Audio only

Trial by Fire

A Devastating Tragedy, 100 Lives Lost, and a 15-Year Search for TruthBy Scott JamesNarrated by Justin Spencer
Length13h 31m

About this audiobook

In only ninety seconds, a fire in The Station nightclub left one hundred people dead or dying and injured hundreds more. It would take years to find out why—and who was really at fault. All it took for a hundred people to die during a show by the hair metal band Great White was a sudden burst from four giant sparklers that ignited the acoustical foam lining the Station nightclub. But who was at fault? And who would pay? This being Rhode Island, the two questions wouldn’t necessarily have the same answer. Within twenty-four hours, the governor of Rhode Island and the local police chief were calling for criminal charges, although the investigation had barely begun, key evidence still needed to be gathered, and many of the victims hadn’t been identified. Though many parties could be held responsible, fingers pointed quickly at the two brothers who owned the club. But were they really to blame? Bestselling author and three-time Emmy Award–winning journalist Scott James investigates all the central figures, including the band’s manager and lead singer, the fire inspector, the maker of the acoustical foam, as well as the brothers. Drawing on firsthand accounts, interviews with many involved, and court documents, James explores the rush to judgment about what happened that left the victims and their families, whose stories he also tells, desperate for justice. Trial By Fire is the heart-wrenching story of the fire’s aftermath because while the fire, one of America’s deadliest, lasted minutes, the search for the truth would take years.

Audiobook details

Rating★★★★ 4.4 (1.4K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon
GenreTrue Crime, Politics and Government
Length13 hrs 31 mins
Narrated byJustin Spencer
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMar 27, 2021
LanguageEnglish
By the Fire We CarryRebecca Nagle8h 15m4.5 (5.5K)$26 · $0.00
How to Escape from PrisonPaul Wood10h 29m4.5 (653)$29 · $0.00
Killer TriggersJoe Kenda8h 31m4.4 (6K)$20 · $0.00
BoundlessNick Kostov, Sean McLain9h 17m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
Deadly ForceLawrence O'Donnell17h 18m4.5 (342)$40 · $0.00
Walking the BowlChris Lockhart, Daniel Mulilo Chama9h 7m4.4 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
PapillonHenri Charriere18h 19m4.3 (90.2K)$40 · $0.00
The SuspectKent Alexander, Kevin Salwen14h 12m4.4 (3K)$23 · $0.00
The Cause of DeathCynric Temple-Camp8h 59m4.4 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
GanglandJared Savage9h 21m4.4 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
Riding with EvilKen Croke, Dave Wedge9h 42m4.3 (3.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Two FBIsNicole Parker10h 8m4.4 (499)$29 · $0.00
I Catch KillersGary Jubelin15h 32m4.3 (6.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Redemption Of Bobby LoveBobby Love, Cheryl Love9h 13m4.4 (956)$29 · $0.00
The Life We ChoseMatt Birkbeck8h 57m4.4 (1K)$29 · $0.00
The Truth About AaronJonathan Hernandez5h 15m4.3 (2.5K)$24 · $0.00
No Ordinary BirdArtis Henderson6h 23m4.4 (597)$24 · $0.00
I'll Be Gone in the DarkMichelle McNamara10h 7m4.3 (302.5K)$29 · $0.00
Beyond the Body FarmBill Bass, Jon Jefferson6h 17m4.3 (10.2K)$24 · $0.00
The Killer Across the TableJohn E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker11h 7m4.3 (37.5K)$8 · $0.00
Matters of the HeartJacinta Nampijinpa Price9h 35m4.8 (359)$29 · $0.00
How to Test Negative for StupidJohn Kennedy8h 13m4.7 (9.7K)$28 · $0.00
Black AF HistoryMichael Harriot15h 43m4.7 (14.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m4.7 (8.9K)$46 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Days of Love and Rage: A Story of RevolutionAnand Gopal22h 36m4.7 (584)$34 · $0.00
KrantikariSanjeev Sanyal11h 44m4.6 (1.3K)$16 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
RiggedMollie Hemingway12h 48m4.6 (4.2K)$23 · $0.00
SledgehammerDavid Friedman8h 21m4.7 (589)$26 · $0.00
Citizenship in a Republic (Annotated)Theodore Roosevelt2h 44m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Always FaithfulThomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki12h 12m4.6 (977)$29 · $0.00
UnthinkableJamie Raskin15h 8m4.5 (9.3K)$8 · $0.00
My Fourth Time, We DrownedSally Hayden13h 59m4.6 (2.9K)$23 · $0.00
A Revolution of Common SenseScott Jennings9h 29m4.6 (528)$29 · $0.00
Statement From the Dock at the Rivonia TrialNelson Mandela2h 18m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00

You may also like

UnthinkableJamie Raskin15h 8m4.5 (9.3K)$8 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m4.6 (9.8K)$40 · $0.00
The True Story of Andersonville PrisonJames Madison Page6h 3m4.1 (376)$1 · $0.00
Behind the BadgeJohnny Joey Jones7h 32m4.5 (988)$26 · $0.00
Surviving Schizophrenia, 7th EditionE. Fuller Torrey16h 15m4.2 (1.8K)$40 · $0.00
Children Under FireJohn Woodrow Cox10h 17m4.5 (1.6K)$29 · $0.00
Loving NataleeBeth Holloway6h 58m4.2 (1.8K)$24 · $0.00
The JungleUpton Sinclair13h 17m3.9 (186.5K)$23
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
My Midnight YearsRonald Kitchen8h 36m4.6 (341)$20 · $0.00
The True Story of Andersonville Prison (Civil War Memoir)James Madison Page6h 15m4.1 (664)$1.99 · $0.00
This City Is Killing MeJonathan Foiles3h 12m4.2 (293)$15 · $0.00
Not For SaleDavid Batstone9h 22m4.2 (2.1K)$29 · $0.00
Mean Streak: A moral vacuum, a dodgy debt generator and a multi-billion-dollar government shake down - the powerful story of robodebt, WINNER of the Walkley Book Award 2025Rick Morton15h 32m4.4 (502)$33 · $0.00
In PainTravis Rieder8h 56m4.3 (2K)$29 · $0.00
Beneath the Tamarind TreeIsha Sesay12h 16m4.1 (2.1K)$29 · $0.00
Fentanyl, Inc.Ben Westhoff12h 39m4.3 (7.5K)$23
Living BraveShannon Dingle5h 3m4.2 (406)$24 · $0.00
A Key to Uncle Tom's CabinHarriet Beecher Stowe26h 31m4.0 (637)$2.30
The True Story of Andersonville Prison: A Defense of Major Henry WirzJames Madison Page6h 6m4.2 (247)$2 · $0.00