A Slow Fire Burning: A Novel
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A Slow Fire Burning: A Novel Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Paula Hawkins (Author), Rosamund Pike (Narrator), Penguin Audio (Publisher)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 30,823 ratings
Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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An instant number one New York Times best seller

The scorching new thriller from the number one New York Times best-selling 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 listeners 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.

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  1. Listening Length
    9 hours and 19 minutes
  2. Author
    Paula Hawkins
  3. Narrator
    Rosamund Pike
  4. Audible release date
    August 31, 2021
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Penguin Audio
  7. ASIN
    B08PQ1K5FL
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 9 hours and 19 minutes
Author Paula Hawkins
Narrator Rosamund Pike
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date August 31, 2021
Publisher Penguin Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B08PQ1K5FL
Best Sellers Rank #3,577 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#386 in Suspense (Audible Books & Originals)
#1,056 in Suspense Thrillers
#1,342 in Literature & Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
30,823 global ratings
Twisted, complicated but oh so engrossing!
4 Stars
Twisted, complicated but oh so engrossing!
I loved The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins, so was super excited to receive the ALC of A Slow Burning Fire from Libro.fm.!Paula Hawkins story are so twisted, complicated and at the same time very engrossing and captivating. This book delivered that suspenseful impact and boy that ending, I did not see it coming!Daniel is found dead in his houseboat and the story revolves around three women who could have motives to kill him. The story started off slow but the author did a beautiful job of buildIng a slow burning fire of anger, resentment and hatred.Narrator Rosemund Pike did utmost justice to narrate the emotions of each and every character and listening at 2x speed on Libro.fm was very smooth and clear.Thank you Libro.fm for the complimentary ALC that released on August 31, 2021
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Top reviews from the United States

RSW Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars 4 Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2021
Verified Purchase
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.
11 people found this helpful
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Christopher Carrolli
5.0 out of 5 stars "A Slow Fire Burning" Well Worth the Wait!
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2021
Verified Purchase
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.
3 people found this helpful
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Darren M. Reed
3.0 out of 5 stars This book never quite burns
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2022
Verified Purchase
I wanted this to be as good as Girl On A Train but it failed miserably. Not just in comparison to the latter but in general. The title is somewhat appropriate; A slow burn but maybe should be call “A faint quick spark that fails to ignite”. This story was confusing as it bounces around on the timeline, from different characters and from a book reading…

The story has several leading characters that the author personalizes. She really does a nice job humanizing these characters and informing you of their backstory. However, for me this book failed to draw me in, there was no suspenseful hook. You learn quite early the relationship to all those introduced in the first few chapters. Theo and Carla are a divorced couple (who still have a love relationship) but drifted apart earlier after the death of their 3 year old son. Carla’s sister (Angela) has also died from (an apparent accidental fall) in her home and most recently Angela’s son Daniel has been murdered. His murder is the focal point of the book. Who did it? The book also introduces several other players (Miriam, Irene and Laura). There are so many parts that seemed unfinished, unclear or just plain confusing.

In the end this is not a bad novel, just not one I would recommend.
11 people found this helpful
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Paula
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Twister
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2024
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This is a murder. Mystery with many twist. Sometimes a little confusing so best to read it straight through. Great character development. Another good Paula Hawkins book.
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Top reviews from other countries

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jenny howard
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting plot and characters
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2023
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Well written. Some great characters, but the behaviour of some and their relationships with others I found a bit unconvincing. Interesting plot.
2 people found this helpful
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Becky
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully writte
Reviewed in Germany on December 31, 2022
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Amazing story with a lot of thrill and suspense. Beautifully written
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Marcello
4.0 out of 5 stars Really intriguing book
Reviewed in Italy on October 22, 2022
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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. ?
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Esther Fernández
5.0 out of 5 stars Literatura novela negra
Reviewed in Spain on October 16, 2023
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Bueno si te gusta la novela negra
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Keshav Nair
4.0 out of 5 stars Slow but Exciting Thriller
Reviewed in India on September 30, 2021
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A slow but tense psychotic thriller in the third of the author's novel that I have read to date. As anticipated, the author has left no stone unturned to entertain her readers. The need for revenge gradually brewing inside the characters, built up over a long period because of deceit and treachery, eventually leading to murder is aptly revealed in the pace of the book as well as on the title. The plot revolves around the gruesome death of Daniel Sutherland, a man in his twenties on his houseboat. Eyewitness by another houseboat resident, Miriam leads to a young girl Laura, who seemingly had a very disturbing past and childhood resulting in her unpredictable behavior. A few weeks before, Angela, Daniel's mother died in an accident. Then there is Angela's sister Carla and her ex-husband Theo who have parted ways after another alleged accidental death of their three-year-old son fifteen years back, left in the care of Angela and Daniel. Additionally, there is an old lady Irene who is Angela's neighbor and friend and who is now supported for her grocery purchases by Laura. With so many characters in the plot, one would begin to wonder, if these deaths are in any way connected? Everyone has a motive and so everyone is a suspect. The story is narrated in the POV of various characters with each of them elucidating their innocence. But, surely the culprit is one amongst them. As the story paces and peeks into each of the character's past, the suspense slowly begins to unfurl with twists and turns. An exciting novel emanating from the author's thoughtful inkling making it an arousing read.
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