In John B. Wright's debut environmental mystery, Matt Solberg is charged
with discovering who is lighting fires in the forests that surround
Missoula, Montana. A geographer with a deep personal need to bring
people out of danger, Matt leads a search and rescue team whose job is
to head directly into the mouth of hell, hiking into blazing backcountry
to find missing residents. Matt and his team not only rely on their
hard-won knowledge of Montana's wild landscape, but also on Matt's
mentor, Dr. Bill Knight, a fire ecologist who understands the burning
beast better than anyone.
When a suspicious fire destroys the mansion of a movie star, Matt must
hike in to find his missing daughter and save her from the chaos. Then
fires begin to explode everywhere as climate change drives temperatures
over 100 degrees and rain refuses to fall, threatening thousands of
homes. Who is setting these fires? Is it the Montana Tree Monkeys, an
eco-radical group determined to scare off the newcomers? Or is it a
retired smokejumper with an axe to grind about the encroaching mansions?
Could it be Paladin, a shadowy figure leaving strange clues around the
state? It's Matt's mission to find answers to these questions during a
summer of heat, smoke, and unimaginable loss. Weaving together gripping
drama and intriguing fire science, Fire Scars reveals the physical and
psychological wounds we all carry--and the power we have to overcome.
