Fire Lover is the crazy true story of John Leonard Orr, a psychopathic pyromaniac that probably set hundreds of fires in California in the 1980s and 1990s. Being one of the only serial arsonists ever to have been caught and convicted of his crimes (which included the deaths of four people), he is famously known for being a firefighter who rose to the rank of fire inspector. Having lived in Southern California all my life, I remember some of the fires sighted in the book. It's horrible to know this guy was loose, running around causing so much destruction for so long. Only after years of thorough evidence gathering by the ATF, LAPD, and Fire Arson Inspectors were they able to lock him away for life. I thought Mr. Wambaugh did an excellent job laying out the facts in this detailed true-crime thriller. ( )

Wambaugh took a break from his norm, and wrote this non-fiction book about a Southern California arson investigator who also happens to be a major fire setter. The story is well documented and presented in a way to keep you interested. When it comes to the courtroom trials, you might just feel like part of the jury, assessing the evidence presented to determine if it's sufficient to arrive at a guilty verdict. A good read for anyone with an interest or background in the fire service. ( )

I find Wambaugh at his best in his true-crime mode. Nobody does this stuff like Wambaugh. ( )

Review: Fire Lover by Joseph Wambaugh.

This was a compelling true crime story about a firefighter who was also a serial arsonist. It was well written but a little tedious through the court proceedings. Wambaugh did his research and provided so many details concerning to the story that took place in Glendale and Los Angeles, California area. It has been said that it is one of the most notorious arson cases in Los Angeles’ history.

Some of the details are gripping and so is the detection of John Orr by investigators; proving patterns, lining up witnesses, connecting one critical fingerprint, secretly setting up John Orr, gathering information on his lifestyle and four marriages while at the same time profiling a very disturbed man. Despite the excessive and unmistakably non-journalistic flair, the core of the story is a fascinating portrait of a dark side of John Orr who recklessly torched property, homes and businesses with extremely casual disregard for human life. He never said he was sorry and always stated he was innocent.

There was another side of John Orr that people liked and he was a mentor for a few firefighters just starting out. The day John Orr was picked up and charged with arson it was a shock to all that new him. He was a top arson investigator who also gave lectures to new recruits and explained to these men some of the details arsonist use to start fires and he never gave any sign for years that he was an arsonist. He worked for the Glendale Fire Department and he got along with everyone there. It took some time before some people would even consider him guilty of arson.

However, John Orr had a darker side to him and when he was turned down for the police Department it really upset him enough that he wanted revenge. From a very young age he wanted to be a policeman and failing to become one embedded deep anger within himself that he could not release. When he started working as a firefighter and climbed the ranks to an arson investigator he was feeling some release but not enough to where he even treated his wives and girlfriends with strange behaviors and rough sex.

The story was informative, interesting, disturbing, and John Orr got what he deserved when four people, one a two-year-old child, died in one of his obsessed fire settings…. ( )

John Orr wanted to be a police officer, applied several times but was never accepted. Instead, he became a firefighter and eventually the Chief Arson Investigator of his department. He was well respected and conducted seminars for other firefighters on arson investigation. During this time, he was setting many fires and not getting caught until he left a fingerprint that eventually led to his arrest, to the astonishment of fellow firefighters.

There was great detail throughout the book on the fires and, in particular, the ones that he was charged with. The most interesting part to me was when the police knew it was him and they were trying to catch him in the act before arresting him. He was hard to catch. The least interesting was the part about the two trials, which were long and became tedious. Overall, just a so-so read for me. ( )