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." John Orr rose through the ranks of the Glendale Fire Department to become fire captain and one of southern California's best-known and respected arson investigators. But while Orr busted a string of petty arsonists, there was one serial criminal he could not track down. Homes, retail stores during business hours, fields of dry brush in stifling summer heat -- little was safe from the fire lover's obsession to see them burn. But after years of terror and destruction, the Fire lover finally left behind a precious clue that helped investigators discover his true identity, to the shock and disbelief of the firefighting community.

Edgar Allan Poe Award, best fact crime, 2003.