Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a proof copy of The Burning Men when I attended Harrogate Crime Festival a couple of years ago. Due to other commitments, it has taken me until now (and an eBook and physical book purchase) to find the time to read it and part of me is kicking myself for taking so long.
The opening chapter starts with a fire crew attending a burning building where there is a man trapped inside. Whilst we do not know the outcome of this call it forms the basis for what follows. Five years later one of the firemen from that call is burned to death at his own wedding and DI Alex Finn and newly transferred DC Mattie Paulsen are called in to investigate. When another member of the same crew meets a similar fate what they are left to work out is who is behind these killings and why before any more of the team are killed.
This is a book that is full of twists and turns as you try to work out who is behind all the murders. As the book progresses you get to understand the why and your faith in those we trust to protect us is challenged. That being said I am not sure that even they deserved the fate that awaited them. The who does take longer to work out as there are several suspects that could easily have motive and when the killer is revealed it was not who I was expecting.
DI Finn and DC Paulsen do not always see eye to eye as they are both dealing with issues in their personal life that at times can cloud their judgement and hamper the investigation. DI Finn has only just buried his wife, but feels he needs the routine and distraction of a case to help him get through the day. DC Paulsen is hiding the reason why she has transferred from her old station and is not quick to trust anyone or open up to them which can make her seem aloof. Despite all this they do seem to make it work and by the end of the investigation there is definitely signs of a working respect for each other.
Whilst the murders are in themselves quite gruesome we are treated more to the aftermath than any suffering that the victim may have endured. With a whole bunch of flawed characters many of whom did the wrong thing for what they believed were the right reasons, The Burning Men is a book that will keep you hooked and for me is both a great start to a series and one heck of a debut for its author

The burning men by Will Shindler kept me interested and captivated within the book, i had a few nail biting moments and times i had to take a tea break as i was very engrossed in it that i hadn't realised how fast time flied by. It is a crime thrillers that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next or who will be next. The plot and storyline is very interesting, very fast paced which i enjoy in my books. Grabbed my attention from the start, after i finished the book i was thinking about it for a few days that i ended up reading it again in case i missed some moments that i was confused in.

Each time i read the book i was just the same intrigued by it and very much enjoyed, Great dialogue and character development was written perfectly. Overall it is a fast paced book that will keep you interested from beginning to end. If you're a fan of crime thrillers then this book is definitely for you.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to fellow book readers, family and friends.

WoW....what a fantastic start to a nook ..........The Burning Men by Will Shindler was. It's a brilliant debut novel; with believable characters, it's a fast paced story that's full of twists and turns and I didn't see coming. This is all I love about a good book.

I highly recommend this book it was a brilliant read.

Big thank you to the author Will Shindler the author, Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed.

A team of firemen raced into a burning building to find a man seen trapped inside. They're too late and gradually the men involved all leave the force. Then one day one of them is burnt to death on his wedding day. Another one soon also dies. Who is killing these men and does it have anything to do with the original fire?

Wow what a thrill ride this book was. There are so many twists and turns in this, you're never sure which way its going to go until the end. I figured out odd bits but not all. The ending is well done and tied the story off as expected. I want to read more of Finn and Paulson. The writing is good and builds up each scene with excellent description. The plot is dark but builds quickly. I really liked Finn and the fact his grief wasn't just washed under the carpet, we watch him deal with it each day. A brilliant thriller.

Well how to even begin describing this book. DI Alex Finn has quickly shot up the list of my favourite police officers. A wonderfully created character as were the other characters in the book. And the entire plot was crafted like a genius, from the very beginning to the very end. There were twists abound in this book and Mr Shindler just kept toying with the readers in my opinion. All through the book I was reading with the feeling that I had the book all figured out and so I was just not ready for the twist when it came. Kudos to Will Shindler for writing such a wonderful book and I look forward to the next book in the series, And a big thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me this book in exchange of my honest review.

Really enjoyed this book. Fast paced, likeable and particularly nasty characters and plots within plots. All make for a cracking read. Looking forward to Will's next book. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review.

An impressive and original debut. Five years ago, a fire crew race into a burning London high-rise development but fail to rescue a man. Within months they all quit the service. Now, two of them have been set alight and the police need to uncover what happened before the others burn. A clever and gripping plot kept me engrossed in this compulsive and satisfying read. Highly recommend.

The story begins five years before when a fire consumes the construction site of a prestige development in Pacific Square, London. A team of five firefighters are first on the scene when they see a man waving from a third floor window. They rush inside to his rescue, emerging soon after with the body of a man who is then identified as well known money launderer, Erik Whitlock. Within 18 months, all five members of the team have taken early retirement.

Five years later, these same men are now being targeted after one of them is set alight at his own wedding reception. The remaining four fear they are being singled out for a decision they made five years previous...a fear that soon becomes a reality when yet another of them is found dead, burned alive. Who is doing this?

DI Alex Finn is assigned to the case after recently returning to work after the death of his wife Karin from an aggressive brain tumour. He is partnered with DC Mattie Paulson, as some kind of mentor to the young DC, who has her own demons to battle after a recent investigation into a paedophile.

The remaining three ex-firies are tight-lipped, saying nothing, even if it could help pinpoint who is singling them out and killing them all one by one. Whilst in the background corruption runs deep as tabs are being keps on Finn and Paulson's investigation.

A solid police procedural with some gruesome scenes but with an intriguing plot that keeps you guessing, THE BURNING MEN is a chilling, gritty and well written debut with twists, tension and plenty of suspense.

Recommended for fans of this genre.

I would like to thank #WillShindler, #NetGalley and #HodderAndStoughton for an ARC of #TheBurningMen in exchange for an honest review.

I often mention in my reviews that Crime Thrillers are a very over-saturated genre. It seems every 5 minutes there’s a release of ‘the first book in the series of DI OldSchool GrizzleMan and his partner DC Woman WithIssues’. As much as I love the genre it does get a bit waring sometimes but every now and again I find a series I genuinely want to read more of that makes a competent and great start at pulling me in. The Burning Man is a great example of this and manages to avoid a lot of the pitfalls that other books I have read recently have fallen headfirst into.

The first pitfall is usually the crime itself that the book is a primary focus on. Some series I have read try too hard to establish their main characters in the first book and as such forgo an actual interesting plot. In The Burning Man however, the crime itself is quite gruesome and there’s a good pacey investigation that keeps you guessing all the way through. There aren’t too many names and characters to get straight in your head either which can be difficult at the start of a series when the author is trying to introduce the police force as well as the victims and suspects. I guessed the twist a little earlier than the reveal but I hadn’t seen it coming from miles away either. The plot was well constructed and kept enough cards close to its chest to keep its reader’s interest high. My only annoyance was that there is a bit of a spoiler on the front cover of the book!

The second potential pitfall is the main characters, they can be too stereotypical and I have seen first books in a series give far too much away to the point where I lose interest in picking up the next book. Although The Burning Men does have the stereotypical male, old, grumpy DI taking a broken and yet intriguing woman under his wing, it didn’t feel too overdone here. Finn is just getting over the death of his wife so we get a lot of personal information but we also get to see some of his vulnerabilities as well. There’s a lot of talk of him only firing at 80% and it’ll be really interesting to see him later on in the series when he is back to full strength. We really got a feeling of character development with him but without giving too much away about the rest of his character. DC Paulsen is a different kettle of fish and I didn’t perhaps like her as much as I had hoped. I did like the fact that her previous issues with another unit was kept from the reader until right near the end – although perhaps I would have left it to explore more in later books which would have hooked the reader in. She didn’t really feel as interesting a character as I would have liked – lots of characters seemed to have opinions that there was something different about her but I didn’t really see it, personally.

The third pitfall is giving the series somewhere to progress – just enjoying the crime or the characters isn’t always a guarantee that a reader will invest in future books. The Burning Men does well here in that although the crime itself is solved and the book could easily be read as standalone, there is a bit of a cliffhanger twist reveal at the end of the book and more questions to be asked. It’s certainly inspired me to keep looking out for the next installment of the series.

Overall, The Burning Men is a well-constructed start to an interesting crime thriller series – I’m looking forward to the next one! Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Firefighters are called to the construction site of One Pacific Square the building is ablaze but a man is seen in the building. 4 firefighters enter the building to rescue the trapped man but they are too late. The man was a known middle man for criminals who was suspected of helping to launder money from the Stanstead heist.
When one of the firefighters is found burned to death in a toilet at his own wedding the initial thought is that it was a one off incident, but when a second is found burned to death in his Maserati DI Alex Finn and DC Mattie Paulson begin to think someone is targeting the men. They need to find out why and how before anyone else is killed.
I like the characters of Finn, Paulson and Ojo but I did find the book a bit slow at times.

I really enjoyed this book, it kept me gripped from the outset, it had good strong characters and best of all the perpetrator of the crimes wasn't easy to guess.
Newly bereaved DI Alex Finn returns to work and is assigned to the case of the burning to death of a former firefighter who has been set alight on the day of his wedding. He's also given a new DC to work with, Mattie Paulsen, who is something of an enigma. The collaboration between these two runs throughout the book, from the initial unease and strain of two people who don't know each other, to their eventual understanding and alliance.
When more former firefighters from the same team are also murdered by being burnt to death the investigation turns to a serious fire they all attended, where a member of a crime gang lost his life. Are their lives being lost because something happened at that fire?
I'm looking forward to Alex Finn and Mattie Paulsen's next episode of crime solving!.

I love discovering new authors and Will Shindler is definitely a new author for me. I love a good crime, murder mystery type of read and oh boy was 'The Burning Men' good or was it good? I think that you can gather by now that I absolutely loved 'The Burning Men' but more about that in a bit.
Detective Inspector Alex Finn is an interesting and complex character. As the story begins, we learn that Finn was married and that sadly his wife was diagnosed as being terminally ill. I think that Finn decided that he was going to put a brave face on things and he didn't want to show outsiders how badly the loss of his wife was affecting him. By the time he goes back to work, he just wants to be treated normally and he doesn't want people to give him pitying looks or make some reference to his loss. When Finn does go back to work, he uses work as his coping mechanism as that means that he has less time to think and less time to spend on his own. Finn isn't exactly very popular with many of his colleagues. He is a bit of a funny fish in the sense that he can be direct, brutally honest, abrupt, blunt one minute and then the next he shows a fair amount of compassion. I will say that Finn seems to be a top rate police officer. He is tough, determined, thorough and tenacious. He is determined to get justice for the victims of crime and for their families. He will not stop investigating until he has chased down every lead and he has satisfied his own curiosity.
It didn't take me long at all to get into this book. In fact I was drawn into this story from the pretty horrific synopsis alone and then the story inside the book just sealed the deal as it were. I totally immersed myself in the story. I read the book over the course of a day because I simply couldn't bear to be parted from the book for even a single second. The book wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. The series of murders described in the book are so horrific in nature that I just had to keep reading to find out whether or not Finn and his team solved the case and apprehended the murderer. The pages turned over increasingly quickly as my desperation to find out how the story concluded grew and grew. All too quickly I reached the end of the story which I was disappointed about. I don't mean that as a criticism of the author. I had been enjoying the author's writing style, the characters and the storylines so much that I just didn't want the book to end.
''The Burning Men' is absolutely, totally and utterly brilliantly written. Will has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. As I mention above the author got my attention from the start with the eye catching synopsis, which encouraged me to open the book and read the pages within. I was blown away by how fabulous a story this was. The book is written using different timelines. I know that sounds a bit confusing but I will explain. The story starts with a chapter detailing events as they happened five years previous to the main body of the story. There are also further flashbacks to past events. Then we have the main body of the story which focuses on the series of crimes as they happen in the present day. This might sound a complicated way of telling the story but it really isn't. In fact I have probably made it sound more complicated than it is. This way of telling the story really does work, the different timelines interlink well and the story flows seamlessly as a result.
Reading this book felt like being on one hell of a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with more twists and turns to the story than you would find on a 'Snakes & Ladders' board. Just when you thought that the action had settled down, that you could reclaim your stomach, take a minute to catch your breath and gather your thoughts then off the action would go again. Some of the details in the book made me wince and almost dive for cover behind a cushion, because the details were so gruesome in nature.
In short, 'The Burning Men' was an amazing read and it has definitely hit my top ten reads of 2020 list. I was blown away by the story and by the characters. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I will definitely be reading more of Will's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

One man died in a fire, but now the fire fighters who helped to put out that blaze are being targeted systematically and it is very personal. They are all being burned to death and in the most horrific ways imaginable.

All the clues point out to one major blaze in the city, and of course to money in some form. Four of the men seem to have money much more than their means - fancy weddings, posh cars and lifestyles way beyond their pensions. It is upto the detectives trying to solve the first burning to find out who and why this is happening. The killings do not affect anyone else - the murderer is very careful to see that the fire does not spread and it only affects one man at a time but time is running out for the other remaining men.

Very well written both from the story line as well as the detective side this was a book you could not put down till it was done.

This is a gripping and fast paced thriller. A fire crew are sent into a burning construction site to rescue a trapped man. Five years later, the crew have all left the service, are not in contact with one another until one of them is burnt to death. Newly widowed detective Finn investigates alongside his enigmatic new constable Mattie Paulsen. It is an exciting, often brutally graphic novel and the first of a new crime series.

This is the first in a new crime series and it is absolutely thrilling! The author has certainly made his mark with a fantastic plot which is easy to follow but filled with murders and creative story telling. I can't wait to see what comes next. one of the best debut novels I have read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This is an excellent thriller which gripped me from start to finish. The book moves in two time frames: the night of the fire at One Pacific Square five years ago and more recently when ghosts of that night continue to make themselves known.

Fire crews are called to a massive blaze at Pacific Square, a sprawling development site similar to The Shard in London. The group of first responders at the site spot a single figure at a third floor window and are keen to get inside to locate the person but are duty bound to wait for the commander's go-ahead before they can access the building. Decisions made that night will set in motion a chain of events which will cost some of the crew their lives.

Five years on, retired firefighter Adesh Kaul is marrying the love of his life Stephanie. The wedding is a no-expense-spared celebration of their union and everyone is having the best time until panic breaks out with a fire in the gents toilets. The scenes which greet the firefighters are unimaginable. From thereon the detective team signed up to solve what turns out to be a murder scene at the wedding are inundated with suggestions and myths but very little in the way of solid facts. The detective leading the team, DI Alex Finn, is mourning the very recent loss of his wife and is desperate for some sense of normality in his life, hoping that his return to work will give him the routine that he needs. With a new DC on his team that's not what he gets - but the complexities of the case give him little time to worry about things.

Finn sends new recruit Paulsen to discuss recent events with the team investigating a possible link between Pacific Square and a notorious bank heist around the time of the fire which is yet to be solved. She's not made overly welcome, with some of the team getting particularly jumpy in her presence. There are secrets being held close to chests wherever you look in this tale - but somebody seems to know all the secrets and is prepared to go to extreme lengths to make sure those involved pay the ultimate price.

Who is pulling the strings in this whole operation though? With a mythical criminal known as The Handyman seeming to get mentions wherever Finn turns he needs to work out who this person is - if he actually exists - and try to put a stop to any further loss of life.

This is a story of how guilt affects different people in different ways and just how far some people will go to make sure the truth comes out. With shocking scenes throughout, this is a book which had me mulling over the story long after I put it down. Will Shindler has impressed me with his writing and I am keen to read more of his work very soon.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Burning Men’ by Will Shindler in exchange for an honest review.

“They left him to die. Now it’s their turn to burn”

This is the first in a new series of police procedurals set in South London. It leads are DI Alex Finn and DC Mattie Paulsen. Finn’s wife has recently died and many in his department feel that he has come back to work too soon. Paulsen is the newest member of the team, transferred in from another area. She has her own demons and wanted a fresh start. Both characters are in a period of transition and get off to a shaky start.

As for the main plot: five years previously a South London development had caught fire. When a man is spotted at a window, a close knit team of fire fighters rush in to save him. Yet they emerge without recovering his body. In the months following they each quit the fire service and break contact with the others.

In the present one of them is set alight at his own wedding reception. Not long after this a second member of the former team is discovered, again a smoking corpse. Three members of the team are left and it seems someone is picking them off one by one. Yet why?

One clue might be the identity of the man who died in the fire five years previously. He had been known to the police as a money launderer and was believed to have laundered the proceeds of a high value raid on a security van earlier that year.

That robbery was believed to be the work of The Handyman, an all-powerful underworld figure. While seasoned police like Finn consider him an urban legend or tabloid creation, others perpetuate his myth. He even has a jaunty theme song: ‘Who can rob at sunrise? Sprinkle it with gold, Cover it in diamonds and a miracle or two? The Handyman. The Handyman can . . .’

Overall, I found this an intelligent, well constructed police procedural with plenty of excitement and twists and turns. Will Shindler strikes a good balance between exploring the dynamics between Finn and his team and the case in hand.

This opening novel bodes well for the series and I will look forward to reading more of the Finn and Paulsen series in due course.

A high rise development office building, Pacific Square is on fire. The first responders, Red Watch enter the burning building in search of a ma n believed to be still inside. But Erik Whitlock died at the scene. Within 18 months of the fire all five of the Red Watch first responders had taken early retirement. Five years later the first responders are being targeted. DI Finn and DC Mattie Paulsen have to solve this case quickly before any ore bodies turn up.

This is a complex read but it drew me I from the first page. We get lots of background information on Finn and Paulsen. The story moves back and forward in time. Its plotline is multilayered. With two of the firemen bodies being burnt, what's the connection? The pace is fast and the storyline is tense and gripping. A fantastic start to a new police procedural series.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author Will Shindler for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

On a personal note, being married to a former firefighter, the synopsis for ‘The Burning Men’ both intrigued and horrified me at the same time, and I know only too well the camaraderie that they share - that unbreakable bond that ensures that no matter how dangerous a situation is, they know without question that each one of them has the others’ backs.

However, for a team of London firefighters, called out to a fire in a partly constructed building, with the intention of rescuing a man seen on one of the upper floors, it’s the night that the camaraderie stops for five of the crew members, and the bond that they have shared will be a thing of the past. They never did rescue the man, didn’t manage to retrieve his body, which would have brought some sort of closure for his family. In the next few months all of them will have left the fire service, and vow never to speak of that night again - and there’s a very good reason for that decision.

Five years later, one of the men is set alight at his own wedding reception, and shortly after, another of them is discovered, having been burnt to death with the aid of accelerants. Someone is clearly out to get this team of former firefighters, but who and why? All I know is I didn’t guess who it was!

DI Alex Finn and his new partner DC Mattie Paulson are in charge of the investigation, but this isn’t going to be an easy working relationship - Finn has recently lost his wife Karin, and is still mired in the depths of his grief, and Paulson clearly has anger issues, from problems that she has yet to resolve. Nevertheless they’ll have to put their personal problems to one side to get to the bottom of this very complex case.

The first in the DI Alex Finn series, is a unique and cleverly written storyline which ratchets up the narrative tension to screaming point, as it explores firefighters’ innermost fears. Like the motif of observation, this novel is a truly visual and frightening story, and I can’t praise it enough. Excellent!