Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
turnerevil's review against another edition
2.0
There are two parallel strands to this novel, the who-dunnit and the apocolyptic. For being the first (I assume) to do this the author deserves some kudos as those are both genres with a long pedigree and a new approach to both is welcome. But the problem is that in trying to do both, neither is a stand out example of either. The who-dunnit is not difficult to guess, there being a small number of suspects at the outset and even my guess turned out to be too complicated. The episode in the TV studio of "the show must go on" with staff members dropping like flies is perhaps the best of the plague scenes, but apart from that the plague feels like it is background to the story and it's only use seems to be its impact on the heronie's investigation. For example she shows little interest (and therefore we do not know) the plagues impact outside of London. Perhaps the novel suffers from the three-book-deal issue where the author must hold something back for the next two and the apocolpytic strand will be a slow-burn, later books might deliver more. The world being the way it is at the moment the prologue to this novel gave me a problem, I put the book down and did not pick it up again for a week or more, it then remains unexplained and perhaps that to will be for a future novel. However, for me, one for the library, not the shelf.
kchisholm's review against another edition
5.0
Normally I'm avoiding post-apocalyptic scenarios like the plague they are often employing. There is, however, absolutely no way in this world that I'm going to miss anything written by Louise Welsh no matter how leery of the subject matter I may find myself. So could one of my favourite authors make me accept the whole pandemic thing? To save you wading through the rest of this. Yes.
At the centre of A LOVELY WAY TO BURN there is the mystery of how surgeon Simon Sharkey died. Given the pandemic raging it seems likely that his girlfriend Stevie Flint is the only person that cares. Which is kind of understandable. As 'the Sweats' starts to take grip, the city of London is in chaos. There are riots, gridlocked traffic, emergency services struggling with personnel going down with the same virus, hospitals filling with sick people and the bodies of the dead.
Stevie has had her own battle with the virus and somehow she's now one of the survivors. She should be of great interest to authorities, if they weren't preoccupied, or compromised. Whilst she battles against the city and population gone mad to find out what happened to Simon, friends, colleagues and support systems crumble.
It's a real testament to how good a writer Welsh is that the whole pandemic, riot, madhouse thing works despite there not really being a lot of new ground to be mined in there. The interweaving of the murders does add a strikingly "normal" aspect to life - and you can almost feel the pointless of Stevie's quest. It's also a testament to Welsh's writing that makes you care about what happened to Simon, even when the details of his involvements are eventually revealed. The pace of this book is terrific, and the plot, in the main solid. Stevie, however, is a real standout - determined and fair, she's driven initially by a desire for the truth for Simon, despite the unravelling of his solid reputation.
A LOVELY WAY TO BURN is the first book in Louise Welsh's 'Plague Times' trilogy, which means that for a while to come, I'm going to be pointing out I don't like post-apocalyptic scenarios.. except when Louise Welsh is writing them.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-lovely-way-burn-louise-welsh
At the centre of A LOVELY WAY TO BURN there is the mystery of how surgeon Simon Sharkey died. Given the pandemic raging it seems likely that his girlfriend Stevie Flint is the only person that cares. Which is kind of understandable. As 'the Sweats' starts to take grip, the city of London is in chaos. There are riots, gridlocked traffic, emergency services struggling with personnel going down with the same virus, hospitals filling with sick people and the bodies of the dead.
Stevie has had her own battle with the virus and somehow she's now one of the survivors. She should be of great interest to authorities, if they weren't preoccupied, or compromised. Whilst she battles against the city and population gone mad to find out what happened to Simon, friends, colleagues and support systems crumble.
It's a real testament to how good a writer Welsh is that the whole pandemic, riot, madhouse thing works despite there not really being a lot of new ground to be mined in there. The interweaving of the murders does add a strikingly "normal" aspect to life - and you can almost feel the pointless of Stevie's quest. It's also a testament to Welsh's writing that makes you care about what happened to Simon, even when the details of his involvements are eventually revealed. The pace of this book is terrific, and the plot, in the main solid. Stevie, however, is a real standout - determined and fair, she's driven initially by a desire for the truth for Simon, despite the unravelling of his solid reputation.
A LOVELY WAY TO BURN is the first book in Louise Welsh's 'Plague Times' trilogy, which means that for a while to come, I'm going to be pointing out I don't like post-apocalyptic scenarios.. except when Louise Welsh is writing them.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-lovely-way-burn-louise-welsh
donnaburtwistle's review against another edition
3.0
Cool premise of a novel--insert a murder mystery into an apocalyptic plague story!
abooknbrew2's review against another edition
I can't even remember what the book was about. I stopped reading it in July (six months ago 70% in) all I remember is I found it very boring and have never had the desire to pick it up again.
komal_h's review against another edition
3.0
Okay I liked this whole concept of The Sweats and how this epidemic took the lives of so many people and how the symptoms escalated and the desperation of those suffering. It hits hard especially after we have witnessed all this during the Covid-19. The underlying story starting from a murder was interesting but somehow I couldn’t relate to it very much. It was great at times but it was quite slow-paced and repetitive at others. I can’t believe it took me almost 20 days of on and off reading to finish this book. Let’s hope the other two books in the trilogy are better with the thrill and pacing.
tanja_alina_berg's review against another edition
2.0
Abandoned at page 86. I simply cannot be bothered to read this anymore. I do not care one iota for Stevie (short for Stephanie) or her dead - supposedly murdered - boyfriend Simon. Not even the package Simon left Stevie is enough to keep my interest. The premise is good, the momentum is lacking. Completely. Good luck Stevie, may you not be murdered too.
imijen's review against another edition
2.0
I liked this enough that I would read the next in the series whenever it comes out and try some of the author's other work, but I don't think this was a great or very original mystery. There were some high points: I love the London setting, the protagonist Stevie, and the little details that Welsh adds to this setting and character. Unfortunately, the two overriding aspects of the plot, the virus that is taking thousands of lives and the mystery surrounding the death of Stevie's boyfriend, both fell flat for me.
The epidemic seemed way to remote at times and Stevie a little too disinterested in the supposed disaster that was gripping the capital. I get it, she is "immune", but I don't think that means she's not in danger or would not have any concern for what was going on. I thought I should be a lot more horrified about the "sweats" than I was, but Welsh descriptions of the virus seemed almost tame, meaning I found this strand of the novel pretty underwhelming.
The mystery murder felt contrived and way too obvious, and unlike the virus I found Stevie too interested in it. Many of the characters pointed this out to her, that really with the city on the edge of collapse finding the culprit of the murder should not be her most pressing priority right now. I have to say I agree with them. There are two possible explanations given for Stevie's over-interest. Firstly, she is an ex-journalist and so has a constant urge to find truth and justice. This just doesn't ring true for me, as if this were the case I feel like she would have been more interested in the virus as well. Secondly, that she was deeply in love with Simon. Again this just doesn't work: for one she only knew Simon for 3 months and made it quite clear that the relationship wasn't all that serious (it was mainly about the sex, she didn't really know Simon at all and she couldn't see that much of a future for the relationship). I'm not saying that she wouldn't care at all about Simon's death, but it just seemed unnatural that Stevie would be so obsessed with solving the murder mystery immediately with everything else that was going on, which makes me think that as there are basically two disjointed "plots", Welsh would have been better off keeping them separate and writing two different books.
I'm also confused about how both the title and the prologue (which I really liked and was waiting to be explained) fit in with the novel. Maybe this will become clearer later in the trilogy?
The epidemic seemed way to remote at times and Stevie a little too disinterested in the supposed disaster that was gripping the capital. I get it, she is "immune", but I don't think that means she's not in danger or would not have any concern for what was going on. I thought I should be a lot more horrified about the "sweats" than I was, but Welsh descriptions of the virus seemed almost tame, meaning I found this strand of the novel pretty underwhelming.
The mystery murder felt contrived and way too obvious, and unlike the virus I found Stevie too interested in it. Many of the characters pointed this out to her, that really with the city on the edge of collapse finding the culprit of the murder should not be her most pressing priority right now. I have to say I agree with them. There are two possible explanations given for Stevie's over-interest. Firstly, she is an ex-journalist and so has a constant urge to find truth and justice. This just doesn't ring true for me, as if this were the case I feel like she would have been more interested in the virus as well. Secondly, that she was deeply in love with Simon. Again this just doesn't work: for one she only knew Simon for 3 months and made it quite clear that the relationship wasn't all that serious (it was mainly about the sex, she didn't really know Simon at all and she couldn't see that much of a future for the relationship). I'm not saying that she wouldn't care at all about Simon's death, but it just seemed unnatural that Stevie would be so obsessed with solving the murder mystery immediately with everything else that was going on, which makes me think that as there are basically two disjointed "plots", Welsh would have been better off keeping them separate and writing two different books.
Spoiler
On a slight side note, in the climax of the novel, this "great love" between Stevie and Simon is used as an explanation to why she survived the sweats. "'There is a theory that believing yourself in love can subtly alter the chemical compounds of the body [...] It's possible that your love for Simon is a factor in why you're still alive.'" I can't decide whether this is a joke or not? It doesn't read like a joke to me, but if it's not then this is completely ridiculous, as I'm sure many more people would have survived the sweats if it was a simple as loving someone as much as or more than Stevie loved Simon.I'm also confused about how both the title and the prologue (which I really liked and was waiting to be explained) fit in with the novel. Maybe this will become clearer later in the trilogy?
apechild's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, so good but I'm glad I didn't decide to start this series at the breakout of covid, ha ha. Realistic end-of-the-world cross crime drama page turner, and an extremely addictive read. Number one in a trilogy I will have to quickly return to.
The pandemic that looks set to take out the world is some kind of aggressive flu people refer to as "the sweats". Made me think of that mystery sweating sickness that hit England during Tudor times. (The random places your brain can wander). Welsh describes the insidieous nature of these things well, the disbelief of people, the need to cling to pointless every day routines as if these will convince us that nothing is really wrong. And how quickly people turn nasty. Granted Welsh didn't predict the toilet paper obsession, but otherwise this feels chillingly accurate. And so whilst this is just breaking out, we also meet Stevie Flint, Londoner and currently working as a presenter on one of the shopping channels. She's been dating a surgeon for four or five months, all is looking promising and then he doesn't turn up for a date. She marks it down to it being over, heads over to his flat to take back her things and makes the awful discovery of his corpse in bed. Was it the sweats, or did someone do him in? Then there's a letter he wrote to her as an insurance to let her know he'd hidden a laptop in her flat. The people attacking her, the break in to her flat and so forth. And the ex journalist in her is determined to find out what on earth her short-lived boyfriend was involved it - perhaps distracting herself from grief and the frightening fact that the world seems to be rapidly sinking - and sets off to find the answer.
The pandemic that looks set to take out the world is some kind of aggressive flu people refer to as "the sweats". Made me think of that mystery sweating sickness that hit England during Tudor times. (The random places your brain can wander). Welsh describes the insidieous nature of these things well, the disbelief of people, the need to cling to pointless every day routines as if these will convince us that nothing is really wrong. And how quickly people turn nasty. Granted Welsh didn't predict the toilet paper obsession, but otherwise this feels chillingly accurate. And so whilst this is just breaking out, we also meet Stevie Flint, Londoner and currently working as a presenter on one of the shopping channels. She's been dating a surgeon for four or five months, all is looking promising and then he doesn't turn up for a date. She marks it down to it being over, heads over to his flat to take back her things and makes the awful discovery of his corpse in bed. Was it the sweats, or did someone do him in? Then there's a letter he wrote to her as an insurance to let her know he'd hidden a laptop in her flat. The people attacking her, the break in to her flat and so forth. And the ex journalist in her is determined to find out what on earth her short-lived boyfriend was involved it - perhaps distracting herself from grief and the frightening fact that the world seems to be rapidly sinking - and sets off to find the answer.
felix_minka_mcintyre's review against another edition
3.0
Firstly, thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is an interesting start to a disease thriller trilogy. I'm very interested to see where the author will take the second and third books; whether they will follow the same protagonist or move on to a different character's perspective. I quite liked the way the protagonist was written in this book, but I'm not sure her journey could sustain a trilogy. I kept wondering why she/I should care about the possible murder of her boyfriend when everyone around her was dropping like flies from quite a terrifying disease. The focus seemed very off at times; her journey no longer felt relevant at all. I will however happily read the other books in this series as I am interested to see where this story goes.
This is an interesting start to a disease thriller trilogy. I'm very interested to see where the author will take the second and third books; whether they will follow the same protagonist or move on to a different character's perspective. I quite liked the way the protagonist was written in this book, but I'm not sure her journey could sustain a trilogy. I kept wondering why she/I should care about the possible murder of her boyfriend when everyone around her was dropping like flies from quite a terrifying disease. The focus seemed very off at times; her journey no longer felt relevant at all. I will however happily read the other books in this series as I am interested to see where this story goes.