A stark diagram showing the placement of nineteen bodies sets the somber tone for this mesmerizing account of wildland firefighting and the tragic deaths of Prescott's Granite Mountain Hotshots at Yarnell Hill on June 30, 2013. Santos, the New York Times Phoenix bureau chief, combines impressive skill as an investigative reporter with a novelist's feel for character and pacing to describe the ecology and culture of wildfire and unravel, minute-by-minute, the events of a day when nature and human error turned the world upside down for a band of dedicated men and the families who loved them. Santos writes with passion, knowledge, and empathy about an overwhelming tragedy and the lessons it holds for fire management and the built environment.
- Bruce Dinges Also selected by Vicki Ann Duraine
