Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2018
432 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
White River Burning is the most provocative and timely book yet by the author hailed by The New York Times as "masterly."
Tensions have been running high in White River as it approaches the anniversary of a fatal shooting of a black motorist by a local police officer. The 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 is what it seems to be.
"Starred Review. Verdon expertly combines a baffling whodunit with thoughtfully drawn characters in this timely examination of racial tensions." - Publishers Weekly
"Compelling ... Verdon's gripping, fast-paced police procedural will appeal to crime fiction readers with an interest in current events who enjoy David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, and Carrie Smith." - Library Journal
"It's easy to see why this series is so popular, blending as it does the hard-boiled social observations of noir fiction with the inscrutable pleasures of classic whodunit' puzzle-solving." - Kirkus
This information about White River Burning was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
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, Verdon 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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