Review : A Slow Fire Burning

“Look what you started.”

Right there, I was sold. I finished my first thriller of 2022 – A Slow Fire Burning by none other than Paula Hawkins. Telling you right now, it’s nothing like Gone Girl.

Daniel Sutherland has been found dead on his boat, and the last people to see him alive are three women – Carla (aunt), Laura (fling from the bar), and Miriam (neighbor). Was one among them the killer? Did all of them have motives to kill? As the reader asks more questions, the author leaves us guessing with an impartial narration of these women’s lives. Each of them has a wronged past – perhaps, Daniel’s murder is the fruit of that bottled-up resentment? The reader keeps going around in circles until a man confesses. The police arrest a suspect, but do they get it right? Read, and you will find out!

The author has not only done fantastic work of doing justice to every character in the plot but has also addressed various societal issues and stigma, that each character is a victim of, irrespective of their mental heath, education, gender, and economic status. Tragedies never end, and the resentment only grows stronger with every page turned – like adding woods to a small fire, endlessly. True to its name, it had me on the edge of my seat!

Rating: 5/5.