American Fire

March 27, 2017
Washington Post reporter Hesse (Girl in the Blue Coat) leads readers on an extended tour of a bizarre five-month crime spree in rural Accomack County, Va.: a series of over 80 arsons, of predominantly abandoned buildings, committed by a local couple. It began one day in November 2012 with four fires in 24 hours and carried on for five months. As hysteria mounted, police camped out in tents near potential targets and a group of vigilantes set up their own operation. At the center of this narrative is the extremely compelling couple: Charlie Smith, a 38-year-old recovering drug addict, and Tonya Bundick, a 40-year-old partier described as the “queen” of the local nightclub, Shuckers. Hesse traces their romance from charming Facebook exchanges and plans of a Guns N’ Roses themed wedding to passing notes in the prison yard after their arrest. Their love totally imploded under the pressure of their prosecution. Hesse offers sociological insight into a small town where “doors went unlocked, bake sales and brisket fund-raisers were well attended” despite its downward economic trajectory. There is something metaphorical, she notes, about a rural county suffering through a recession being literally burned to the ground. The metaphor becomes belabored by the time Hesse shoehorns in a comparison between small-town America and the aforementioned Shuckers, but otherwise this is a page-turning story of love gone off the rails.

Starred review from April 1, 2017
A captivating narrative about arson, persistent law enforcers, an unlikely romantic relationship, and a courtroom drama.The setting is Accomack County, a lightly populated area of the Eastern Shore "separated from the rest of the state by the Chesapeake Bay and a few hundred years of cultural isolation." Washington Post reporter Hesse (Girl in the Blue Coat, 2016) knew almost nothing about the economically depressed, desolate county when she first visited there in 2013 after hearing about a series of regularly occurring arsons of abandoned buildings. Eventually, the number of similar-seeming arsons would top out at 67. Though there were no reported deaths or serious injuries, the burning buildings were exhausting the lightly staffed volunteer fire departments in the county and consuming the resources of local and state law enforcement agencies. For nearly half a year, police mounted sophisticated stakeouts hoping to catch the arsonist in the act, but they consistently failed to identify a suspect. Even a profiler, who, it turned out, accurately predicted the neighborhood where the arsonist resided, did not see his lead pan out. Then, finally, a stakeout at an unoccupied home paid off. Hesse reveals the culprit early in the book--two of them, actually, Charlie Smith and Tonya Bundick ("Bonnie and Clyde of the Eastern Shore"), who lived together romantically along with Bundick's sons. Local police knew the culprits personally; Smith had even served as a volunteer firefighter, as did his brother. As Hesse constructs her narrative, the surprises arrive in the manner of the arrest, the motives for the fires, and the outcomes of the multiple trials. Throughout, the author offers a nuanced portrait of a way of life unknown to most who have never resided on or visited the Eastern Shore. A true-crime saga that works in every respect.

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May 15, 2017

In this debut, Washington Post reporter Hesse details the more than two years she spent covering a string of arson fires in rural Virginia. In late 2012, an arsonist lit a series of fires in Accomack County, with more than 80 of them ignited over the course of a five-month spree. Hesse's narrative highlights the twisted love story of Charlie Smith and Tonya Bundick. Charlie is a 38-year-old recovering drug addict, in and out of prison owing to crimes ranging from forgery to robbery. Here, Charlie explains how he committed these crimes to support his drug habit. Tonya is a 40-year-old mother of two, nurse and local socialite--described as the "queen" of the neighborhood nightclub. Thanks to Hesse's detailed reporting, readers learn more about the arsonists and their motives. The ensuing drama becomes a microcosm of the desolation of rural America and a metaphor for the emptiness that continues to pervade many areas of the country. VERDICT A page-turning story of love and loss for all readers; fans of quirky crime dramas will find it especially appealing.--Gary Medina, El Camino Coll., Torrance, CAThe hunt for the "mad bomber"; Uber hits the global highway; ghost writers of history, who were they?

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