This is a great page turner by Will Dean. I’ve been struggling with my reading recently but this had me gripped. Plenty of suspense and creepiness thrown in for good measure with a few great twists.

I didn’t go into this with high hopes. Last Thing to Burn was a DNF for me but I’m a big believer in not judging an author on one book. This is the book that proves that thought process right. Will Dean knocks it out if the park with this book. It twists and turns and it twists some more.

Molly is living in London, she lives a safe, secure life, few of risk. Her twin, KT, lives in New York. We see events unfold through Molly’s eyes. She is easily one of the most frustrating characters I have ever encountered. Brilliantly written but an absolute nightmare. She honestly drove me completely crazy.

When KT is found dead, Molly breaks from routine to meet her parents in New York to find out what happened to her sister.

This is just brilliant. Half way through I had to stop reading to sit and take in what had just happened. I was so thankful one of my book club friends had just finished it. I needed to talk.

I picked this up after being blown away by The Last Thing to Burn last year. At first, it seemed fairly straight forward narratively, I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen. But I didn't. I had in fact, been completely hoodwinked by Mr Dean's clever little tricks and actually, I had no clue what was going to happen. At about halfway, my jaw was on the floor, I had to re-read what I'd just read and tell my husband what was going on (he wasn't reading it, didn't care but was bound by marriage to listen to me ramble). The plot continued to twist along until the very end.

There were a few unanswered questions perhaps, but this was a thoroughly gripping and enjoyable crime thriller which truly cemented Will Dean for me as a must read author.

Will Dean is a superb writer! His Tuva Moodyson series is a must read but his standalones are equally engrossing. This gripping story is intriguing from the start and, just when you think you have got to grips with the plot, he throws in another curveball and you are stunned once again. An absolute delight!

This was a fantastic thriller I loved it. The setting of the dark underbelly of New York was amazing and perfect for fans of this genre

Now this is what you call a 5 star read! Wow! I absolutely LOVED it!
Will Dean’s writing style is fantastic, I was drawn in from the first page until the very last and I couldn’t read it fast enough.
A suspenseful, gripping story full of twists and turns and really interesting characters.
You think you know where the story’s going then half way through… Bam! You’re away in a completely different direction! I love books like that. So clever.
Truly fantastic! I cannot wait to read more from this wonderful author now.

There were so many twists in First Born! The first half of the book went as I expected and then the first twist was revealed which I was not expecting at all, then they just kept coming! First Born was well written and kept me engrossed in the story of Molly and her murdered twin sister.

Molly Raven, the narrator of this novel, starts off as one of the most irritating first person characters I’ve read, to the point that I came close to bailing out early in favour of something else.

I am VERY glad I decided against.

First born quickly develops into a thrilling and fast paced novel with a couple of great “WTAF” moments. Genuinely had to go back and read one bit again as I thought I’d read it wrong… Read this, and don’t read anything about it beforehand. Best to go in blind.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this arc

I really enjoyed this. It’s my second Will Dean book but I found it gripping.

"I am half a person. The darkest half."

Molly and KT are inseparable … even when they are separated by entire continents.

They always say having a twin sister is like having a pre-made best friend, and that's always been the case for them, despite them not being identical in any way but their DNA. Even when Katie decided to to move to New York to chase excitement and fun while Molly stayed behind in London with her quiet, meticulously structured life. But even then, they spoke every day and Molly looked forward to the day Katie would come home.

But she's not coming home.

When Katie dies suddenly in New York, Molly feels half of herself get ripped away and as her and her parents journey to her final resting place, she knows she has to start looking. As terrifying as it is to leave to chase ghosts, it's not as terrifying as never knowing. As she digs into Katies last weeks alive, she realises there's a lot more buried she was never meant to see … and if she's not careful, she'll end up in the dirt with her sister.

"We were once one person. We are not anymore."

Will Dean has done it again. He has a way of making the smallest details seem sinister and frightening, using everything in his arsenal to create a truly immersive experience. Full of devilishly dark twists that would make me flip back the pages to make sure I'd really read them, this is a labyrinthine journey of terror that left my head reeling.

The characters were masterfully crafted - Molly was terrified of everything, but with a cold, clinical view. Her voice was one of survival, but not really living. She wasn't particularly empathetic, even with the tragedy she felt, but she was curiously intriguing and left me with some odd care for her. The pacing was perfect - the story exploded in the first few pages, simmering down into embers before exploding once again.

First Born is one of those stories when something truly unbelievable happens, but then you see you've got hundreds of pages left and wonder what on earth Dean could possibly come up with next. You'll just have to read it yourself to see what I mean.

4.5 stars
I’m a huge fan of this author’s books so a new book from him is always cause for great excitement. First Born is another fantastic twisty page turner that I really enjoyed.

Firstly I have a fascination with twins so this book instantly appealed to me . It was interesting learning more about them and the relationship they had. New York City is also one of my favourite cities, I actually got engaged there, so I loved exploring the city alongside Molly. The author’s descriptions are so vivid that I often felt like I was walking alongside her getting to know the places and people she did.

Overall I really enjoyed this book which I rate as one of his best yet! The book drew me in from the start and the many twists and turns kept me guessing until the end which I always enjoy. The plot was very clever and I enjoyed trying to piece everything together. There is a sinister edge to the story which helps create a lot of atmosphere and tension throughout the book which helped ensure I kept reading as I wanted to find out what was going on.

Huge thanks to Jenny Platt from Hodder for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

I thought I knew what was going on with this one but I didn’t. Twisty!

Twins Molly and Katie were very close growing up with their own secret language, identical in looks but totally different in character, KT is an extrovert, happy to meet new people make new experiences and enjoy everything that life throws at her. Molly, on the other hand, has to plan everything she does, she is super cautious. Molly gets a call in London from her parents who are visiting KT in New York to say that KT has been murdered and they'd like her to join them as a family so they can grieve together.
This all seems very feasible but Molly's previous quirkiness then appears to disappear, she finds her way around New Yorks streets with little difficulty in her search to discover what happened to her sister.
A good read which I found enjoyable despite having my suspicions as to where Will Dean was going with the story. A few twists and turns and moments where you couldn't quite believe what you had read
3.5 stars rounded up
Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the advance copy I am under no obligation to leave my review

I always look forward to reading Will's books as I never know what to expect. Yet again he has surprised me with a totally different story. A pageturner from start to finish with an ending I wasn't expecting.

Twin sisters but so different. One insular and frightened of everything. The other gregarious and living in New York - she is murdered. Her sister makes herself leave her quiet life to go and find out how and why she died. Simple? Definitely not!!

Thank you to netgalley and Will's publishers for my advance copy for an fair and true review.

Waiting for the next book Will.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 ok stars. Like many other reviewers, I read this with high hopes after the Last Thing to Burn. However I was disappointed with this book.

This is a book of two halves - almost like someone else took over the writing!

It started well; I really felt for Molly and the impact of her sister’s death. However I didn’t like the twist, mainly because the book got a bit silly and hard to follow at times. The plot about what KT was doing, the man linked to the scholarship, the professor, the secret slight - it was all so far fetched.

Not for me sorry.

I have always enjoyed the author's series set in Sweden featuring the deaf journalist Tuva Moodyson. This book if anything is better still.
Set mainly on New York's Manhattan island. Katie and Molly Raven are twins. Now in their twenties, Katie is the adventurous and outgoing one, Molly is very ultra carefull, never takes risks and researches before she undertakes any new venture.
Molly was devastated when Katie moved to New York. Molly has a small apartment in London. They grew up in Nottinghamshire. Their parents are currently visiting Katie. Molly receives a phone call from her distraught parents telling her Katie is dead.
Molly reluctantly flies out having preferred to travel by sea but this method would be too slow. Her parents are staying in a budget hostel in midtown Manhattan. Molly and her parents meet the detective in charge of the investigation. He tells them that Katie was murdered, smothered by a pillow on her bed in her apartment. Molly wants to find out who killed her twin. Katie had a boyfriend who doesn't seem devastated, nor does her girlfriend from college. Their is also a weird young man in Katie's apartment block who was obsessed with her. She also had an affair with a with a married tutor.
The book then changes direction in a brilliant way. There are more twists and turns before the story's end. I loved the descriptions of New York - one of my favourite cities.
If you want an exciting, roller coaster read I would thoroughly recommend this. The author is definitely one of my favourite writers.

Will Dean’s stand-alone novel, First Born is a fast moving suspenseful crime thriller set in New York. Its focus is the Raven twins. Katie and Molly are monozygotic twins, derived from a single egg and thus are identical in looks, save for a scar on Katie’s forehead. Not so in temperament, though. Katie is the first born twin. Outgoing, vivacious, Katie or K.T. as Molly calls her is a risk taker. Molly is her opposite. She plans for every eventuality; calculates the risks and knows precisely how much safer it is to travel by boat than by plane. Her preparation for everyday journeys involves all sorts of precautions, including the use of everyday objects as potential protective weapons.

One year ago, in a bit of a shock move for Mollie, Katie left her home and her twin and took a scholarship to Columbia University in New York City. Now Katie has been found dead in her NYC apartment and Molly has to make the journey across the Atlantic to be with her parents who were visiting Molly.

It takes all her courage to get on to a plane and when she gets there, she makes it her business to find out what happened and why.

Will Dean’s pacing is perfect for this book. Slower as the shock of Katie’s death sets in and Molly makes her travel preparations then building in pace and excitement as Molly discovers more about Katie’s life and friends, building to a crescendo at the conclusion of the book.

This is entertaining, read-it-in-one-sitting fiction. The New York setting is beautifully done and captures the frenzy of this magnificent city.

Will Dean’s writing is, as ever, highly engaging and he delivers excellent twists and turns alongside some genuine surprises.

There’s one fairly sketchy character in this book I’d like to know more about and that makes me wonder if he will make another appearance?

Verdict: Hugely enjoyable, First Born is an engrossing twisty and suspenseful psychological thriller, perfect for holiday reading or just escaping into in these dark days.

Wow what a good mystery thriller about identical twins Molly and Katie. Molly lives in the UK with her parents and Katie lives in New York. When Molly receives a call from New York from her parents to say Katie has been murdered she goes to New York to find the truth, what follows is gripping with lots of twists.
Thoroughly enjoyed the story and would highly recommend.

What a cracker of a read! I love Will Dean’s writing and this one is up there with the best for me. Dean has written a slow burning read but one I found totally compelling from the start. Written from the perspective of Molly Raven, the eldest by three minutes of identical twins, identical in looks but with very different personalities. Molly’s narrative is so clever at times I just wanted to hug her and say it will be okay, at others I wanted to punch her and tell her to wise up. A clever and complex plot with a shoal of red herrings, one of which I kind of guessed but the other, wow! And just wait until you reach 50% when the first massive reveal hits you smack in the face.

Briefly, when Molly receives a phone call from her parents telling her that her sister KT (Katie) has been found dead in her apartment in New York Molly knows she has to fly straight over, despite her abject fear of flying. None of the family have much money so they are staying in a basic hostel. After speaking to the police Molly determines to help them by running her own investigation. She soon realises that KT wasn’t leading an altogether blameless life. Can she find out who killed her twin?

Although nothing is specifically mentioned it appears that Molly is probably somewhere on the autism spectrum, she certainly suffers from OCD and is constantly worrying about her own personal safety. Whereas Katie was the complete opposite very outgoing and always looking for new experiences. Molly was a brilliant character, one of the best I’ve read, if a bit irritating. I loved the book and have no hesitation in giving ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Monozygotic twins are never truly identical. Minor variations in the womb, chemical imbalances, introduce subtle, epigenetic, differences, even where the DNA is 100% identical. Externally Katie (KT) and Molly Raven are identical but internally KT is a flamboyant, risk taking extrovert, leaping before looking, trying everything at least once, while Molly is an ultra-cautious introvert, dressing to avoid being noticed, investigating the potential risk of everything, never travelling far, existing on a narrow, preselected, range of ‘safe’ foods. Nevertheless they live close to each other in London, talk every day and meet frequently; until KT takes up the offer of a scholarship at Columbia University, New York. That was a year ago. Their parents have just flown over to visit her, a trip Molly would never take because, as a dedicated web researcher, she knows the nature and probability (from food-poisoning to a wing falling off) of all the risks. But when her parents phone to say that KT has been found dead, murdered, Molly has no choice but to join them in NY and to use her research skills to identify possible killers and analyse and identify motives.
The story is a psychological murder mystery, told as a first person narrative, and is assiduous in describing the events from the point of an ultra-cautious introvert: every step considered in advance; every risk calculated; back-up plans in place; meetings with other people, police, private investigator, potential suspects, anticipated. No one can be trusted. It contains twists, of course, including one major event which I did not see coming, and a later related one which was also a surprise. I initially felt things were going a bit slowly, and I couldn’t see how they were going to pick-up with this narrator. But it turned out I was wrong; her methodical approach and the execution of her plans are meticulous and fitted to the pace of the story (or vice versa, of course). Incidentally, as she moves around New York the reader also gets a free tour guide of the highlights.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.