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“A gripping meditation on a tragedy whose ultimate causes implicate an entire society.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“A fascinating real-life thriller, police procedural, intense sociological study, and the long-overdue story of fire in Australia…Powerful and nuanced…In Hooper’s sure hands the grimmest details become exquisite imagery.”
— Sydney Morning Herald
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‘Demonstrates why literature still matters.’
— Jeff Sparrow
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We will all learn something from the devastating events that scorched a community and the way in which her storytelling draws a reaction.’
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As gripping as any work of fiction.’
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Hooper gives a cool appraisal of a hot issue . . . even-handed and nuanced.’
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Brilliant and moving.’
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A masterclass in engaging true crime.’
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By turns a fascinating real-life thriller, police procedural, intense sociological study and the long-overdue story of fire in Australia . . . Powerful and nuanced . . . In Hooper's sure hands the grimmest details become exquisite imagery.’
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Gripping, gritty and unsparing but never gratuitous in its details, this is true crime writing at its best. But Hooper goes beyond the procedurals and the scene setting to examine the greater context of the tragedy.’
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‘Add The Arsonist to Australia’s illustrious literature on bushfires. With skill and sensitivity, Chloe Hooper has managed to find an unexpectedly human face and heart amid the blackest depths of Black Saturday.’
— Stephen Pyne, author of Fire: A Brief History
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‘Hooper drops the reader inside the Black Saturday brushfires to terrifying effect, then masterfully shifts from the physical realm to the existential – namely, how and why a particular evil manifests. Visceral and terrifying.’
— Maureen Callahan, author of American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century