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California Fire and Life | 
| Author: Don Winslow
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
Buy New: $12.34
New (4) Used (10) from $4.29
Avg. Customer Rating:  52 reviews
Sales Rank: 1232384
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 337
ASIN: B00006F7JL
Publication Date: July 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Before he became a bestselling novelist with IThe Death and Life of Bobby Z/I, Don Winslow spent 15 years as an arson investigator. His expert knowledge pays off in ICalifornia Fire and Life/I, a giant fireball of a thriller about ace arson investigator Jack Wade. Want to know why thick, oily soot on glass might be a sign of arson? Or why arsonists never burn their dogs? Or what the presence of "alligator char" means? You'll learn about this and much more, as Jack sifts through the ashes of a mansion in Orange County on behalf of the insurance company that he works for. A young wife and mother named Pamela Vale burned to death in the fire. Bentley, the sloppy and possibly corrupt sheriff's department fire investigator, claims that it was a case of drinking too much vodka and dropping a cigarette. Jack has his doubts--especially when he meets the woman's ex-husband, Nicky Vale, a slick Russian entrepreneur (read mafia chief) born Daziatnik Valeshin.p Before signing off on the multimillion-dollar insurance policy on Mrs. Vale's life and house, Jack does some more digging. Meanwhile, his old girlfriend--a policewoman who just happens to be the dead woman's half-sister--finds a link between Nicky Vale's Russian mob and a Vietnamese gang of criminals. Jack's insurance firm begins to act strangely, pressuring him to settle the Vale claim. There may be a little too much technical data in iCalifornia Fire and Life/i, but Jack--who lives only to surf and investigate arson--is still a fresh and fascinating creation. I--Dick Adler/I
Product Description
Jack Wade was the rising star of the Orange County Sheriffs Department#8217;s arson unit, but a minor scandal cost him everything, except his encyclopedic knowledge of fire. Now working as an insurance claims investigator, Jack is called in to examine a suspicious claim: real estate millionaire Nicky Vale's house has burned to a crisp#8212;with his young and gorgeous wife in it. Jack follows the evidence into the crime infested inferno of the California underworld, filled with Russian mobsters, Vietnamese hoods, American crooks, and enough smoldering vice to char the entire gold coast. Things get so hot and deadly that Jack might not make it out alive . . . that is until he decides to fight fire with fire.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 47 more reviews...
 Think Viggo Mortensen as Jack Wade!!! September 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First, let me thank Gary Griffiths for turning me on to the novels of Don Winslow, especially California Fire and Life. All to often, the really good customer book critics of this website receive nothing in the way of a thank you from either Amazon.com, or from the people who read their reviews. Gary loves books and he writes great reviews. I owe him one for letting me know about this unbelievable author, who clearly deserves to be on The New York Times Bestseller List for not only this particular novel, but also for The Dawn Patrol and The Winter of Frankie Machine (Robert DeNiro is turning this into a major motion picture, due 2010). br /br /Now, as DeNiro is perfect for the character of Frankie Machine, Viggo Mortensen is definitely suited for the character of Jack Wade. This is a man who once worked for the Sheriff's Department in San Diego as a fire investigator. Though he was supposed to remain unattached to his work, but one case got to him and ruined his career when he beat the confession out of a dirt bag who burned down a warehouse for the Russian mob, accidentally killing an old guard. A witness saw it, but if the witness is called to testified, Jack knows that the mob will have him killed. His only solution is to get a confession out of the man he knows set the fire. The whole thing, however, backfires on Jack and he finds himself fired from the Sheriff's Department. A few months later, California Fire and Life Insurance hires him to work for them as a fire investigation. Everything goes great for twelve years, until Jack has to investigate the fire at Nicky Vale's mansion. It doesn't take Jack long to come to the conclusion that the fire is arson and that Vale's wife was intentionally murdered. The challenge is how to prove it. Also, what Jack doesn't know is that Nicky is a Russian immigrant who belonged to the KGB and served in Afghanistan, torturing prisoners for the pleasure of it. He then served almost two years in a Russian prison in order to infiltrate the mob, surviving multiple attacks on his life. When he finally got to the United States and joined the Russian mob in Southern California, Nicky decided to branch out for himself by killing the people who stood in his way. So, he's not afraid of Jack Wade and may be more of a match than Wade realizes. Add to this the fact that Vale's wife was the half-sister of Jack's former lover and Nicky wants her dead, too, plus Jack is being told to stand down by everybody he comes into contact with and you have an explosive situation ready to erupt because Jack has no intention of letting Nicky get away with anything, especially the murder of his wife.br /br /California Fire and Life has blockbuster written all of it, and it should have been at the top of every bestseller list in existence. Don Winslow knows how to create compelling characters that you care for and can see in your mind's eye. He knows how to keep a reader glued to his seat with twist and turns and subplots that keep a person guessing about what's going to happen next. The ending is never a let down as with some authors. Winslow always manages to deliver a one-two-three punch to gut with every single ending, leaving the reader feeling drained, yet wanting more. br /br /This is third book I've read by Winslow, and it's a winner in every sense of the word. You won't go wrong with California Fire and Life, or The Dawn Patrol or The Winter of Frankie Machine. Hell, this is what makes up for the long hours spent writing free reviews that hardly anybody ever reads. When you run across an author like Don Winslow, you want to share him with everybody because writers like this don't come along very often. Highly Recommended!!!
Very cool, one of my favorite books June 19, 2008
Just a slick, cool SoCal book. Winslow mixes in real places that most people on the coast would know with great fictional charachters. He writes this in a very conversational style with dialoge that most surfers and beach dudes use to communicate with their bros. This writing and SoCal surfer slang sets the book apart and makes it one of my favotites. First picked it up in the book store and ended up reading for like an hour and a half before the store closed and I had to buy it.
A Hot, Fast-Paced Thriller June 5, 2008
Note: Your "helpful" votes are appreciated, and thanks for reading my short review.br /br /"California Fire and Life" starts with a slow burn and really grabs you. The fascinating details of Jack Wade's career as a fire investigator pull you into the story. Some were really amazing.br /br /For example, if the indoor family pet somehow survives the fire, there is good reason to suspect arson. It is often the case in an arson-murder that the person will kill his or her spouse, but let the dog out. If the fire has more than one point of origin, then it has to be arson. If the windows are left open, that is also a telltail sign of arson (the open windows increase the draft for the fire). Therefore, if a family goes on vacation and their house burns down, the windows had better be closed.br /br /In this fast-paced story, Jack investigates the fire at a mansion. Another investigator has ruled it accidental (the wife dies while smoking in bed). I don't want to tell too much, but a bunch of little details point to an arson-murder by the husband, a man with connections to the Russian mafia.br /br /It was amazing to learn how much arson occurs after an earth-quake (its a quick way to get out of debt if the contents of the house is highly insured).br /br /The story has a lot of detail and twists and turns that will keep you turning the pages.br /br /Highly recommended.
Five-Alarm Thriller June 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an outstanding thriller by a journeyman author. From beginning to end this aptly named book burns at a pace that will surprise and please you. Good characterization -- at least most of the time -- a plot that is far more involved than you ever think it will be at the beginning, and an ending that is surprising, although it borders on disbelief. California Fire and Life is an excellent read. You won't feel cheated and you won't feel disappointed.
 Sizzling hot story December 19, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book has enough technical details to satisfy even a veteran firefighter, but not enough to slow down the pace of this sizzling story that broadens a "simple" arson/murder story into a look at the Russian mob in San Diego. Who knew? As in other Winslow books, the characters are compelling from the first mention, and even in this book, Winslow's wry sense of humor is apparent. You'll take the afternoon off work to finish this one.
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