On the Mississippi river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is a stretch of land dubbed “Cancer Alley.” The residents of this area, mostly poor and largely minority, suffer from a statistically astounding preponderance of rare and deadly forms of cancer. Could the presence of dozens of chemical plants on this strip of land have something to do with it? And if so, wouldn’t the Louisiana state government want to do something to help? Dunn artfully and forcefully examines the tangled stands of bureaucracy, greed, class, and race underpinning this shocking story.