Flowers through the Minnesota backwoods as he works an arson/murder case. This book is different from a few of the others on this list in that it isnā€™t going to ruin you emotionally. Itā€™s funny. Hell, its just fun. The hero is a well-meaning horndog who regularly forgets to bring his gun to work. The case is twisty and satisfying and the characters are so well fleshed out that when itā€™s over you just want to pick up your phone and invite them out for a burger. I eat this series like candy. 

By John Sandford,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dark of the Moon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14.

What is this book about?

The first Virgil Flowers novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford.

"Virgil Flowers, introduced in bestseller Sandford's Prey series, gets a chance to shine...The thrice-divorced, affable member of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), who reports to Prey series hero Lucas Davenport, operates pretty much on his own.."*

He's been doing the hard stuff for three years, but he's never seen anything like this. In the small rural town of Bluestem, an old man is bound in his basement, doused with gasoline and set on fire. Three weeks before, a doctor and his wife were murdered.ā€¦


Book cover of Consumed

LoLo Paige Author Of Alaska Spark

From my list on the perilous world of firefighting.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a former wildland firefighter, so I am passionate about writing about it. Iā€™ve included several personal experiences in my books, and I learned integrity and an outstanding work ethic with the firefighters who trained me in the wildland fire community. I met my husband on another fire crew, so I had to write these fire stories in the romance genre. I have friends who also met their spouses in the world of firefighting, and I loved their romances. While not all wildfire stories in real life may have happy endings, I choose to write these as romances because a happily-ever-after is required for the romance genre.

LoLo's book list on the perilous world of firefighting

LoLo Paige Why did LoLo love this book?

I loved this book because it shows her female character's resilience and strength in reinventing her career in fire after a debilitating accident on the job as a firefighter. Split-second decisions matter in the perilous world of fighting fire.

When Anne Ashburn finds a new career as a fire investigator, she must investigate a string of suspicious fires that endanger the lives of her former colleagues. The hero in the story teams up with Anne to find answers, and a heated attraction soon ignites. This story has enough twists and turns to confuse even the best GPS.

Book cover of The Darwin Affair

James Charles Author Of Spirit of the Amaroq: A Story of Salvation

From James' 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author History buff Political junkie Swimmer Dreamer Quantum entangled quark

James' 3 favorite reads in 2023

James Charles Why did James love this book?

The Darwin Affair dropped and immersed me into hard times in Victorian England with a frustrated detective based on a Charles Dickens character who investigates a conspiracy to murder either Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and/or Charles Darwin, who is promoting his On the Origin Of Species.

I not only learned a bit about Victorian England and Darwin, but this historical fiction was a fast-paced thriller to boot! I read it in four days. 

By Tim Mason,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Darwin Affair as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Intellectually stimulating and viscerally exciting, The Darwin Affair is breathtaking from start to stop." -The Wall Street Journal A Barnes & Noble Discover Pick * A Wall Street Journal Best Mystery Book of the Year * A Reader's Digest Best Summer Book * A Forbes.com Best Historical Novel of the SummerGet ready for one of the most inventive and entertaining novels of 2019-an edge-of-your-seat Victorian-era thriller, where the controversial publication On the Origin of Species sets off a string of unspeakable crimes.London, June 1860: When an assassination attempt is made on Queen Victoria, and a petty thief is gruesomely murderedā€¦


Book cover of Out of the Ashes

Fliss Chester Author Of Death on the Scotland Express

From Fliss' 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Book hoarder History fan Interiors queen Champagne sweetie Fun-loving

Fliss' 3 favorite reads in 2023

Fliss Chester Why did Fliss love this book?

My heart almost broke when I found out that this fifth book in the Butler & West series by Louisa Scarr would be the last.

I fell in love with grumpy Robin Butler and diligent Freya West, two police detectives who the reader canā€™t help but become invested in. And Scarr finishes off the seriesā€™ narrative arc perfectly, while delivering a cracker of an investigation (this time into an arsonist) to boot. The Butler & West books are that brilliant mix of police procedural and out-of-the-box adventure, with characters that you can really believe in, and root for.

Definitely worth a try if you havenā€™t delved into this sort of thriller before.

By Louisa Scarr,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Out of the Ashes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stalking. Arson. Murder.Butler and West are back together... and the stakes have never been higher.

When an old friend tells DS Freya West that she's being stalked by someone she met online, Freya promises to help. But there are no leads, and the dating site refuses to give up their data.

To make matters more complicated, DI Robin Butler is back in town. He's investigating a string of arson attacks that have escalated to murder, and the cases seem to be connected somehow. They're going to need their wits about them...

Because this is a killer more devious than anyā€¦


Book cover of Deep Roots: How Slavery Still Shapes Southern Politics

Mary E. Stuckey Author Of Deplorable: The Worst Presidential Campaigns from Jefferson to Trump

From my list on why American politics are terrible and what to do.

Why am I passionate about this?

I believe in democracy. I think the US has the opportunity to be the worldā€™s first multicultural and inclusive democracy. And I think thatā€™s a very, very hard thing to do. Iā€™ve been writing about democracy through the lens of presidential history my whole career, and I think the US has done some things so impressively well while at the same time it frustratingly keeps failing to live up to its own ideals. The tensions and contradictions in our history as we try to expand and enact those ideas are endlessly fascinating. And Iā€™m nervous that we may be seeing the end of a national commitment to democracy. 

Mary's book list on why American politics are terrible and what to do

Mary E. Stuckey Why did Mary love this book?

I love this book because itā€™s political science at its best; it uses a lot of great data to study how history affects us in the present; it shows us how hard change is and also what makes it possible. Itā€™s depressing and hopeful and super smart. Itā€™s social science but itā€™s also very readable.

By Avidit Acharyo, Matthew Blackwell, Maya Sen

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Deep Roots as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The lasting effects of slavery on contemporary political attitudes in the American South

Despite dramatic social transformations in the United States during the last 150 years, the South has remained staunchly conservative. Southerners are more likely to support Republican candidates, gun rights, and the death penalty, and southern whites harbor higher levels of racial resentment than whites in other parts of the country. Why haven't these sentiments evolved? Deep Roots shows that the entrenched views of white southerners are a direct consequence of the region's slaveholding history. Today, southern whites who live in areas once reliant on slavery-compared to areasā€¦


Book cover of How to Set a Fire and Why

Caroline Wolff Author Of The Wayside

From my list on for adults about being a teenager.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a writer, Iā€™ve always been drawn to exploring the teenage experience. Maybe thatā€™s because my experiences in high school and college were rife with the highest of highs and the lowest of lowsā€”everything was intensely beautiful and painful at once. That tension played a major role in my self-discovery process, and story-wise, it makes for a compelling character. But in a lot of literature, I find the depiction of teenage characters to be either sensationalized or infantilizing, melodramatic, or unconvincingly flat. When writing my own adolescent subjects in The Wayside, I turned often toward the rich, complex characters in the stories here. 

Caroline's book list on for adults about being a teenager

Caroline Wolff Why did Caroline love this book?

Itā€™s not often that a thirty-something man nails the depiction of the interior life of a seventeen-year-old girl, but Jesse Ball did exactly that in his 2016 novel. Scrappy, arson-obsessed Lucia Stanton just might be my favorite literary teenage hero of all time. I think of her as a mix between Holden Caulfieldā€™s charming disaffection and Junoā€™s precocious wit.

Ball imbues Luciaā€™s voice with intelligence and a hint of world-weariness, but he still manages to convey her innocence. You learn a lot from her, but you also want to protect her. My copy is dog-eared and underlined into oblivion. Itā€™s one of those books I think is woefully underrated, and I recommend it any chance I get.

By Jesse Ball,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Set a Fire and Why as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

ā€œBall has created a voice that echoes the beloved narrators of J. D. Salinger and John Green. . . . With her tragic past, brilliant mind and subversive potential, Lucia could be thought of as a young Lisbeth Salander, or a high-IQ, antiheroic Katniss Everdeen, but with a better sense of humor.ā€ ā€”Newsday

Lucia Stantonā€™s father is dead, her mother is in a mental hospital, and sheā€™s recently been kicked out of schoolā€”again. Living with her aunt in a garage-turned-bedroom, and armed with only a book, a Zippo lighter, and a pocketful of stolen licorice, she spends her days ridingā€¦


Book cover of Burning Up

Marysol James Author Of Enemy Within

From my list on first books of great romance series.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m the best-selling romance author of 29 books which span six series. I love creating whole worlds for readers to enter and spend time with smoking-hot bodyguards, motorcycle club members, ex-military bad boys, sexy cowboys, and MMA fighters. Although I love pretty much everything about writing for a living, I do get special joy from having characters from one series wander into a different series and interact with a totally different group of people ā€“ keeping track of all the relationships definitely keeps me on my toes! I have three new books coming out this year, so Iā€™m really looking forward to sharing some new stories with my wonderful readers.

Marysol's book list on first books of great romance series

Marysol James Why did Marysol love this book?

Is there anything hotter than a man willing to launch himself into a wilderness fire to save complete strangers? If you think there isn't, may I direct you to Marshā€™s three-book series with action, suspense, drama ā€“ and scorching-hot men risking everything to help others. Burning Up introduces the reader to a close-knit group of smokejumpers, vengeful arsonists, regrets, and lost loveā€¦ and reminds us that the riskiest jobs often result in heartbreak. I doubt that I could handle the stress of loving someone who lays down their life every single time they go to work, but I do find the psychology of the risk-taker fascinating and sexy: real heroes are rare and maybe thatā€™s what makes them so irresistibleā€¦ even if they are fictional.

By Anne Marsh,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Burning Up as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It takes a special kind of hero to be a smoke jumper. To take the greatest risks. To live or die in the raging heat of the moment. And it takes a special kind of woman to love him. . .

Where There's Smoke. . .

For Jack Donovan, smoke jumping is a way of life. He lives for the adrenaline rush--the thrill of flying over the burning California hills, the intensity of diving straight into the inferno, the glory of taming the forces of nature. Love is a distant ember compared to the feeling he gets fighting fires--until anā€¦


Book cover of Scorched Grace: A Sister Holiday Mystery

Helen Vivienne Fletcher Author Of Broken Silence

From my list on mysteries to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a long-time lover of mysteries. Whether it be books, TV, or movies, I love when there is an unknown element to puzzle out. I remember staying up long past my bedtime as a child, reading because I just had to know what happened. I write across a number of genres for different age groups, but at the heart of every story I take on is a mystery that I want to figure out for myself. I love it when readers and audiences come along for the ride, joining me for the plot twists and turns.

Helen's book list on mysteries to keep you on the edge of your seat

Helen Vivienne Fletcher Why did Helen love this book?

I started this book for the unlikely main characterā€“Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, tattooed, queer nunā€“but it was the mystery that kept me reading. I always love it when a writer can make me feel like I am the one on the line, like I am fighting for my life or to prove my innocence. This book did just that.

I found I was holding myself tightly as Sister Holiday investigated but just kept finding more evidence against herself. The snippets of her past life made me feel for her more and more, taking the character from an unlikely hero to someone I cared deeply about. I canā€™t wait to get my hands on the second in the series.

By Margot Douaihy,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Scorched Grace as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this "unique and confident" debut crime novel (Gillian Flynn).

When Saint Sebastian's School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding New Orleans community are thrust into chaos.

Patience is a virtue, but punk rocker turned nun Sister Holiday isn't satisfied to just wait around for officials to return her home and sanctuary to its former peace, instead deciding to unveil the mysterious attacker herself. Her investigation leads her down a twisty path ofā€¦


Book cover of Rest in Pink
Book cover of Trombone
Book cover of Dark of the Moon

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