Dark and disturbing thriller that is going to be mega. This isn't a book. It's an experience and often an unpleasant one as I found myself putting myself in the uncomfortable shoes of the main character; a character who isn't even sure of her name anymore.
Stephen King, you have serious competition.

A brilliant book, it had me gripped from the very first page. Highly recommended. Five stars

Many thanks to netgalley and Will Dean for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Doug and I went to bed last night around 12:30, our normal bedtime when he has to work the following morning (late, I know, but we're night owls at heart).

I thought I'd read the first couple chapters and then sleep, as I haven't been feeling the greatest and was pretty tired. Further, the first chapter's flowery prose sort of turned me off...soooo not what I was in the mood for.

But no. It didn't happen like that.

I read the whole damn book. After I got started, I literally could not put it down. This is, by far, one of the most compelling novels I've ever read. It's such a difficult and dark tale, but unlike The Four Winds which I opted to give a low rating for its never-ending bleakness, in The Last Thing to Burn, I could feel the hope in every single word the main character uttered; in every thought she had; in all her actions. This book felt nothing like The Four Winds.

I've seen some compare this to Room by Emma Donaghue. Let me tell you...this is so much better than Room. I hated all the goofy baby-talk in Room, and to this day, it's one of my all-time most hated books. The Last to Burn is everything Room should have been.

The epilogue...meh. It's the main reason this book isn't getting five stars. It felt a little too generic and easy after everything I'd read in the previous chapters. I was underwhelmed. Even still, this was an excellent story.

Bottom line: I highly recommend this novel.

Available April 20, 2021.

My profound thanks to NetGalley and Atria for my review copy.

Wow. Very emotional book. Edge of your seat. Jane (not her real name) lives with her husband who is holding her captive. She is held against her will She’s the victim of human trafficking. She has to cook and clean for her husband’ Len. Whst happens in this book is giving a taste of horrible lives women fall into

This book was just okay for me. It had a good (well not good) surprise twist but it was just “meh.” This is the only book I’ve read by this author but I’d definitely try something else and hope for better!

This book does not have a pleasant subject. It is based on human trafficking and in particular regarding two Vietnamese sisters brought to The United Kingdom under false pretenses. The older sister, Thanh Dao, is initially sent to work on a farm, but later sold to a pig farmer, Lenn, who becomes her captor and tormentor. Her captor calls her Jane and is slowly trying to pick away at her identity. She believes her sister Kim-Ly is working as a nail technician and Jane is constantly threatened with her sister’s safety to keep her in line. Every time she does something he does not like she lose something of her few belongings.

Lenn keeps Jane isolated and terrified for seven years. She is crippled in one leg from what she calls “the accident,”but in reality from Lenn’s punishment for trying to escape. She in constant, horrible pain and he carefully doles out pain medication to keep her in line. Jane despises her captor and lives a horrid, unrelenting life.

Two things happen to change the course of Jane and Lenn’s lives. First, Jane becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child. Second, a woman ventures to their farm asking questions and becomes Lenn’s second prisoner. Jane realizes she can no longer keep quiet and must do something to save her child from this miserable existence. What occurred next shocked me to my core. I did not see this coming. As I said, this is a difficult story, but I was mesmerized and read this in one day. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. I gave this book four stars.

Human trafficking is an enormous problem and as much as many seem to think it is random, statistics prove otherwise. We can think our county, our community, our neighborhood is safe from this heinous crime and yet millions of men, women, and children are trafficked each year. Forced labor, sexual exploitation, forced marriages, and even use of extracted organs can all fall under the heading of human trafficking.

For Jane,(Thanh Dao), a Vietnamese woman, brought illegally into the country, where she is trafficked initially to a farm but later is sold to a man, Lenn, who becomes her master in all things. He monitors her at all times, videos her every move and should she go against what he desires, he punishes her by removing things that once linked her to her family. He continual lies about her younger sister's,(Kim-LY) stance as a way to hold Jane in his clutches. She has no way to physically rebel, and yet in her mind she plots and plans every day. Then Jane becomes pregnant and although she thinks she will give birth to a monster like its father, she comes to love the child growing within her. She knows she will do anything possible to protect the daughter she has but there are a number of times when Mary's life hangs in the balance. Adding to the terror of the situation that Jane has suffered for seven years is the fact that her captor has taken another woman and confined her to the basement composed of dirt and detriment. Forced to come to terms with the horrid reality of what has happened she fosters an escape with the other woman and as they make their way find another surprise awaits them.

This harrowing tale had an aura of authenticity, as one that made the reader feel as if they too, were in the isolated farmhouse with Jane. The author's depiction of Lenn, the enslaver, was absolutely frightening. He was a man who was so influenced by his now dead mother that he found it easy to travel the road to cruelty and punishment. However, as so many subjugators do, he would sometimes show a spot of kindness and Jane would be grateful and subdued.

This heartrending book was one that had this reader frantic at times as to both the uncertainly and cruelty of Jane's situation, offering up prayers that she would one day find her way to the freedom she so richly deserved. Although this was a fictitious story, the elements of it were true. For more on the facts of human trafficking https://www.factretriever.com/human-trafficking-facts

Thank you to Will Dean, Atria Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book due out April 20, 2021

The Last Thing To Burn by Will Dean - a tense, dark parable of human trafficking and modern slavery.

Description

A dark and brilliant new standalone thriller from a rising star in the crime genre.

A woman being held captive is willing to risk everything to save herself, her unborn child, and her captor’s latest victim in this claustrophobic thriller in the tradition of Misery and Room.

On an isolated farm in the United Kingdom, a woman is trapped by the monster who kidnapped her seven years ago. When she discovers she is pregnant, she resolves to protect her child no matter the cost, and starts to meticulously plan her escape. But when another woman is brought into the fold on the farm, her plans go awry. Can she save herself, her child, and this innocent woman at the same time? Or is she doomed to spend the remainder of her life captive on this farm?

Intense, dark, and utterly gripping The Last Thing to Burn is a breathtaking thriller from an author to watch.

The Review

Jane is not her real name, and Len is the “gentleman” farmer holding her captive. Its not a bad life is it Jane is repeated each evening as Len settles down to watch TV in the farmhouse that is Janes prison. Conditions are third world, the mould, the earth forming the floor of the bathroom and the floorboards creating a dungeon comparable to Stephen KIngs Misery, and confinement that strikes a similarity to Emma Donoghue's Room

The fetor of domestic abuse builds to a climax that ensures you hold your breath until the last page. The sense of isolation is highlighted when Jane meets a neighbour looking for a field to rent for her horse. Jane is filmed whilst Len is out farming, at every point on his land he can see the house. He will return home to watch the film of the tasks Jane has performed in a day. The constant comparison of Jane to his mother, the fact that Jane can only wear his mothers garments, can only cook the meals she cooked, life for Jane is lived in his mothers dark umbrage.

The catalyst is Jane's maternal instinct to protect her unborn baby, combined with a desperation to contact her sister who she had believed is working in Manchester to pay off the traffickers. It is then that escape is the only way out. The sense of hopelessness, wretchedness and lost hopes proliferate, but Jane manages to plot her escape having found that Len is holding another woman captive in the dank cellar of the farmhouse.

The writing is taut, chilling and it is more than a little devastating to imagine that anyone is existing within the confines of a cruel dungeon. Whilst human trafficking and modern slavery make the news headlines Will Dean manages to bring its grim existence to the fore. The book is not an easy read, it is unsettling and chilling whilst it feels very real. The atmosphere builds and and the journey we are taken on with Jane is a stop/start ride in her bid for a better life. We hold our breath in her attempts to flee.

It is a compelling examination of modern themes, the human story behind the headlines. Gripping, compulsive reading that will stay with you long after you have put it down.

Rating 5/5
#thelastthingtoburn #willdean #netgalley

Absolutely unputdownable!

From page one I was pulled in and finished this amazing read in only a couple of sittings!

Her captor calls her Jane. That is not her real name but in her seven years of captivity it has become the name the monster uses to address her with. She will never accept this name. Nor will she ever accept her fate as his prisoner.

But now it’s more than just “Jane’s” freedom on the line. She has a child to think of. And maybe more casualties of her captor.

My heart was thumping from beginning to end. You could feel “Jane’s” fear, loathing and frustration. Her courage and will to survive showed in every step she took. The author did an amazing job to bring the characters to life.

I have read a few similar books with a similar premise of women being held captive. There was something about this book felt so different. I felt like I was trapped in the cabin with “Jane”.

I had seen so much hype for this book so I went in with a bit of trepidation that once again I would be let down. Not a chance! One of the best reads so far for 2021. Highly recommend!

A buddy read with Susanne.

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to Maudee Genao at Atria Books and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

Riveting! Not a typical kidnapping trope, this novel is a gripping and raw depiction of human trafficking. Fast paced and atmospheric, the author pulled me right into the story. Brilliantly written with multidimensional characters and a dark narrative of one woman's determination to survive.

The Last Thing to Burn is incredibly immersive; you feel the protagonist’s pain. Will Dean strikes the perfect balance in showing us stark brutality and abuse, but before it becomes too much to take, he pulls back and gives us love and lightness. Dean writes scenes with the mundanity, humility, and terror reminiscent of The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The Last Thing to Burn is an immersive experience, a haunting story, a shocking narrative of survival, and a gorgeously written novel.

Dark, emotional, tense, medium-paced

Went into this thinking it was going to be the "English Version" of The Room. It was actually more graphic and twisted, in my opinion.

Nary a moment goes by that “Jane” does not plan for her captor’s death

Upon being the victim of human trafficking, we learn why.

“Jane” whose real name is Thanh Dao has been held captive by Lenn for seven (7) long years. Originally from Vietnam, she now resides in a farmhouse somewhere in England. Held against her will.

Thanh Dao and her sister Kim-Ly originally traveled to England with the promise of employment. Kim-Ly, she is told, is working at a Nail Salon in Manchester and so “Jane” stays, to keep her sister safe.

After years in captivity, Jane finds herself in a bind. She is pregnant and keeping her child safe is, of course, of the utmost importance. Lenn has taken everything away from her, but he will not take her baby.

Dark, harrowing, powerful, taut, and terrifying, “The Last Thing to Burn” by Will Dean is an incredible character-driven suspense novel that is all-consuming.

As soon as I started reading this dastardly tale, that flame inside of me ignited and I was all in. Pulse-pounding in desperation, I quickly flipped each page, anxious to find out what would happen next. Horrified, petrified, and hopeful all at the same time.

A thrilling, captivating, character-driven novel that delves into extremely difficult subjects, “The Last Thing to Burn” knocked my socks off and I think it will do the same for you as well. This is yet another brilliant read that will most certainly appear on my Goodreads best-of-list for 2021.

Another buddy read with Kaceey that gave us much to discuss.

Thank you to Maudee Genao at Atria Books for the galley and NetGalley for the e-arc.

Published on Goodreads, Twitter, and Insta.

This is a really difficult read; because of the content not the writing. It's very well done. Fast-paced and exciting but still with heart. And it's a hugely important topic, too. Knowing these things are really going on made the read even harder.

This is not your typical kidnapping story. Because it could happen to anyone. Thus was a seriously haunting story about human trafficking.

Thanh Dao and her sister have come to the UK from Vietnam in hopes of a better life. What happens instead becomes a nightmare. Now called Jane, Thanh Dao is holding onto her last thread of humanity after seven years being held captive by a man who says she is his wife.

This is the most claustrophobic book I've read in a long time and you will hate this man so much you will feel your skin crawl. An absolutely great book I recommend! It does get feel a bit rushed at the end and I would have liked to know more about how the monster came to be, but alas, was still very good.

This book grabbed me immediately. A woman held in captivity will do just about anything for her captor but will not let go of her identity. Every emotion is felt throughout this story and the description of the setting will make you feel as if you’re sitting on the plastic covered sofa watching a tragedy unfold.

Brutal, raw, dark and absolutely engrossing.

When I started this book I honestly rolled my eyes and thought, not this again. I've read and listened to a lot of books with very similar themes in recent months and was fearful of being bored by essentially the same story. Well, after the first few pages not alone did I forget about being bored, I also forgot to breathe.

From the first few words, I was immediately consumed by Jane's fear, desperation and hunger. The tension within this book is immediate, it throws you straight into the action and somehow that tension continues to build right until those final scenes.

Dean portrays the warped relationship between Jane and Lenn (her captor) so delicately and so forcefully all at once. He shows just how much control Lenn has and exerts over her while simultaneously conveying an element of care given to her.

As the story develops Jane is faced with many almost impossible decisions. Dean gracefully negotiates these moral dilemmas and really makes you question, what would you do in these scenarios? It's not always as simple as right or wrong.

Dean's style is suitably claustrophobic, chilling and unrelenting. He has created a world so vivid and menacing. Once you read those first few lines he instantaneously picks you up, plunges you head first into that world and does not let you come up for air until the very last page.

Already one of my top reads for 2021.

4.5* gore score 1/5
A new author to me. A great read, kept me anxiously turning the pages.
Thanh or Jane as she is being called is a victim of people trafficking having come from Vietnam living in a remote farmhouse in the UK being kept as a slave ‘wife’ and totally controlled by her captor Len. She has been there 7 years. A harrowing very personal insight into the hell of human trafficking. Her story is heartbreaking, the burning of her few possessions really tugged on my heartstrings. I really felt her despair and helplessness. Having Huong makes her fiercely protective, her desperation is palpable.
There is some repetition, the majority of which I felt reinforced the monotony and drudgery of her life. I could have done without the repeated recited parts about her being Huong’s mother, father, auntie etc
I really engaged with Thanh/ Jane and was desperately willing her to escape this truly evil man. We get the briefest of hints at how he became the man he is.
I was on tenterhooks, it was nail bitingly tense at the end. The suspense is well maintained.
A short book at 286 pages.

Heartbreaking, moving story of one woman’s horrific experience after she was a victim of human trafficking. Thanh Dao travels from Vietnam with her sister in hopes of a better life and employment opportunities that she wouldn’t have in her own country. When she arrives she is treated horribly and eventually sold to a man who threatens her sister’s safety if she tries to escape. Since she was separated almost upon arrival, she has no choice but to comply to keep her sister safe. Important, but difficult to read subject matter, this book shines a light on a global crisis that needs to be fixed.

My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3823551301">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />

The Last Thing To Burn - Will Dean<br /><br />Thanh (a Vietnamese victim of human trafficking) is held captive on an isolated fenland farm somewhere near Kings Lynn by Farmer Lenn who controls and watches her every move, her only contact with the outside world are occasional letters from her sister.<br />With the themes of domestic control and abuse it is hard not to compare it to Behind Closed Doors by BA Paris and Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes, and I'm sorry to say it didn't grab me to anything like the same degree.<br />I found it bleakly atmospheric, very readable if somewhat repetitive in the claustrophobic confinement of the farmhouse.<br />The tension and pace ramps up massively in the last 20%.<br />In summary, an original setup, well executed, good but not great.<br /><br />4*<br /><br />Thanks to Netgalley for allowing access to this book in return for an honest review.<br />
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