Review of "Hazardous Lies" by Stephen Wallace

Score: 93/100 (9.3 out of 10)

Are you up for a corporate thriller centered around a chemical plant disaster?

Hazardous Lies is a novel full of political intrigue and real-world environmental and human ramifications?

Do you remember when the Exxon Valdez blackened Prince William Sound? When Deepwater Horizon burned on live TV? Or when East Palestine, Ohio, endured a hazardous derailment followed by a controversial controlled burn? That is the kind of real-world weight this corporate thriller carries.

Author Stephen Wallace has walked the talk, a real-life engineer who has led several
investigations at chemical plants, refineries, and laboratories. While this book is fictitious, Wallace still manages to provide a rare, authentic, first-hand glimpse into what it must be like to be involved in one of these investigations, investigations that often seem to be swept under the rug or ignored by the media. There was no one better equipped to pen this story.

Speaking of the story... Hazardous Lies opens before dawn with a blast at a Charleston chemical plant, apparently the result of an accident. The proceeding fire spreads into a catastrophe that claims at least three lives.

A newly minted federal investigator, Jon Barrett, is sent to sort out “what happened” and discovers the better question is “who benefits.” Executives rehearse talking points. Politicians circle. A reporter won’t let go. And somewhere inside the smoke and paperwork is a missing young man with the wrong last name for this to stay quiet.

As Jon pulls threads, the case widens from ruptured steel to ruptured trust--permits, contractors, and decisions that looked efficient on paper and lethal in practice. The science feels lived-in, the politics feel familiar, and the human cost is never decoration. Chapter by chapter, the vice tightens with interviews that become interrogations, conflicting timelines, altered logs, and pressure from above. By the time the truth surfaces, it’s clear the real ignition source isn’t just chemical, it’s institutional.

This book ultimately has a lot going for it that keeps it above a 9 out of 10. However, the first 80 or so pages really lost us for a bit. They're really plodding, slow, and mundane, especially for the opening to a thriller that involves such a dramatic incident. Keep in mind: the chemical plant is burning in the background for most of these initial pages, yet characters are sitting and standing around having conversations over morning coffee. The one that stuck out in our minds was:

“How’s everything going, Craig?”

“Okay.”

“Good. You’re pretty close to retiring, as I recall.”

The sense of urgency, shock, and horror that should be evident in everyone's voices just isn't there. It really seems like just another day in the office. And perhaps that's the point... Perhaps it's safe to assume that power-hungry, corrupt people who sweep the truth under the rug every day do become desensitized to these things after awhile.

One of the best ways we've found to describe this book is that it starts like molasses and proceeds like wine.

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WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
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Mr. Alister Cain Quinn, the most powerful man in the Chemtifuge corporation, is such a man. He is someone who is so deeply entrenched in his pursuit of wealth over human life and safety that he seems numb to any pain, suffering, and death it might cause.

The book does little to give readers the idea that Quinn is anyone but a terrible and tyrannical corporate big wig. The book also goes out of its way to point out the significance of his first name, alluding to the biblical first murderer. It also doesn't help that he idolizes Aleister Crowley, the notorious occultist, who he reveres as "the wickedest man in the world."

The surprise in the end does somewhat flesh Quin out and humanize him slightly. For most of the book, Quinn is a ruthless monster who constantly pressures his lawyers and PR people to lie for him and twist the truth. Everyone in the company seems to be afraid of him to the point where even a security guard at the end of the book is rattled by the mention of his name. And he's not above cutting corners and outright getting people killed.

Charlie Branch is another interesting character who adds some humanity to this book. He is a bit like a moral and ethical counterweight to Quinn despite being a part of his organization and thus a part of the beast.

Charlie is Chemtifuge's HR manager he helps stage press logistics and plays corporate gatekeeper, but he’s also the first to show visible misgivings. When Jon returns to the site, Charlie initially tries to keep Quinn out of it by having security escort Jon off, an attempt to defuse things before Quinn. He's very often the one who invites Quinn to find less vicious and vile alternatives including trying to save Jon's life. He plays the role of the conflicted character within the organization, a bit like Reeve from Final Fantasy VII (Reeve is a member of Shinra Inc's board of directors while also combatting the evil company). He's proof that not everyone at (or near) the top of the company is evil. Some are just scared. Some are just doing their jobs. Some of them are just trying to save their careers.

But Charlie has a deeper sense of empathy concerning human costs not just as the HR manager but because his wife is dying of late-stage cancer throughout the book, possibly from exposure to chemicals (we're assuming). He knows the costs because he's actively experiencing them.

There's another aspect of this book that we really appreciated: the attention to the victims.
Even though the victims of the chemical plant fire aren't named until very late in the book, Jon (and the reader) are encouraged to never forget them. We are told things like:

"Three guys lay in graves, and all the local press could do was obsess about some illicit romance and racy emails between politicians."

And it's true. How often do victims of crimes and horrific events get overshadowed by the perpetrators, criminals, and other drama? It's enough to die and die horribly, but it's worse to have your memory and story be suppressed and silenced.

James, one of the victims, is one such case. It turns out that he's related to one of the biggest red-herrings who is seemingly always lingering in the background of this book. In other words: it's personal.

James wasn't just a nameless, faceless victim. James (and the other victims) was a human being with a mother, a brother, a sister, and an aunt who all want answers and justice for him. And Jon is seemingly the only person able to give them answers and justice.

Jon is fleshed out and humanized throughout the book as well. One of the most powerful character moments for him is when he calls his ex-wife, Tammy, and tells her:

"But Tammy, I feel like I’m alone. Nobody in the agency supports me. I don’t even know if it’s worth it anymore. I mean, who really cares about what happened? It’s not going to bring anybody back. I think I’m the only one who cares about this, and I don’t even know if I do any more. The local press has zero interest. My boss speaks in code at work. If I had somewhere else to go, I would.”

You can really feel the storm in Jon's mind, spirit, and soul. And it's hard not to relate with him. He's trying to do the right thing, but no one is supporting him. In fact, it seems like the powers-that-be are actively conspiring and working against him. Imagine being him. Imagine being the person tasked with solving a huge problem, but every time you try to solve it, people do everything they can to make it hard for you. That's frustrating!

And it has to be discouraging for Jon.

He actually has a pseudo-religious epiphany/arc near the end of the book in which he starts to attend church, trying to remind himself that right is right, justice will prevail, and good will ultimately win.

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SPOILERS END
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Another thing we appreciated about this book is how much we learned about chemicals and these chemical plants. Who would've thought!

Here's one of our favorite little passages about the chemical industry:

"Most everything you do every day is the result of the chemical industry. From your alarm clock to your sheets to your makeup. You flip on the light, electricity comes from utility plants... Even if we go to alternative fuels, industry will still be involved. It takes iron, steel, and paint to make things like wind turbines. Crude oil’s used in everything from pesticides to food coloring, to medicine, to that perfume you’re wearing."

You can really tell how passionate and knowledgeable Wallace is about this stuff.

Check it out on Amazon!