Trial by Fire

Title: Trial by Fire
Author: Scott James
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: October 27, 2020
Page Count: 320
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

I was only familiar with The Station nightclub fire in a very peripheral way. But, from the very first page, author Scott James grabs your attention and brings home this tragedy HARD. He makes you understand the horror of the fire - the lives lost, the lives forever changed - in a very relatable way:

It takes ninety seconds to sing "The Star Spangled Banner." Human beings, on average, can hold their breath for up to ninety seconds. A typical person needs ninety seconds to read one page of this book. [...] in ninety seconds nearly everyone inside The Station nightclub was dead or dying.

Rhode Island - at 37 x 48 miles in size - is the sort of place where everyone has only a few degrees of separation. Scott James, a New England native, knew several of the people involved in the fire, and many people later learned just how many friends and acquaintances were affected by the tragedy. For a country only 500+ days past the horror of 9/11, this tragedy opened fresh wounds and memories. 

The story is meticulously researched, but on the most basic level, James writes of gut-wrenching moments of heroism, cowardice, and courage; of death and loss and heartstopping pain. I had a hard time reading parts of the book, first because of sorrow and then anger as the blame game starts. The owners are immediately vilified, the soundproofing foam ordered for use in the club was actually another - flammable - foam, Great White's lead singer Jack White acted despicably and in the end there was a resolution, but the devil is in the details. 

The author skillfully details the fire and its aftermath, as well as the personal loss, and I highly recommend this book. 5 stars for "Trial by Fire." 

  I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.