Book Summary and Reviews of The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

The Last Thing to Burn

A Novel

by Will Dean

  • Published:
  • Apr 2021, 256 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A woman being held captive is willing to risk everything to save herself, her unborn child, and her captor's latest victim in this "intense, dark, and utterly chilling" (Jennifer Hillier, author of ​Jar of Hearts) thriller in the tradition of Misery and Room.

He is her husband. She is his captive.

Her husband calls her Jane. That is not her name.

She lives in a small farm cottage, surrounded by vast, open fields. Everywhere she looks, there is space. But she is trapped. No one knows she is there. Visitors rarely come to the farm; if they do, she is never seen.

Her husband records her every movement during the day. If he doesn't like what he sees, she is punished.

For a long time, escape seemed impossible. But now, something has changed. She has a reason to live and a reason to fight. Now, she is watching him, and waiting…

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Outstanding and heart-wrenching ... . Dean explores the resilience of the human spirit, even in the face of unfathomable evil. This harrowing journey is one worth taking." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"I could not stop reading this! Brilliantly done ... I'm awestruck!" ―Denise Mina, internationally bestselling author of The Less Dead

"This outstanding thriller by Will Dean might be the best book you read this year. The Last Thing to Burn is intense, dark, and utterly chilling — I felt this one in my bones." ―Jennifer Hillier, award-winning author of Jar of Hearts and Little Secrets

This information about The Last Thing to Burn was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Will Dean

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands of the United Kingdom. After studying law at the London School of Economics and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a wooden house in a vast forest, and it's from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball's book club on ITV, shortlisted for the National Book Award (UK), The Guardian's Not the Booker prize, and was named a Telegraph book of the year. He is also the author of This Is Not the End, The Last One, First Born, The Last Thing to Burn, which was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and The Chamber.

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