Those who favor fire

by Lauren Wolk

A romance between two people in a Pennsylvania town, below which a fire burns in a coal mine. He is Christopher, a drifter, but also a rich man. As people and animals die, sucked by the fire, he realizes the town is doomed and uses his money to build houses for resettlement. Many take advantage, but Rachel, his love, refuses to abandon her hometown. How can he convince her before it is too late? A first novel.