White River Burning
Written by John Verdon
Narrated by Christopher Lane
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
"John Verdon writes grown-up detective novels, by which I mean stories with intelligent plots, well-developed characters and crimes that have social consequences. White River Burning, featuring the author's brainy gumshoe-for-hire, Dave Gurney, checks all these boxes." ―The New York Times Book Review
Tensions have been running high in White River as it approaches the one-year anniversary of a fatal shooting of a black motorist by a local police officer. The economically depressed, racially polarized city is on edge, confronted with angry demonstrations, arson, and looting. In the midst of the turmoil, a White River police officer is shot dead by an unknown sniper. As the town spirals out of control, local authorities approach Dave Gurney to conduct an independent investigation of the shooting.
The situation in White River becomes truly explosive as more killings occur in what appears to be an escalating sequence of retaliations. But when Gurney questions the true nature of all this bloodshed, and zeroes in on peculiar aspects of the individual murders, his involvement is suddenly terminated. Obsessed with evidence that doesn't support the official version of events, Gurney cannot let go of the case. Despite intense opposition from the police, as well as from dangerous fanatics lurking in the shadows, he begins to uncover an astonishing structure of deception―learning that nothing in White River it what it seems to be.
White River Burning is the most provocative and timely book yet by the author hailed by the New York Times as "masterly"―furthering the adventures of Dave Gurney, a detective reviewers have compared to Sherlock Holmes.
John Verdon
John Verdon is the author of the Dave Gurney series of thrillers, international bestsellers published in more than two dozen languages — Think of a Number, Shut Your Eyes Tight, Let the Devil Sleep, Peter Pan Must Die, and Wolf Lake. Before becoming a crime fiction writer, John had two previous careers — as an advertising creative director and a custom furniture maker. He currently lives with his wife Naomi in the rural mountains of upstate New York — raising chickens, tending the garden, mowing the fields, and devising the intricate plots of the Gurney novels.
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Titles in the series (2)
Wolf Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White River Burning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for White River Burning
24 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unfortunately, beginning the Dave Gurney series at the end puts me at a disadvantage in knowing some of the characters, but I enjoyed 'White River Burning' quite a lot. Not because it's exceptionally well-written (it's OK), exciting (lots of procedural stuff), or has a hot-shot protagonist with all the answers but because the lead character had the same questions about aspects of the case under investigation as I had while reading the story. It doesn't happen often.Dave Gurney is a retired extremely successful NY detective, living out in the sticks and enjoying a pretty boring existence. Because of his previous work as a homicide detective, he's asked to help out in investigating some seemingly race-related murders that are causing tension in his adopted community. He gets engaged in the investigation and is off and running. Rather quickly, there seems to be a breakthrough in the case, but he, and he alone, sees it differently. Things turn around, there's another breakthrough, and again there are issues. It resolves itself at the end in a pretty violent way.This is a nice procedural that gives great insight into how an effective investigator thinks about criminal activity. Gurney's kind of a boring character but brings tremendous expertise into his role and it was nice to see him have problems with the same things that bothered me. There are usually open issues and gaps in procedurals that cause me to question how a trial would be conducted based on evidence, but he took all that into account and wrapped things up accordingly. It's a worthwhile read.