[A] propulsive account.

Keith O’Brien offers a panoramic perspective of the galvanizing incident that resulted in the passage of the 1980 Superfund Act.

Richly detailed.

O’Brien’s...meticulously researched and gripping history of the massive environmental disaster at Love Canal draws readers into the unrest, anxiety, and bewilderment of everyday people discovering their beloved neighborhood is poisoned and deadly.

Paradise Falls is a narrative resplendent with ordinary people who stood up against overwhelming odds. The text blisters with details of the hard work and outrage that fueled what became a key instigator of Superfund legislation. O’Brien has accomplished an outstanding work of investigative journalism and created a riveting title that should be on the shelf with The Poisoned City (2018) and Exposure (2019). Book clubs will spend hours discussing this one..

Journalist O’Brien...delivers an immersive portrait of the citizen-activists who brought the Love Canal environmental disaster to light.

Evacuation of homes, relocation of residents, and toxic remediation work all proved daunting, as O'Brien's patient chronology of the crisis bears out.