A Slow Fire Burning: A Novel

This thriller, my third Paula Hawkins novel, earned <b>4 Stars</b> from me.<b>SUMMARY</b>A young man, Daniel, is found dead on his house boat. Miriam, a nosy neighbor finds him and reports it to the police. Miriam also reports seeing a woman leaving the boat. A man, Theo, reports seeing a different woman leaving the scene with blood on her shirt. Theo and Miriam have a past connection, not exactly a positive one. Theo is Daniel's estranged ex-uncle and he doesn't have a lot of love for him.The police end up tracking down Laura, the woman Theo saw leaving Daniel's house boat and aggressively questioned her. She admits to having had a fight with Daniel, which got physical, that morning but swears he was alive when she left. As the police get to know more about Laura, they find she has a history of violent outbursts and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to believe her claims of innocence.Additionally, there is a whole "book inside a book" thing going on. Miriam had a traumatic experience as a young teenager and has written a manuscript of a book about it, but, she claims, a well known author stole her story and published it under his name with a different title. So, in addition to Daniel's murder mystery, we have both versions of Miriam's story.The story seems a little complicated and confusing in the beginning as the reader is trying to figure out who all the characters are, how they fit into the story and tries to process the "book inside a book" concept. As the plot progresses, each characters role in the story becomes defined, and things get very interesting.<b>WHAT I LOVED</b>The story was set in England and I LOVE my Brit-Lit!There were some great twists and turns.I loved all the back stories in everyone. It gave me a deeper understanding of why each of the characters acted the way they did.<b>WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE</b>I spent about 2/3rds of the book trying desperately to find one single character to like. It finally happened when Irene was introduced.Most of the characters were pretty horrible people, and they were adults, so their behavior is pretty much an established it pattern, but at the end, the reader was supposed to believe that several of them had grown as people. I didn't find it believable.<b>OVERALL</b>It was a fun book to read, it kept me on my toes guessing. I would recommend it for any of my GR friends who are looking for a twisty thriller and are okay with not loving the characters.

Paula Hawkins has done it again. “A Slow Fire Burning,” symbolically living up to its title is exactly that, a slow paced mystery with revenge, lust, and insanity simmering just underneath. The new book is character driven rather than fast action. The characters are those who harbor secrets of their shady pasts and flawed humanities, all of them with a stake in a certain mystery that is told through a series unwinding revelations set in true Agatha Christie style.The body of Daniel Sutherland is discovered on his houseboat, brutally stabbed to death. This beginning unveils not only the crime but the main suspect, a young bloodied girl seen leaving Daniel’s houseboat in the early morning. Laura Kincaid remains a suspect from this beginning, but the reader knows better. Laura has had an unfortunate life. The roadside victim of a hit and run that left her slightly disabled since childhood, she’s been left with an uncontrollable temperament and hindering physical ailments. She works in a Laundromat, receiving no help from parents who longer want her.Laura appears first in a strong cast of unforgettable characters. The witness who saw Laura staggering from the scene of the crime was the neighbor in the boat next to Daniel’s. Miriam is a middle-aged busybody, watching and observing the actions of those around her. Miriam once penned a memoir, a book that detailed her teenage experience with a serial killer, the same man who killed her best friend. Miriam was there that night; she bore witness. But Miriam’s book was stolen from her by a bestselling author who wrote it as fiction, a man who lives not far from her.In the book inside the book fashion, bits of the author’s published work are laid out. The author is Theo Meyerson, Daniel’s uncle by marriage. His wife, Carla, is Daniel’s aunt, the sister of Angela, Daniel’s mother, who dies mysteriously or maybe just tragically early on. Angela was the next door neighbor of Irene, an elderly spitfire who befriends and takes in Laura. The connections between the characters run deep in a sinister spider web framework and Hawkins reveals, little by little, just how intimate they are and why they are connected.The past is the center focus of the book, and in it contains the tragic death of a young boy, an experience with a serial killer, obsession, and an act of ultimate revenge. Toward the final pages, one unexpected surprise follows another. As always, Hawkins’ flawless writing chronicles a page-turning mystery. It’s been three years since Hawkins’ last book, but “A Slow Fire Burning” proves well worth the wait.

This book was off to a slow start, it wasn't until the last 40% the pace quickened. There were times where I was wondering who the murder was. To me the book ended on a bit of a cliff hanger! However this is a great read.

Amazing story with a lot of thrill and suspense. Beautifully written

Spoiler alert! I loved everything about the parallel stories, the setting and the all women but I have been left with an unanswered question. Was J O'B. murdered by T.M. ?

Bueno si te gusta la novela negra

A slow fire indeed, applicable to both story and pace. Not action packed, but a clever dissection of the human condition at its worst.The setting is in the heart of a grey and foggy London, on longboats on a canal and Victorian townhouses along the towpath and the descriptions just made me longing to go back to this glorious capital as soon as possible. There are seven main characters, all of which vary from being seriously flawed to despicable with the exception of sweet Irene, who will act a little bit as a Miss Marple in the story and who is the only one with any true sense of empathy. But all have different personalities and the insight in their lives and minds is intriguing.The whole story is about grudges and revenge; children lashing out because of their selfish parents, parents crumbling under past mistakes. All dark sides of humanity are depicted: alcoholism, child abuse, depression, suicide, infidelity, dementia, rape and of course murder. Just in the epilogue we are treated with a little bit of hope, just a small ray of sunshine.Although a little bit confusing at first, I thought the book within a book was clever, especially when comparing the original manuscript with the final version. And all in all, a very good read that is written with very sharp insights in human nature.