While You Are Waiting... A Slow Fire Burning, by Paula Hawkins
A Slow Fire Burning is the latest tale of psychological suspense from the author of the blockbuster bestseller Girl on the Train. A young man, Daniel Sutherland, has been gruesomely murdered, and it turns out there are a number of people that could have wished him dead. Daniel is the twenty-something year old son of Angela, who died under mysterious circumstances a few years before, and through the inner testimonies of the other characters, we come to see that Daniel was extremely troubled, and had a mostly negative impact on each suspect. Also weaving through the narrative is a novel within a novel, a suspense tale penned by one of the suspects, Theo Meyerson, a novel that may have been plagiarized from the very real, unpublished memoir of another suspect, Miriam. Moving in and out of the main plot is Laura, a challenged young woman, who, besides ending up as the chief suspect in the murder, has her own tragic backstory. With so much packed into this intricate plot, it's no wonder there are over 200 holds!
So, put yourself in the queue if you haven't already, and while you're waiting for your turn, try one of these similar titles, sitting on our shelves right now:
The Girl Before, by JP Delaney: In The Girl Before, a young woman named Emma moves into a strikingly-designed, architectural masterpiece of a house. As much as she loves the house and the comfort it brings her, she must adhere to the increasingly restrictive, borderline oppressive rules of the house's architect. When Emma dies suddenly and mysteriously, the house welcomes a new tenant, Jane, who unknowingly follows the same horrific path as her predecessor. Like A Slow Fire Burning, the plot unfolds through the alternating perspectives of the characters, twisting and turning around the central mystery that readers won't see coming. For another great thriller where elegant living arrangements come at a twisted, possibly deadly cost, try Peter Swanson's Her Every Fear.
The Furies, by Natalie Haynes: A combination of past trauma and the claustrophobic atmosphere of a high school in Edinburgh, Scotland causes one drama teacher to descend slowly into madness. This novel is an excellent example of the unreliable narrator which features prominently among the characters of Hawkins's novels. In the midst of the cold, dark Scottish winter, Alex, the teacher, begins to suspect that her students, a group of troubled teens, are playing a dangerous game with her, but is it really just all in her head? For more Campus lit, thrilling and otherwise, check out the current display in the library, or our recommendations, here.
Disclaimer, by Renee Knight: As with A Slow Fire Burning, Disclaimer has a book within a book, ostensibly of the fictive variety, except to one character for whom the mysterious book tells a story that hits way too close to home. Documentarian Catherine Ravenscroft discovers the novel on her nightstand, though she has no recollection of how it got there. Even more mysterious, the novel seems to be telling her story, an accounting of a secret from her past that if revealed would certainly spell the end of her seemingly perfect life. For another great twisting psychological thriller that uses the book within a book motif, put yourself on hold for The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz.