The Arsonist

Starred review from June 1, 2020
A tactical breakdown of Australia's catastrophic Black Saturday bushfires and the arsonist behind them. In early 2009, two wildfires engulfed more than 450,000 hectares in the state of Victoria, ultimately leading to 173 deaths. In an engrossing report brimming with urgent detail and palpable suspense, Hooper diligently retraces the steps of those investigations. Dividing the book into three sections, the author brings together the findings of crime scene experts, forensic fire scientists, and arson squad authorities, all of whom meticulously scrutinized every possible clue left by a fire in which "burning birds fell from trees, igniting the ground where they landed." A local suspect named Brendan Sokaluk was detained as the "firebug" arsonist, but establishing a method or motive proved to be difficult. Hooper fills in the other sections with the stories of stressed attorneys jockeying for litigious positioning and dramatic courtroom scenes but also the heartbreaking profiles of the fire victims. One recalls a truncated phone conversation with his son, soon after which he received a text message that read, "Dad im dead I love u." In addition, Hooper delivers an evenhanded psychological assessment of Sokaluk. Vulnerable, volatile, and seemingly misunderstood, he endured a tortuous childhood and lived his life with undiagnosed and untreated autism. In the courtroom, the legal team struggled with Sokaluk's defense strategy amid damning evidence from neighbors who'd witnessed the accused burning a towering bonfire in his backyard or sitting on his rooftop watching the flames from the wildfires in awe. Both pensive and revelatory in the closing pages, the narrative covers Sokaluk's arson conviction, the community reaction, and the crime's aftermath. Consistently riveting and never fuzzy on the details, Hooper's book encompasses the specifics of the fire, its collateral damages, and the troubled mind behind the mayhem. A gripping true-crime chronicle in which the justice is both righteous and agonizing.

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