Best New Non-Fiction Book

When Newsweek correspondent Daniel Glick set out to chronicle the October 1998 fires that did $12 million in damage to Vail, he wound up writing what could be Colorado's ultimate whodunit -- albeit one still without a conclusion (the list of suspects is long, however). But in shining a light on the alleged acts of eco-terrorism, Glick illuminates a much bigger puzzle: How a sleepy nook in the Eagle Valley turned into the world's biggest ski area, a company town that answers to Wall Street rather than the romantic muse of the ski bum. Powder Burn adds up to a stunning indictment of how Colorado sold itself down the Eagle River. And where there's smoke, there's ire.