Desperate by Kris Maher

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.