A horrifying but beautiful story of modern slavery. I feel you get to know the characters so well. I desperately wanted to keep reading, to see her get her freedom and peace.

I do like a book where we start at the beginning, the plague such as it is, we see the patient in A&E going from flu to at deaths door in under 4 hours. How the doctors review to see what they missed because patients don't deteriorate like that without warning (usually) and the doctor flagging the plague and being ignored.

I liked that you can see how easy something like this could happen and bizarre how she started this before covid kicked off yet you can relate to so much. We flip between characters, families, people dying, losing their loved ones. The governments responses, how people react/respond, it is really dark and dire in some places but also great shows of strength and I love how strong the women become. In a world where men are dropping like flies we need women to step up, quickly train and take the reins.

It took a bit to settle when the story jumped from different people and view points but it was interesting to see such far reach. Couples, the doctor, how the losses impact on relationships and individuals, the route to working on the vaccine. How scary it would be to loose so many specialised trained males and scrambling to get their replacements, women or the little surviving men, up to speed.

It gives you a lot to think about, I know for some it may be too close to the current pandemic but I think it highlights how much worse things could be and insane how there are similarities! 3.5/5 for me this time. It certainly doesn't read like a debut, it is very well rounded, I look forward to this authors next offering.

An excellent book - modern day slavery is such a difficult subject but this was written with compassion and care. I was fully invested with the characters and willing them to survive. Do read this important and we’ll written story!

In the style of other women held captive you get what you are expecting. But it’s a slight twist. I can’t say any more without giving the plot away. A fabulous book. Grim at times as you’d expect but well written.

This is an incredibly well written book covering themes of imprisonment, abuse and people trafficking.

By limiting the "action" to one solitary farm, the author manages to create an intensity which builds the tension and raises the stakes for Jane, our imprisoned narrator.

The captor, Lenn, is exceptionally well written and the dialogue perfectly brought him to life in my mind; so much so that I felt disgusted by, and nauseaous about, him at many points in the book.

The ending really builds on the tension throughout the book and I found myself flying through the final third.
My only critique is that, around the halfway mark, I found it to be a little bit slow, and heavy on detail. This is a double edged sword because the detail is what makes it such a vivid book, but it just lost a little pace for me personally.

I thoroughly recommend this book and will definitely read nore Will Dean.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

Absolutely full of suspense and darkness. Will Dean has created a thriller that will disturb you from the very first until the last page. You are drawn in quickly into Jane's world, and can feel her fear and sorrow coming off the page. Superb.

I honestly don’t know where to start with this review. I really can’t adequately put into words my thoughts and feelings about this book. It really is quite simply brilliant, a masterful piece of writing. I was captivated from start to finish, and even afterwards I couldn’t get Jane’s story out of my mind. This book really got under my skin.

Imprisoned, alone and with no real means of escape, it really does feel like Jane is in a hopeless situation. Told in first-person narrative, the reader has the opportunity to gain insight into Jane’s character and to understand her thoughts and emotions surrounding her life in captivity and her feelings towards her captor. A simple yet effective technique to draw the reader further into the story.

It is a story of coercion, control, abuse and modern slavery. Each day, Jane struggles to maintain her own sense of identity. She is a strong, intelligent and, despite her unbearable existence, she proves herself to be a surprisingly resilient character. She has such spirit and determination, her focus being to get back to her sister.

The villain of the story is Jane’s husband, Lenn. Through Jane’s narrative, we learn of his obsession with order and control (it’s either his way or it’s wrong) but we actually learn very little about the man himself. This is absolutely Jane’s story, not his. It was the small and unfeeling acts that really struck me, such as making Jane choose which of the few precious mementoes of her previous life will be destroyed as punishment for a perceived wrong-doing. Lenn really is such a cold and callous individual, a man without an ounce of goodness in his heart.

People trafficking and modern slavery are perhaps fairly abstract concepts, something we hear about in the news but so far removed from our daily lives. Yet this story illustrates how people can be so easily exploited, especially where illegal immigration is concerned. It paints an, unfortunately, all too realistic picture of what people are experiencing on a daily basis, in the hope of gaining a better life for themselves and their families.

The setting is almost a character in itself – a farm, with rolling fields as far as the eye can see. A place so isolated that Jane can be left alone in the run-down farmhouse whilst Lenn is tending to the farm jobs. This bleak setting adds to the oppressive atmosphere of the story.

The writing is stark and yet compassionate. Each sentence is there for a reason and each description serves a purpose. The story sells itself without the need for anything more. As the tale reached it’s finale, I found myself literally sat on the edge of my seat holding my breath. I couldn’t put the book down. What a breathtaking conclusion!

The book explores the themes of abuse (both physical, emotional and sexual), abduction, captivity, hope and survival. It is dark, disturbing and almost unbearably tense. A truly heart-breaking story, made all the more so when you consider that there are people in the UK today in similar circumstances to Jane. It all seems a bit too plausible, a bit too real…

I’ve tried to think of an adjective to describe this book – compelling, captivating, atmospheric, claustrophobic, uncomfortable, suspenseful, powerful, even hopeful – yet none really seem to do it justice. The Last Thing to Burn is quite simply extraordinary and I really cannot recommend it highly enough. Do yourself a favour, read this book!

A huge thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with a copy of the book for review.

A taut, compelling thriller that kept me turning the pages. Recommended! Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC

This was a dark and uneasy read about modern slavery. A fast paced and thought provoking novel from an author I will read more work of.

The book did not download properly. It came out jumbled.

We tried to download it again, without success.

I loved this book. I devoured it in just a few hours, unable to tear myself away, despite the shocking nature of the narrative. This was so vivid, so heartbreaking and such a brilliant read.

Jane (not her real name) lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere. She has been there for nine years since she arrived from Vietnam. Her every move is recorded by her abusive husband & she is desperate for a way out.

I seems to be a lone dissenting voice amongst all the glowing reviews. I have made a number of attempts to read this book but the darkness & violence has defeated me & I'm forced to accept that this is one I'm not going to finish. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting my read & review this book

After reading all of the 5 star reviews I thought I was reading a different book. I didn’t get along with this one. The topic is obviously a very real and heartbreaking problem which makes it a tough read at times. However, it is so repetitive that it takes away from the situation. The first half of the book is all about how broken her ankle is and cooking on the aga. I ended up scan reading a lot of it because nothing really happens and it got so boring. It was very predictable although there was one twist. The ending picks up the pace and tension a bit but still very predictable. I found this book very similar to Room which I also wasn’t a massive fan of so if you enjoyed that then this may be the book for you.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This was one dark and twisted book. It is the type of story which is unbelievable and yet deep down you know something similar to this is probably taking place right now. This book sent shivers down my spine on more than one occasion and I felt myself holding my breath and gasping at various points.
This is the first book I have read by Will Dean but it certainly won't ne the last.

An engrossing little book which has me up half the night, good characters and I enjoyed the story too, will be looking out for more from the author for sure!

Despite The Last Thing To Burn attracting some stellar praise from the writing and blogging community this did, I’m afraid, leave me rather cold. As much as modern slavery and trafficking are worthy topics to explore, and the book is highly emotive and pertinent to the suppression and abuse of women, I just felt a small void in terms of my connection to it. I think I just found it a little too black and white in terms of how the reader should respond to ‘Jane’ and to her husband, with the book coming across as a little imbalanced. As much as Jane’s experience is horrific, and I am not seeking to minimise the trauma she undergoes as the main thrust of the book, I felt the theme of nature vs nurture and the propensity for evil that arises from this, could have been explored a bit more deeply in her husband’s background. There was obviously some extreme darkness there that I was curious about. Overall the book was very well-written, emotive and full of emotional and physical trauma and if this is not a subject you are overly familiar with, Dean approaches it with a mix of stark realism and sensitivity…

This is a really good book. A Vietnamese woman is living as a captive with her husband on a farm miles from nowhere in the Fens. She came to the UK with her sister, and is clearly a victim of human trafficking. She is essentially a slave, and is treated quite cruelly by her husband. When she gives birth to a daughter she is determined to give her child a better life. But how can she escape? This is a heart breaking story of human misery. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

The Last Thing to Burn is a mystery novel that takes things that one step further.
Dealing with themes like kidnapping and abuse.

The novel begins with Thanh Dao (or “Jane” as is named by her kidnapper) trying to escape from capture. Unfortunately, she is unsuccessful and ends up back in her prison. As you being to learn more the reader find out that Jane has been there for several years and tried to escape numerous time. It's only when she falls pregnant she becomes submissive enough to stay and look after her child. But when her captor brings back another woman, Jane does anything she can to help her get away.

The story is very well written, maybe too much so. Some of the abuse scenes are incredibly hard to stomach, but I feel important as nothing written here is beyond the realms of possibility. which makes it so horrific.

This story strongly brings into light how abused some woman can be and how society really needs to do something about it. It is a difficult but necessary education for all of us. The call to action at the end of the novel is appropriate.

Wow.

After a reading mojo which has been AWOL since December, this is EXACTLY what was needed to bring it back again.

What an incredible story. The whole story was predominantly in one setting. A rural farmhouse in northern England. This could have fallen flat, but what it actually did was to drip feed the tension bit by bit so your stomach ended up in knots and the palms of your hands sweaty. Or was that just me....

I'm not saying anything further as you can read the synopsis and find out for yourself.

Highly recommended! 4.5* rounded up to 5*

The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean is a stunning edge of your seat read that had me gripped from beginning to end. Finding the words to do this remarkable book justice is certainly no easy feat. It’s a dark and disturbing tale that had me holding my breath countless times, not wanting to carry on reading but unable to tear myself away as I raced through the pages, desperate to find out what was going to happen next.

I don’t want to say too much about the plot as to do so would take away from the impact of simply experiencing it for yourself. But I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever loathed an antagonist more than I loathe the one in this book. He is utterly terrifying in every way, seemingly not possessing even the tiniest scrap of humanity.

The tension is palpable, the fear so real you can feel your heart pounding in your chest as you turn the pages. Will Dean’s writing is mesmerising, his ability to bring this devastating and all too easy to believe scenario so vividly to life is simply astounding.

The Last Thing to Burn isn’t an easy read by any means and, as brilliant as it is, is so much more than just an atmospheric thriller that is guaranteed make your blood run cold. It’s also a story about the resilience of the human spirit and how, even in the darkest and most horrifying of times, you can somehow find the strength from deep within yourself to keep on going. To do everything in your power to survive.

I honestly can’t recommend The Last Thing to Burn highly enough. An outstanding read that I know will stay with me for a long time to come. Simply stunning!