Rating: 
Summary: chilling true crime biography
Review: 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
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding and Excitable
Review: As a huge Fan of his books, The Onion Field still the best and now Fire Lover, as a former fireman I can relate to the procedures and politics alike. I agree that the court testimony and trial lasted a bit too long. I'm glad to see that Joe is back and still capable of producing true crime books with everyday people doing unthinkable acts against others. Keep it up Joe!!!
Rating:
Summary: A terrifyingly true story.
Review: As has been true with Wambaugh's other non-fiction books, the story is captivating and intense. The Wambaugh fan is treated to more of the author's earthy prose. I've read nearly every one of his books, but his phraseology continues to surprise and amuse me. The book's narration slows slightly in the second half when he presents the trial scenes. The author compensates by presenting the trial proceedings through what characters are seeing, thus making the presentation of evidence and procedures much more palatable. This is not Wambaugh's best work of non-fiction, but instead of hitting a home run, he landed on third with this book. I heartily recommend both the book and the audio recording.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Story, Two Flaws
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Fire Lover :: An Excellent Book
Review: Fire Lover has a depressing and sad beginning, but later on, turns into a wonderful novel worth reading. Mr. Wambaugh gave a good non-biased description of the tragic events that happened those few years.
Rating:
Summary: A satisfying book by Joseph Wambaugh
Review: Fire Lover is the story of arsonist John Orr and the long investigation and prosecution it took to bring him to justice. This book is very well-documented and well-researched and the writing is crisp and clear. The book does tend to bog down about three quarters of the way through and becomes somewhat repetitive which is what keeps me from giving it five stars. Overall, this is a very good account ofan infamous series of crimes.
Rating: 
Summary: Not So Hot
Review: Having grown up in and around Glendale where so many of the fires took place, and where Orr was employed as the City's arson investigator, I was looking forward to Wambaugh's account of events. Maybe it's because I'm not that familiar with Joe Wambaugh's other books, but I found his writing style really hard to take. For starters, he has an irritating habit on nearly every page of italicizing certain words to give them emotional impact. This is intrusive to the reader, distracting, and just not necessary. The language in places is borderline vulgar--I guess it's supposed to convey a macho-cop-swaggering-"this is how the guys talk"-attitude, but I found many phrases and references kind of juvenile, smirky, tasteless and well....just not good writing. But who knows? Maybe Wambaugh's devoted readers love that Realistic Cop Talk Stuff--so by all means don't let that stop you. A worse crime than offending you, however, might be that he will simply bore you to death. Wambaugh describes fire after fire after fire after fire, but we don't really ever get into the psychology of what made John Orr do the terrible things that he did. The basic outline of the story is there, but there's no depth. I also have a slight problem with Wambaugh describing exactly how easy it was to set the fires, and how simple the incendiary devices were to make, considering the number of whackos in the world- thanks alot, Joe. The trial sections are hideously boring, and consist of basically reprinting trial transcripts verbatim, with a few physical descriptions of the trial participants thrown in (although describing a large man as, "built like a refrigerator" is not exactly original). Wambaugh takes great pains to let us know that he thinks John Orr is a a Wambaugh-Wannabe (meaning that Orr wishes he were both a cop and a writer) and a real jerk. It's obvious to anyone with half a brain that the murdering arsonist is a psychopathic jerk--I don't think anyone would dispute that fact. But this story could have been alot more interesting if Wambaugh had tried to dig deeper into the mind, history, etc. of the arsonist as well as the firefighting culture itself. Don't know if he's capable of it or not, but this could have been a much more interesting book. Meanwhile, if you like well written novels about police work, check out Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series, and just about anything by T. Jefferson Parker.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary case, well documented
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary case, well documented
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: 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.
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