DESPERATE by Kris Maher is a real-life legal thriller about "An Epic Battle for Clean Water and Justice in Appalachia." Maher is a Wall Street Journal reporter who has written about the Flint water crisis, PFAS drinking water contamination, and Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. In DESPERATE he chronicles the story (beginning in 2004) of environmental lawyer Kevin Thompson and the community who fought with him for justice. The people of the "Forgotten Communities" had been living with bad water for decades and many had gallbladder or kidney problems, skin rashes and even miscarriages that they attributed to the poor water and the inadequate safety procedures. Thompson set out to prove that Massey was responsible and had been negligent. DESPERATE is a story of depositions, arguments, stonewalling, and dangers – corporate greed resulting in poison coming out of water spigots. Many of the facts (e.g., Massey CEO Blankenship could have fixed the water issues by spending roughly the same amount of money that he used to help a judge get elected to the State Supreme Court) are hard to believe. Publishers Weekly says, "Readers will be appalled at how hard these communities had to fight for a modicum of justice." Our students interested in environmental causes and working to make a difference will find much to contemplate in this text.

Books like this are just my jam. It markets it as Erin Brockovich and I can definitely see this. It's nice to have a synopsis match the book . This one gets a bit heavy on details at times but it really didn't hurt my reading experience that much. I wish I could've gotten to this closer to publication date, but I will definitely share this title with those who I think will love it, too

I was able to preview this nonfiction environmental/ lawsuit book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. I was highly interested in the topic of water pollution and West Virginia, as I have an environmental protection degree from WVU.
I wanted to like this book, and in a way I did, but not the whole of the book. It seemed disjointed and too long. The details of the conversations was for me too much. I was looking for more of a chronology. I did appreciate the WV history that I was not expecting, and I appreciated that the author documented all of the sources and justifications for including the material. I may revisit the copy I have again in the future to see if I have judged it to harshly.

Desperate by Kris Maher (out on 10/5)

I decided to read Desperate last month, in honor of World Water Week! Huge thanks to @scribnerbooks, @netgalley for the #gifted review copy!

Desperate recounts the work of environmental lawyer Kevin Thompson as he worked with residents in the “Forgotten Communities” of Mingo County, West Virginia as they sued one of the largest and most powerful coal companies in the state. For decades, the drinking water in residents’ private wells was contaminated with coal slurry and caused significant health and property damage.

This work of investigative journalism was a great account into this legal battle against Massey Coal and CEO, Don Blankenship. Safe and reliable drinking water access is a huge issue for me and one I work on daily, so I was very excited to read this book!

You’ll feel a variety of emotions during this book—from sadness at the amount of pain these communities have endured to anger at the coal company and their many tactics to avoid responsibility.

I’m always inspired by environmental lawyers, and Kevin Thompson and his team are no exception to that. While this story didn’t have the “flashy” outcome you’d likely see in a movie, he did what was best for the community and has spent YEARS helping communities in West Virginia address environmental concerns and dangers.

Overall, I think this is a great piece of investigative journalism! I think some sections of the book could’ve been excluded or trimmed down (the history of the Hatfields and McCoy’s, Blankenship’s entire history), but others might enjoy the more in-depth historical information.

Erin Brockovich In Appalachia. This is one of those books where the description from the publisher really does tell you pretty well exactly what the book is about: One town's, and really one man's, courtroom war against a coal company that was polluting its water supplies. There are the requisite dives into the various histories of the prominent people, including the lawyer, the CEO of the company, and the general region itself - home of the infamous feud between the Hatfields and McCoys - but mostly this is a tale of how the courtroom drama came to be, how the war was waged, and its ultimate outcomes. If you're looking for a more general examination of Appalachia and its issues... this isn't that. But if you're interested in "Little Guy vs Big [Insert Industry]"... this is gonna be right up your alley. Very much recommended.