The Last Thing to Burn
Longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and shortlisted for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year
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4.3 • 132 Ratings
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
He is her husband. She is his captive.
'Outstanding. The best thriller in years' MARTINA COLE
'One of the best thrillers I have read in years' THE OBSERVER
'I couldn't put it down. A visceral nightmare of a book with one of the most evil villains I've come across in a long time. Powerful writing' STEVE CAVANAGH
'Short, sharp shocker' THE TIMES
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 how she got to the UK: 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 . . .
'A true nail-biter' THE GUARDIAN
'Ratchets up the tension to the point where I had to check my pulse' LIZ NUGENT
'Heart-stoppingly suspenseful, a masterclass in tension' ERIN KELLY
'An unbearably tense read, with incredible writing' RAGNAR JONASSON
'I could not stop reading this! Brilliantly done' DENISE MINA
'Sensational. Claustrophobic, compulsive, and almost unbearably tense it's a heart-in-mouth read that's packed with suspense. Readers will be saying 'just one more page' all the way from the gripping beginning to the heart-stopping end' C.L. TAYLOR
'Seriously nail-biting stuff! I raced through it, my heart in my mouth' EMMA CURTIS
'Tremendously powerful and fantastically written, heart-stopping from page one. Expect to see it on all the award lists' SARAH HILARY
** THE LAST PASSENGER IS AVAILABLE NOW - 'Astonishing' IAN RANKIN; 'The apex of suspense writing' STEVE CAVANAGH **
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Trafficked Vietnamese illegal Thanh Dao, the narrator of this outstanding and heart-wrenching thriller from Dean (the Tuva Moodyson mysteries), endures an endless marathon of household labor, as well as just about every type of abuse imaginable, on a remote pig farm in Britain's Fenlands. About the only spark of hope sustaining the young woman—whom her captor, Lenn, insists on calling Jane, his late mother's name—is the belief that her younger sister remains free in Manchester, though Lenn has threatened to ensure the sister is deported if Thanh tries to escape or kills herself. The stakes rise when Thanh discovers she's pregnant and Lenn imprisons a local woman who comes by to inquire about boarding her horse on the farm. As pressure increases from all quarters on Thanh, the tension becomes at times almost unbearable, relieved only by some shocking twists. With his deceptively soft-spoken but steely protagonist, determined to survive against staggering odds, Dean explores the resilience of the human spirit, even in the face of unfathomable evil. This harrowing journey is one worth taking.
Customer Reviews
The Last thing to Burn
I highly recommend this book. Wonderfully written and brilliantly paced. Terrifying and beautiful.
A compulsive read full of nail-biting suspense!
Wow! What a fantastic book this is! I can be drawn into a book within its first few pages but this one had me within the first few sentences! This is an incredibly well-written story that enthralled me and terrified me in equal measure!
Thanh Dao came to the UK with the promise of a better life, but she soon finds herself held captive by the monster that is Lenn. He calls her Jane and claims they don’t have a bad life together, living on his farm in the middle of nowhere.
Thanh Dao is desperate to escape, but with a mangled foot and Lenn watching her every move, how will she ever get away? As the story progresses the stakes get higher and you’ll be hanging off the edge of your seat right up until the final page!
Never have I wanted so much to be able to jump inside a book and pull a character out of the story. What this poor woman endures will chill you to the bone! I felt myself turning the pages as quickly as the rapid rate my heart was beating whilst joining Thanh Dao in her living nightmare!
Lenn is a vile creature! Everything he says and does makes my skin crawl, I’ve never hated a villain so much in a book before. In my head, I know exactly what he looks like, a dirty, unkempt, uneducated man who is extremely sick in the head! Can you tell I don’t like him? Honestly, he’s left me raging!
Throughout this book my heart pounded, I held my breath, my anger burned and the tears flowed! What an emotional rollercoaster ride this took me on.
The suspense is insane and the twists I did not see coming! If you love psychological suspense books then I implore you to read this one!
What makes me most sad is that human trafficking is a thing! Exploitation is happening all around the world right now! To all the Jane’s out there I pray that you find your freedom 😢
I want to say a huge thank you to the author Will Dean for writing such a masterpiece. This book deserves so much recognition. If you’re reading this review, please know that your book is right up there in my top 5 all-time favourite reads!
Fantastic
Absolutely loved this book. Kept me hooked all the way through it.