A Slow Fire Burning
Ratings45
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings45
Average rating3.3
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The scorching new thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train. “A Slow Fire Burning twists and turns like a great thriller should, but it's also deep, intelligent and intensely human.” – Lee Child “Only a clairvoyant could anticipate the book’s ending” – New York Times With the same propulsion that captivated millions of readers worldwide in The Girl on the Train and Into the Water, Paula Hawkins unfurls a gripping, twisting story of deceit, murder, and revenge. When a young man is found gruesomely murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about three women who knew him. Laura is the troubled one-night-stand last seen in the victim’s home. Carla is his grief-stricken aunt, already mourning the recent death of yet another family member. And Miriam is the nosy neighbor clearly keeping secrets from the police. Three women with separate connections to the victim. Three women who are – for different reasons – simmering with resentment. Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to right the wrongs done to them. When it comes to revenge, even good people might be capable of terrible deeds. How far might any one of them go to find peace? How long can secrets smolder before they explode into flame? Look what you started.
Reviews with the most likes.
Between 4-5 stars, loved this one almost as much as The girl on the train, but it was a bit more sparse and fragmented. However I really liked the different stories and the way they interlaced, and the particularities of each of the characters. A great read!
4.5 stars. The long awaited new Paula Hawkins has arrived, and it really is what it says on the tin. A slow burn. If you expect twists and turns and jump scares on every page, you will be disappointed. This story takes its time to build characters, relationships and backstory - and if you have the patience, it all comes together in the end and I think it has a decent payoff.
I loved how one of the strongest characters was a usually disregarded woman in her 80's. Life for a woman doesn't begin and end in her twenties, and Hawkins included a range of female protagonists in all stages of life who had agency and motives.
Despite the lukewarm reviews, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this audiobook. It helped that it was narrated by the sublime Rosamund Pike.
A bit of a strange one this. The overall plot was simple; what complicated it was the continual messing around with the timeline and the dipping into the two different narratives of the past events which made it difficult at times to keep a line on who was still alive at the time of a particular perspective.
There were some lighter moments when the author seemed to poke fun directly at herself (character writes a novel with a disjointed narrative and worries if people might find this confusing – in a novel with a confusingly disjointed narrative). Mix with this some poorly written side characters (the spotty copper who is willing to spill the beans on the ongoing investigation to a man who clearly should have been a suspect), I can't help wondering if this could have been better if she had gone all out to write it as a comedy farce. Or perhaps she did and I just missed it..?
