Killer Show

June 11, 2012
The fire started by pyrotechnics ignited during a Great White concert at the Station, a rock club in West Warwick, R.I., resulted in the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 200 more. In his first book, Barylick, an attorney who investigated the blaze and prosecuted wrongful death and personal injury cases for victims and their families, gives an in-depth accounting of the disaster, from events leading up to the first flames to the medical and legal aftermaths. The author does a great job presenting the evidence of the case—the negligence of local fire inspectors and the club owners, the Derderian brothers; the scientific findings relating to the flammable sound proofing on the club’s walls; and outlining the plaintiff’s cases against the array of civil defendants. But this book is more than just a legal document, and Barylick demonstrates great storytelling skills in his intense dramatization of what those in the fire suffered and his heartfelt descriptions of the lives of the victims and the memories of the survivors. An exploration of the perils of greed and corruption as well as a testament to the strength of the human spirit, Barylick has created a modern cautionary tale that will take your breath away. Agent: Aaron Priest and Lucy Childs Baker.

September 15, 2012

Much like an episode of Law & Order, this book is part action, part consequence. Written by attorney Barylick, who investigated and prosecuted the resultant wrongful-death and personal-injury cases, the first two-thirds of the story describe, in exhaustive detail, the events that culminated in a deadly 2003 fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, during a Great White concert. The fire is described repeatedly from multiple perspectives--and although survivors experienced the fire for scant minutes, readers will experience it for hours. The last third of the book explains the challenges that victims and their families faced in court as they sought justice as well as compensation. This search for answers is carefully researched and sprinkled with the kind of sarcasm and irreverence for the defendants one imagines stems from a deep dislike on the author's part. Gina Russo's From the Ashes retells the story from a survivor's perspective. VERDICT This jury finds Barylick guilty of crafting a precise account that will appeal to readers interested in accident reconstruction, forensics, product liability, tort law, disaster prevention, and the application of rationality to chaos.--Ricardo Laskaris, York Univ. Lib., Toronto

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