One of the hazards in the fast-growing American cities of the late 1800s was fire, and the Northwest was no exception. Most of us are familiar with the 1889 blaze that reshaped Seattle’s streets, but Spokane fell victim to flame in the same year. Unlike the Seattle fire, Spokane’s conflagration remains unexplained, which enables Leyna Krow to speculate most entertainingly about the cause in her debut historical novel. She conjures up three unconnected (at first) grifters and sets in motion a rollicking story rife with cartoonish mayhem and mystery. Combining the qualities of Patrick DeWitt’s The Sisters Brothers and Jess Walter’s The Cold Millions, Fire Season is a delightful tale of catastrophic reversals, ramshackle reconstruction, and romantic redemption.
—James Crossley, Madison Books, Seattle, WA
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