Tillamook 1952, a Novel

When the forest explodes . . . On August 24, 1933, Verlin Victory Lundigun, 32, catches a piece of pitch-fired flaming tree trunk with his face. He is one warrior among thousands fighting the fiercest forest fire in U.S. history the infamous Tillamook Burn. Verlin lives that day but is horribly scarred. He shields himself from the world with a black mask that cannot hide his rage. Nine months later he is dead from a gunshot. Verlin s death is accepted as accidental until his sister Iris dies in 1952. It is then that Iris youngest son makes a discovery that compels him to search for how and why his uncle died. Lou Kallander s quest rekindles old suspicions, guilt and his own long-dormant sense of self. When Lou confronts the people he thinks have insights into his uncle s death, they are not willing partners in his quest. His siblings, likewise, are opposed to Lou mucking around in the sour backwaters of the family s past. He also meets a woman who is housesitting the family home. They become attracted to each other but not without complications. TILLAMOOK 1952 is about sibling introspection, the pain of friendship, and a search for absolution.