Book Review: A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

A Slow Fire Burning

by Paula Hawkins (Hawkins)

 

The story begins with several horrific tales. The first involves a girl staggering in the dark from a murderer. The second is a young woman stumbling into her apartment bloody and bruised. The third story details a woman investigating oddities on the houseboat next to hers, only to discover a gruesome murder. There’s nothing like a bit of bloodshed and dread to get a mystery book started. A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins (author of The Girl on the Train) grabs you from the start. Which of these experiences have caused a “slow fire burning?” Are they related? And which of them might have pushed someone over the edge to commit murder?

 

Our victim Daniel is a young man with his own dark demons resulting from a negligent, drunken mother. He has always been a bit off. Then again, so are a lot of the other quirky characters in the book. One lost a child from negligence. Another was hit by a car as a child and almost left for dead. Another was abducted as a teen. It’s a smorgasbord of dark deeds, madness, and resentment. But do you have to be just a little mad to commit murder?

 

There are twists and turns. It’s the kind of book you race through to see if you have guessed correctly. Even then, Hawkins packs a surprise punch at the end you don’t see coming. I highly recommend A Slow Fire Burning. Just make sure you leave yourself enough time to go racing through it. You won’t want to put it down.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens or Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson.)

 

( publisher’s official A Slow Fire Burning web page ) | ( official Paula Hawkins web site )

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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