Gold Medal Readers’ Favorite International Book Award – Best Environmental Fiction
New York Book Festival Award
Los Angeles Book Festival Award
Beach Book Festival Award
San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention – Best Fiction
Fracking for natural gas has turned deadly in Bradford County, Pa., and not only is the water contaminated, but people are dying. Round-the-clock operations conducted by Yukon Oil and Gas may have poisoned a residential well and threatened a town’s water supply. Who is contaminating water wells in Bradford County? Why are contractors disappearing? Mike Jacobs, a 29-year old impassioned environmental lawyer with Pennsylvania’s Dept. of Environmental Protection, is back in this romantically-charged environmental legal thriller about fracking and drilling for natural gas.
What People Say
“Burcat writes with an insider’s edge about a dangerous battle over fracking. Strange Fire is a dark, suspenseful read that ranges from the gas fields to the courtroom, all handled with gritty style. A treat for thriller fans.” —William Landay, NY Times best-selling author of Defending Jacob
“Writers like Burcat demonstrate that ‘within the densest fog and darkest black, you can find clarity and color if your imagination is 20-20.” —Frank Bruni, NY Times best-selling author and op-ed columnist for the New York Times
“Warning: surprising twists and turns ahead! Strange Fire is much more authentic than the usual fictional fare and is a rare legal thriller with the ability to educate as well as entertain.” —Lisa Gardner, NY Times best-selling author of Love You More and Hide
Reviewed By Patrick W. Emmett for Readers’ Favorite –
In Strange Fire by Joel Burcat, Teressa Bruno-Campbell is a bored housewife living in rural Pennsylvania with a husband who is frequently away from home. They allowed Yukon Oil and Gas to drill on their property for which they receive a royalty. Yukon began drilling and fracking the substrata of limestone and shale about a mile and a half from their home. During the drilling, the company contracted to have a fresh-water containment pond built to push water into the well for the fracking process. During construction, weather and pressure from Yukon’s management forced the site manager to release the blow-back water from the well into the containment pond, which it was not designed to do. Teressa accused Yukon of poisoning their well water due to the fracking. The lawyers line up. Yukon has 26-year-old Darius Moore. The Department of Environmental Protection, which issued the drilling permits, has a classmate in the form of Mike Jacobs. They have no love for one another. A local Environment Advocacy group is handling Teressa’s complaint.
The pond contractor goes missing, and Mike Jacobs begins an exciting investigation that takes him on several twists. I liked Strange Fire because it’s a thriller about lawyers and I found the author’s depth of knowledge about structural geology fascinating. I also found the book compelling as I have a degree in geology and I love reading books about lawyers. The murder kept you reading to find out what happened to Cordova. The wrap-up was good. It’s a shame the Chief was sacrificed and Vlad disappeared but that’s the way mysteries work. The author’s time spent crafting this novel was well spent. The book has its share of bad guys and they keep you on your toes to the conclusion. Joel Burcat has crafted a must-read book. I recommend you put this on your summer beach reading list.