Captivating and horrifying

A non-fiction story about children who are developing leukemia at an unusually rapid pace, "A Civil Action" is not only about assigning blame for this unnatural happening, but also how it impacts the lawyer who took on the case. I didn't see the movie version of this, mainly because it was out of the theatres before I had a chance. That doesn't suprise me -- a lot of the material in here needs the kind of attention you get while reading -- e.g., a description of how chemicals reside in soil, etc. It's remarkably fascinating writing, right up until the ending which is in fact both shocking and disturbing. If you like non-fiction, this is a great book. If you are just dipping your toe into that genre, this is a great introduction, because it reads often like a fictional book. The horror, of course, is that it is all too true of a story.

FYI - for some reason, the picture of the book here is from "Snow Falling On Cedars" (or, at least it was when I wrote this) -- that's also a wonderful book, but not this one!