The Full Burn

In The Full Burn, acclaimed journalist Kevin Conley goes inside one of the coolest - and most dangerous - jobs in the world. With bravura storytelling and full access to many of the legends of the field, Conley gives a behind-the-scenes view of the stuntman's life: the history, the culture, and the tricks of the trade, showing how-and why-stuntmen do what they do.

He even subjects himself to the stuntman's rite of passage -- the book's eponymous stunt -- in which he is doused in jellied gasoline and set aflame. This is truly immersion journalism at its finest.