-
Malibu Burning
- The Real Story Behind LA's Most Devastating Wildfire
- Narrated by: Robert Kerbeck
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

pick 2 free titles with trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Paradise
- One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire
- By: Lizzie Johnson
- Narrated by: Lizzie Johnson
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 8, 2018, the people of Paradise, California, awoke to a mottled gray sky and gusty winds. Soon the Camp Fire was upon them, gobbling an acre a second. Less than two hours after the fire ignited, the town was engulfed in flames, the residents trapped in their homes and cars. By the next morning, eighty-five people were dead. As a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, Lizzie Johnson was there as the town of Paradise burned.
-
-
Horrible,Horrible,Illiterate narration.
- By howard bascom on 09-02-21
By: Lizzie Johnson
-
Ruse
- Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street
- By: Robert Kerbeck
- Narrated by: Robert Kerbeck
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the world of high finance, multibillion-dollar Wall Street banks greedily guard their secrets. Enter Robert Kerbeck, a working actor who made his real money lying on the phone, charming people into revealing their employers’ most valuable information. In this exhilarating memoir that will appeal to fans of The Wolf of Wall Street and Catch Me If You Can, unsuspecting receptionists, assistants, and bigshot executives all fall victim to “the Ruse.”
-
-
Who knew?
- By philip parolisi on 03-04-22
By: Robert Kerbeck
-
Fire in Paradise
- By: Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no precedent in postwar American history for the destruction of the town of Paradise, California. On November 8, 2018, the community of 27,000 people was swallowed by the ferocious Camp Fire, which razed virtually every home and killed at least 85 people. Fire in Paradise is a dramatic and moving narrative of the disaster based on hundreds of in-depth interviews with residents, firefighters and police, and scientific experts.
-
-
A gripping view of an American tragedy
- By Kalutha on 06-30-20
By: Alastair Gee, and others
-
Granite Mountain
- The Firsthand Account of a Tragic Wildfire, Its Lone Survivor, and the Firefighters Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
- By: Brendan McDonough, Stephan Talty - contributor
- Narrated by: John Glouchevitch
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The true story behind the events that inspired the major motion picture Only the Brave. A "unique and bracing" (Booklist) first-person account by the sole survivor of Arizona's disastrous 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, which took the lives of 19 "hotshots" - firefighters trained specifically to battle wildfires. Brendan McDonough was on the verge of becoming a hopeless, inveterate heroin addict when he, for the sake of his young daughter, decided to turn his life around. He enlisted in the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a team of elite firefighters based in Prescott, Arizona.
-
-
Thank you Brendan
- By Kenton on 06-07-16
By: Brendan McDonough, and others
-
The Winecoff Fire
- The Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire
- By: Sam Heys, Allen B. Goodwin
- Narrated by: Bruce Conger
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As America slept in the pre-dawn hours of December 7, 1946, 280 of its citizens awoke suddenly in a hotel already burning out of control. Like the unsinkable Titanic, Atlanta’s Winecoff Hotel had been billed as “fireproof.” And, in fact, it did not burn. Its guests did. Or they died on Peachtree Street, or in quiet clusters, huddled together for courage against the silent, suffocating smoke. It was the worst hotel fire ever, anywhere. The fact that today it is still the worst hotel fire in North America — and the second worst in the world — is testament to its horror.
By: Sam Heys, and others
-
On the Burning Edge
- A Fateful Fire and the Men Who Fought It
- By: Kyle Dickman
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 28, 2013, a single bolt of lightning sparked an inferno that devoured more than 8,000 acres in Northern Arizona. Twenty elite firefighters - the Granite Mountain Hotshots - walked together into the blaze, tools in their hands and fire shelters on their hips. Only one of them walked out.
-
-
Be on the fire line, and in their heads.
- By Desiree May on 04-29-16
By: Kyle Dickman
-
Paradise
- One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire
- By: Lizzie Johnson
- Narrated by: Lizzie Johnson
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 8, 2018, the people of Paradise, California, awoke to a mottled gray sky and gusty winds. Soon the Camp Fire was upon them, gobbling an acre a second. Less than two hours after the fire ignited, the town was engulfed in flames, the residents trapped in their homes and cars. By the next morning, eighty-five people were dead. As a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, Lizzie Johnson was there as the town of Paradise burned.
-
-
Horrible,Horrible,Illiterate narration.
- By howard bascom on 09-02-21
By: Lizzie Johnson
-
Ruse
- Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street
- By: Robert Kerbeck
- Narrated by: Robert Kerbeck
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the world of high finance, multibillion-dollar Wall Street banks greedily guard their secrets. Enter Robert Kerbeck, a working actor who made his real money lying on the phone, charming people into revealing their employers’ most valuable information. In this exhilarating memoir that will appeal to fans of The Wolf of Wall Street and Catch Me If You Can, unsuspecting receptionists, assistants, and bigshot executives all fall victim to “the Ruse.”
-
-
Who knew?
- By philip parolisi on 03-04-22
By: Robert Kerbeck
-
Fire in Paradise
- By: Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no precedent in postwar American history for the destruction of the town of Paradise, California. On November 8, 2018, the community of 27,000 people was swallowed by the ferocious Camp Fire, which razed virtually every home and killed at least 85 people. Fire in Paradise is a dramatic and moving narrative of the disaster based on hundreds of in-depth interviews with residents, firefighters and police, and scientific experts.
-
-
A gripping view of an American tragedy
- By Kalutha on 06-30-20
By: Alastair Gee, and others
-
Granite Mountain
- The Firsthand Account of a Tragic Wildfire, Its Lone Survivor, and the Firefighters Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
- By: Brendan McDonough, Stephan Talty - contributor
- Narrated by: John Glouchevitch
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The true story behind the events that inspired the major motion picture Only the Brave. A "unique and bracing" (Booklist) first-person account by the sole survivor of Arizona's disastrous 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, which took the lives of 19 "hotshots" - firefighters trained specifically to battle wildfires. Brendan McDonough was on the verge of becoming a hopeless, inveterate heroin addict when he, for the sake of his young daughter, decided to turn his life around. He enlisted in the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a team of elite firefighters based in Prescott, Arizona.
-
-
Thank you Brendan
- By Kenton on 06-07-16
By: Brendan McDonough, and others
-
The Winecoff Fire
- The Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire
- By: Sam Heys, Allen B. Goodwin
- Narrated by: Bruce Conger
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As America slept in the pre-dawn hours of December 7, 1946, 280 of its citizens awoke suddenly in a hotel already burning out of control. Like the unsinkable Titanic, Atlanta’s Winecoff Hotel had been billed as “fireproof.” And, in fact, it did not burn. Its guests did. Or they died on Peachtree Street, or in quiet clusters, huddled together for courage against the silent, suffocating smoke. It was the worst hotel fire ever, anywhere. The fact that today it is still the worst hotel fire in North America — and the second worst in the world — is testament to its horror.
By: Sam Heys, and others
-
On the Burning Edge
- A Fateful Fire and the Men Who Fought It
- By: Kyle Dickman
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 28, 2013, a single bolt of lightning sparked an inferno that devoured more than 8,000 acres in Northern Arizona. Twenty elite firefighters - the Granite Mountain Hotshots - walked together into the blaze, tools in their hands and fire shelters on their hips. Only one of them walked out.
-
-
Be on the fire line, and in their heads.
- By Desiree May on 04-29-16
By: Kyle Dickman
-
A Billion Years
- My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology
- By: Mike Rinder
- Narrated by: Mike Rinder
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Billion Years, the dark, dystopian truth about Scientology is revealed as never before. Rinder offers insights into the religion that only someone of his former high rank could provide and tells a harrowing but fulfilling story of personal resilience.
-
-
From a former SO Child
- By Chantal on 09-29-22
By: Mike Rinder
-
Burn Boston Burn
- The Story of the Largest Arson Case in the History of the Country
- By: Wayne M. Miller
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Burn Boston Burn is an astounding true crime narration. A conspiracy of nine men, including three Boston cops and a Boston firefighter, burned Boston and surrounding communities in the early 1980s due to tax-cutting measures that caused layoffs of hundreds of police and firefighters. Over two years, these fire buffs-turned-arsonists torched 264 buildings, causing millions of dollars in damages and hundreds of injuries. The city was ablaze with nightly fires, sirens wailing through the streets, and people too afraid to sleep.
-
-
A real disappointment
- By Amazon Customer on 01-02-20
By: Wayne M. Miller
-
What Stands in a Storm
- Three Days in the Worst Superstorm to Hit the South's Tornado Alley
- By: Kim Cross
- Narrated by: Tracy Brunjes
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
April 27, 2011, marked the climax of a superstorm that saw a record 358 tornadoes rip through 21 states in 3 days, 7 hours, and 18 minutes. It was the deadliest day of the biggest tornado outbreak in recorded history, which saw 348 people killed, entire neighborhoods erased, and $11 billion in damage. But from the terrible destruction emerged everyday heroes, neighbors, and strangers who rescued each other from hell on earth.
-
-
Extremely Offensive Narration
- By Tesla Russell on 05-10-17
By: Kim Cross
-
Trail of the Lost
- The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
- By: Andrea Lankford
- Narrated by: Kristi Burns
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a park ranger with the National Park Service's law enforcement team, Andrea Lankford led search and rescue missions in some of the most beautiful (and dangerous) landscapes across America, from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. But though she had the support of the agency, Andrea grew frustrated with the service's bureaucratic idiosyncrasies, and left the force after twelve years. Two decades later, however, she stumbles across a mystery that pulls her right back where she left off: three young men have vanished from the Pacific Crest Trail.
-
-
A revealing look at the enigmatic PCT
- By Ethan on 08-28-23
By: Andrea Lankford
-
No True Glory
- A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah
- By: Bing West
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on months spent with the battalions in Fallujah and hundreds of interviews at every level (senior policymakers, negotiators, generals, and soldiers and Marines on the front lines) No True Glory is a testament to the bravery of the American soldier and a cautionary tale about the complex, and often costly, interconnected roles of policy, politics, and battle in the twenty-first century.
-
-
70% Political 30% Action
- By Matt on 01-05-11
By: Bing West
-
American Oz
- An Astonishing Year Inside Traveling Carnivals at State Fairs & Festivals: Hitchhiking from California to New York, Alaska to Mexico
- By: Michael Sean Comerford
- Narrated by: Michael Sean Comerford
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American Oz is a rollicking, gritty, adventurous story of life in the secretive subculture of traveling carnivals. You'll never see your state fair or street festival the same way again. Comerford writes a bold, inspiring true story of a year working behind the scenes with the colorful characters and legends of carnivals. He shares stories of freaks, a carnival pimp, a tramp gold miner, and the last king of the sideshows.
-
-
Fun Listen
- By Tim Blackburn on 05-26-22
-
The Trojan Plague
- Countdown to Armageddon
- By: Pierce Roberts
- Narrated by: Dennis J. Baxter
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nazi rats started to plan ways to escape inevitable revenge at the hands of the victorious forces and partisans. Looted wealth was hidden around the world to finance personal lifestyles and to fund future plans to restore the Nazis to power. Can they stop The Trojan Plague?
-
-
"Always have a backup plan."
- By Norma Miles on 05-11-21
By: Pierce Roberts
-
Russians Among Us
- Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories, and the Hunt for Putin’s Spies
- By: Gordon Corera
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With intrigue that rivals the best le Carre novels, Russians Among Us tells the urgent story of Russia’s espionage efforts against the United States and the West from the end of the Cold War to the present.
-
-
Should be required reading for every citizen
- By Amazon Customer on 02-27-20
By: Gordon Corera
-
On Full Automatic
- Surviving 13 Months in Vietnam
- By: William V. Taylor Jr.
- Narrated by: Michael Curtis
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eighteen-year-old Marine recruit William V. Taylor, Jr. and his brother Marines are assembled into a new reaction force that is immediately tested in the fire of a bloody conflict known as Operation Beaver Cage. After a traumatic first fight, they push through back-to-back operations with little time to rest or reflect. Those who survive will return home ensnared by everlasting memories of a real but entirely surreal nightmare. Now, after more than 50 years of holding everything in, Taylor shares his experience in explicit—and often horrific—detail.
-
-
Great story telling!
- By Josh on 03-28-23
-
The Fire Line
- The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots
- By: Fernanda Santos
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a bolt of lightning ignited a hilltop in the sleepy town of Yarnell, Arizona, in June of 2013, setting off a blaze that would grow into one of the deadliest fires in American history, the 20 men who made up the Granite Mountain Hotshots sprang into action. An elite crew trained to combat the most challenging wildfires, the Granite Mountain Hotshots were a ragtag family crisscrossing the American West and wherever else the fires took them. The Hotshots were loyal to one another and dedicated to the tough job they had.
-
-
touching
- By matt on 05-04-16
By: Fernanda Santos
-
Nomadland
- Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Jessica Bruder
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the beet fields of North Dakota to the wilderness campgrounds of California to an Amazon warehouse in Texas, people who once might have kicked back to enjoy their sunset years are hard at work. Underwater on mortgages or finding that Social Security comes up short, they're hitting the road in astonishing numbers, forming a new community of nomads: RV and van-dwelling migrant laborers, or "workampers".
-
-
Eccentric Hobby? No--Survival Skills!
- By Gillian on 03-07-18
By: Jessica Bruder
-
3000 Degrees
- The True Story of a Deadly Fire and the Men Who Fought It
- By: Sean Flynn
- Narrated by: Richard Rohan
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On December 3, 1999, the call crackled in to the men of the Worchester, Massachusetts Fire Department: a three-alarm warehouse blaze in a six-story windowless colossus of brick and mortar. What happened next - and how their lives and community were changed forever - offers an unprecedented look at these heroic men whose job it is to rush into burning buildings when everyone else just wants out.
-
-
a book about a very heroic breed
- By Andy on 06-03-03
By: Sean Flynn
Publisher's summary
Malibu is known as an earthly paradise of multi-million-dollar mansions, movie stars, and unimaginable natural beauty. But all that changed on November 8, 2018.
Go deep behind the scenes of the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history. Alongside his wife and son, Robert Kerbeck battled the fire that threatened to take their home. He knows firsthand how the Malibu fires affected everyone - from the rich and famous to the firefighters who often risked their lives.
Blending investigative journalism and personal memoir, Malibu Burning brings you on the dramatic, life-threatening journey of real people fighting 2,000-degree flames to save entire neighborhoods.
By listening to this audiobook, you'll find out:
- Ways how the massive blaze affected Julia Roberts, Bob Dylan, Nick Nolte, and other celebrities.
- Real stories from hundreds of interviews with perspectives of locals ranging from the deputy fire chief and Malibu city council members to residents who fought to defend their homes.
- People who survived this tragedy through courage, kindness, and unified cooperation.
This book takes you into the hearts and minds of those who fought for their lives while the world watched Malibu burning.
Critic reviews
"An engrossing, thorough, and revealing portrait of a beloved beachside community confronting disaster.” (Kirkus Reviews)
What listeners love about Malibu Burning
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John Z. Shafai
- 05-01-20
An intense, well-written page-turner.
Not only did I purchase a hardcopy of the book, I downloaded it from audible to "read" it again. With its opening chapter, this book gets a grip on you. From that moment on, the book never lets go - a real page-turner. Simply put, once you commit to reading this, be warned: Once you start, you can’t put it down. It remains steadfastly a delightful read from beginning, though middle, to end. Even its organization is fascinating – presenting a series of vignettes covering different sets of real people in different neighborhoods – with each piece intensely focusing on each participant’s specific experience and the unique ways in which he or she dealt with the devastatingly tragic Woolsey Fire. So, like a series of independent adventure tales tied together around a central theme, the only difference here is that each of adventures really happened.
To be honest, the book was quite a surprise for me – a veritable eye-opener. Admittedly and, I’m afraid self-centeredly, I was initially drawn to the book solely because I wanted to see how the author dealt with the story of Engine 271, the subject matter of Chapter 2. Having been a call firefighter assigned to that engine, my Woolsey experience was different from other people’s experiences. I had been confined to the Corral Canyon neighborhood of Malibu throughout and after the fire. Dealing with my own hell, and cutoff from the rest of the world, I had no idea what was happening in the rest of Malibu and beyond. So the book opened up an entire panorama that had been unseen by me, and that had been otherwise unknown to me. Because of this book, I first learned how other residents in the other neighborhoods experienced the same fire and faced down flame lengths that at times could exceed 100 feet and carried temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
One of the many things I liked about the book was how it pierced the the veil of perceived glitz and glamor to shine a light on the true face of Malibu. Still rustic and stubbornly holding on to its frontier-town vibe, not everyone in Malibu is a stereotypical botoxed vapid celeb. With each vignette, the reader is treated to a real, down-to-earth person and gets to experience the fire though his or her eyes. By the end of each chapter, I felt like I knew each and every one of them. I felt close to them, and thus closer to “my” Malibu. The book also raises the tough questions of how the city and the fire department handled the Woolsey Fire. The book creates the space for compassion, healing, and points a path forward to prepare for the next catastrophic fire, which, with utmost certainty, will happen. If you’re looking for an intense, well-written page-turner, look no further. This is your book.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JC
- 12-30-19
A Must Read!
Malibu Burning is both insightful and heartbreaking. A small group of people that came together to battle a wildfire on their own as they fought to save neighbor’s homes and their own, as well as animals. We see a behind the scenes look at what it was like for the homeowner heroes who stayed and felt all alone when they asked for help from fire fighters and turned down because of bureaucratic jargon. Malibu Burning is told eloquently and passionately through the author’s first hand experience and his interviews.
An amazing book!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Todd Bassman
- 11-18-19
Epic true Story about bravery and courage…
Malibu Burning is the untold story of the Woolsey Fire that devastated parts of LA and Malibu last year. Robert Kerbeck shares his own personal experience fighting the fire along with his wife Gardia and son Davis, in a manner that only someone who lived through it can. The story is moving and riveting and is hard to put down at times (well in my case stop listening to). I can imagine that reading the book is also excellent, however, in my opinion, listening to Robert tell the story of his own battle has to elevate the experience. In addition to his own personal experience, it’s the back story of all the research he has done with so many others who lived through this horrible tragedy that truly makes this a special book. I highly recommend this book to all of you.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- john
- 10-30-19
Behind The Scenes of Devastation
A true, bone-chilling, behind-the-scenes look into the devastating Woolsey Fire in November 2018. Each story was more shocking than the next. So many great stories of heroism and altruism. Kerbeck tells the story of his almost-deadly fight against the beast that was the Malibu fire, as well as other unfathomable stories of residents and non-residents all fighting to save their homes, animals and their beautiful town of Malibu.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- VP's
- 10-24-19
Wow!!!
Great book! Exe
I had my own experience during the Woolsey Fire but what a learned from Robert Kerbeck’s book It’s mind bottling.
Many different interviews, many different angles, his own family experience....WOW!
Amazing work!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adventure Boy
- 06-05-22
A dramatic account of a suburban wildfire
This is a compelling account of the Woolsey fire in 2018 that will be of particular interest to persons near undeveloped land. During a wildfire, you should expect to lose water pressure and power. The biggest surprise for me is that during a large fire, you should not expect any assistance from the fire department. The author/narrator has a fine voice and is clear, but tries to add drama by pitching his voice higher and higher, which wore on me.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Abramson
- 03-31-21
Enlightening , and upsetting.
Sad at how ill prepared the city of Malibu was for the last wildfire and is for the next wildfire. It is a beautiful area and this book explains all the diverse problems.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Enrico Patucci
- 09-30-20
A Riveting Must Listen and Read!
Our family listened to this book during an 8-hour drive which flew by because we were enthralled by the stories being told! The narration was superb! A must read or listen for Malibu residents as well as for those curious about Malibu. The book reveals personal stories from the horrific day the fires came roaring down out of the canyons into Western Malibu! It brought back memories of our evacuation as the fire crested the hill above us. It also covers the history, the natural beauty and character of Malibu as well as the events surrounding the Woolseyi Fire. I also brought the book to add to my Woolsey Fire collection. - Mary Rose Rodgers-Patucci
Related to this topic
-
Fire in Paradise
- By: Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no precedent in postwar American history for the destruction of the town of Paradise, California. On November 8, 2018, the community of 27,000 people was swallowed by the ferocious Camp Fire, which razed virtually every home and killed at least 85 people. Fire in Paradise is a dramatic and moving narrative of the disaster based on hundreds of in-depth interviews with residents, firefighters and police, and scientific experts.
-
-
A gripping view of an American tragedy
- By Kalutha on 06-30-20
By: Alastair Gee, and others
-
Chasing Catastrophe
- My 35 Years Covering Wars, Hurricanes, Terror Attacks, and Other Breaking News
- By: Rick Leventhal
- Narrated by: Rick Leventhal
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and other conflict zones to the base of the burning Twin Towers on 9/11 to the eye of countless hurricanes, Rick Leventhal chronicles some of the most amazing stories he’s covered in his thirty-five years as a news reporter, anchor, and Senior Correspondent—with some life lessons thrown in along the way.
-
-
Great insights on catastrophes from a journalistic perspective
- By Laura N. Rains on 05-18-23
By: Rick Leventhal
-
Ordinary Heroes
- A Memoir of 9/11
- By: Joseph Pfeifer
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Chief Joe Pfeifer led his firefighters to investigate an odor of gas in downtown Manhattan on the morning of 9/11, he had no idea that his life was about to change forever. A few moments later, he watched as the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Pfeifer, the closest FDNY chief to the scene, spearheaded rescue efforts on one of the darkest days in American history.
-
-
An amazing account
- By Anonymous User on 09-09-21
By: Joseph Pfeifer
-
Action Park
- Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park
- By: Andy Mulvihill, Jake Rossen
- Narrated by: Michael Satow
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Often called "Accident Park", "Class Action Park", or "Traction Park", Action Park was an American icon. Entertaining more than a million people a year in the 1980s, the New Jersey-based amusement playland placed no limits on danger or fun, a monument to the anything-goes spirit of the era that left guests in control of their own adventures - sometimes with tragic results. Action Park is the first-ever unvarnished look at the history of this DIY Disneyland, as seen through the eyes of Andy Mulvihill, the son of the park's idiosyncratic founder, Gene Mulvihill.
-
-
Fascinating, but lacking in substance
- By That Guy From the Video Store on 09-05-20
By: Andy Mulvihill, and others
-
Zeitoun
- By: Dave Eggers
- Narrated by: Firdous Bamji
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When HurricaneKatrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun - a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four - chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the eerie days after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and rescuing those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared.
-
-
Something bold, ebullient, yet quiet
- By Darwin8u on 10-08-13
By: Dave Eggers
-
This Is Chance!
- The Shaking of an All-American City, a Voice That Held It Together
- By: Jon Mooallem
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 1964, Anchorage, Alaska, was a modern-day frontier town yearning to be a metropolis - the largest, proudest city in a state that was still brand-new. But just before sundown on Good Friday, the community was jolted by the most powerful earthquake in American history, a catastrophic 9.2 on the Richter Scale. This Is Chance! is the thrilling, cinematic story of a community shattered by disaster - and the extraordinary woman who helped pull it back together.
-
-
amazing story
- By Dani L on 02-07-21
By: Jon Mooallem
-
Fire in Paradise
- By: Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no precedent in postwar American history for the destruction of the town of Paradise, California. On November 8, 2018, the community of 27,000 people was swallowed by the ferocious Camp Fire, which razed virtually every home and killed at least 85 people. Fire in Paradise is a dramatic and moving narrative of the disaster based on hundreds of in-depth interviews with residents, firefighters and police, and scientific experts.
-
-
A gripping view of an American tragedy
- By Kalutha on 06-30-20
By: Alastair Gee, and others
-
Chasing Catastrophe
- My 35 Years Covering Wars, Hurricanes, Terror Attacks, and Other Breaking News
- By: Rick Leventhal
- Narrated by: Rick Leventhal
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and other conflict zones to the base of the burning Twin Towers on 9/11 to the eye of countless hurricanes, Rick Leventhal chronicles some of the most amazing stories he’s covered in his thirty-five years as a news reporter, anchor, and Senior Correspondent—with some life lessons thrown in along the way.
-
-
Great insights on catastrophes from a journalistic perspective
- By Laura N. Rains on 05-18-23
By: Rick Leventhal
-
Ordinary Heroes
- A Memoir of 9/11
- By: Joseph Pfeifer
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Chief Joe Pfeifer led his firefighters to investigate an odor of gas in downtown Manhattan on the morning of 9/11, he had no idea that his life was about to change forever. A few moments later, he watched as the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Pfeifer, the closest FDNY chief to the scene, spearheaded rescue efforts on one of the darkest days in American history.
-
-
An amazing account
- By Anonymous User on 09-09-21
By: Joseph Pfeifer
-
Action Park
- Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park
- By: Andy Mulvihill, Jake Rossen
- Narrated by: Michael Satow
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Often called "Accident Park", "Class Action Park", or "Traction Park", Action Park was an American icon. Entertaining more than a million people a year in the 1980s, the New Jersey-based amusement playland placed no limits on danger or fun, a monument to the anything-goes spirit of the era that left guests in control of their own adventures - sometimes with tragic results. Action Park is the first-ever unvarnished look at the history of this DIY Disneyland, as seen through the eyes of Andy Mulvihill, the son of the park's idiosyncratic founder, Gene Mulvihill.
-
-
Fascinating, but lacking in substance
- By That Guy From the Video Store on 09-05-20
By: Andy Mulvihill, and others
-
Zeitoun
- By: Dave Eggers
- Narrated by: Firdous Bamji
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When HurricaneKatrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun - a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four - chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the eerie days after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and rescuing those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared.
-
-
Something bold, ebullient, yet quiet
- By Darwin8u on 10-08-13
By: Dave Eggers
-
This Is Chance!
- The Shaking of an All-American City, a Voice That Held It Together
- By: Jon Mooallem
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 1964, Anchorage, Alaska, was a modern-day frontier town yearning to be a metropolis - the largest, proudest city in a state that was still brand-new. But just before sundown on Good Friday, the community was jolted by the most powerful earthquake in American history, a catastrophic 9.2 on the Richter Scale. This Is Chance! is the thrilling, cinematic story of a community shattered by disaster - and the extraordinary woman who helped pull it back together.
-
-
amazing story
- By Dani L on 02-07-21
By: Jon Mooallem
-
Storm of the Century
- The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
- By: Willie Drye
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1934, hundreds of jobless World War I veterans were sent to the remote Florida Keys to build a highway from Miami to Key West. The Roosevelt Administration was making a genuine effort to help these down-and-out vets. But the attempt to help them turned into a tragedy. The supervisors in charge of the veterans misunderstood the danger posed by hurricanes in the low-lying Florida Keys. The hurricane that struck the Upper Florida Keys on the evening of September 2, 1935, is still the most powerful hurricane to make landfall in the US.
-
-
Solid history. Sometimes too much detail.
- By D. Frrazier on 01-23-23
By: Willie Drye
-
Full Body Burden
- Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats
- By: Kristen Iversen
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Kristen Iversen
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kristen Iversen grew up in a small Colorado town close to Rocky Flats, a secret nuclear weapons plant once designated "the most contaminated site in America." Full Body Burden is the story of a childhood and adolescence in the shadow of the Cold War, in a landscape at once startlingly beautiful and--unknown to those who lived there--tainted with invisible yet deadly particles of plutonium.
-
-
A story that no one else wanted to tell.
- By Carol on 01-28-13
By: Kristen Iversen
-
Washed Away
- How the Great Flood of 1913, America’s Most Widespread Natural Disaster, Terrorized a Nation and Changed It Forever
- By: Geoff Williams
- Narrated by: Jim Vann
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The incredible story of a flood of near-Biblical proportions - its destruction, its heroes and victims, and how it shaped America’s natural-disaster policies for the next century. The storm began March 23, 1913, with a series of tornadoes that killed 150 people and injured 400. Then the freezing rains started and the flooding began. It was the nation’s most widespread flood ever - more than 700 people died, hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings were destroyed, and millions were left homeless.
-
-
I love these historical narratives
- By Kim Hamacher on 07-28-15
By: Geoff Williams
-
Report from Ground Zero
- By: Dennis Smith
- Narrated by: Eric Conger, Jeff David, Don Leslie
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Immediately after two hijacked jets struck the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Dennis Smith volunteered in the rescue effort. Having spent his career as both a respected writer and a member of one of the city's busiest firehouses, Smith became determined to use his unique background to tell the story of the disaster and its aftermath with the empathy and understanding that only an insider could bring to it. In this audio memoir, he has collected astonishing first-person testimony.
-
-
Intersting choice of narrator
- By Sara Roltgen on 09-24-18
By: Dennis Smith
-
1 Dead in Attic
- After Katrina
- By: Chris Rose
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1 Dead in Attic is a collection of stories by Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose, recounting the first harrowing year and a half of life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Celebrated as a local treasure and heaped with national praise, Rose provides a rollercoaster ride of observation, commentary, emotion, tragedy, and even humor - in a way that only he could find in a devastated wasteland. They are stories of the dead and the living, stories of survivors and believers, stories of hope and despair.
-
-
Still Makes Me Hurt
- By Gillian on 02-27-15
By: Chris Rose
-
Humboldt
- Life on America's Marijuana Frontier
- By: Emily Brady
- Narrated by: Dan Woren, Sonny Warner, Erin Bennett, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the vein of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief and Deborah Feldman's Unorthodox, journalist Emily Brady journeys into a secretive subculture - one that marijuana built. Say the words "Humboldt County" to a stranger and you might receive a knowing grin. The name is infamous, and yet the place, and its inhabitants, have been nearly impenetrable. Until now. Humboldt is a narrative exploration of an insular community in Northern California, which for nearly 40 years has existed primarily on the cultivation and sale of marijuana.
-
-
Great book!
- By David on 02-26-15
By: Emily Brady
-
The Esperanza Fire
- Arson, Murder and the Agony of Engine 57
- By: John N. Maclean
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Esperanza Fire started October 26, 2006, in the San Jacinto Mountains above the Banning Pass near Cabazon, California. It destroyed 41,000 acres and dozens of homes and cost the taxpayers $16 million dollars. But by far the highest costs of the conflagration were the lives of the five-man crew of Engine 57, the first engine crew ever killed fighting a wildland blaze. Fire and superheated gases had erupted in a freak "area ignition," sending flames racing across three-quarters of a mile in mere seconds, engulfing the crew and the house they were defending.
-
-
Read the "book reviews" on Amazon before judging.
- By IdyGal on 08-26-18
By: John N. Maclean
-
American Fire
- Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land
- By: Monica Hesse
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins