(Reviewed by JD Jung)
America v. America Outcome Uncertain
Set in the Bronx in August 1965, Burn Everything …. Then Forget It drops the reader into a turbulent period in American history. The Voting Rights Act has just been signed, the country is confronting racism and the growing war in Vietnam, and political unrest is everywhere. Against this backdrop, the government is secretly carrying out violent operations.
At the center are Bill Warshaw and Viola Dash, childhood acquaintances who reconnect as adults. Both are of Puerto Rican ancestry, but their lives have taken very different paths. Bill witnessed the murder of his mother in 1957, an experience that left him angry and destructive. Viola was adopted and sent to Europe for college. When the two become romantically involved, Viola becomes determined to find someone who witnessed Bill’s mother’s murder.
What begins as a search for answers soon becomes much more complicated. A credible lead reveals that the people who raised them may not be who they appear to be, and that some of those involved in the political turmoil are being manipulated themselves. Bill and Viola are caught in a web of duplicity where it becomes increasingly difficult to know whom they can trust.
I particularly enjoyed how the novel brings together a personal mystery, racism, political unrest, and government conspiracy. The characters are thoroughly developed, and the tightly constructed plot kept me wondering how the seemingly unrelated pieces would eventually come together. It’s an intriguing historical thriller that captures the uncertainty and upheaval of 1965 while telling a very personal story about betrayal, identity, and the search for truth.