A Lovely Way to Burn: It doesn't look like murder in a city full of death... (PLAGUE TIMES TRILOGY) - Softcover

Welsh, Louise

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184854653X ISBN 13: 9781848546530

Publisher: John Murray, 2015

Synopsis

As heard on BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime

It doesn't look like murder in a city full of death.

A pandemic called 'The Sweats' is sweeping the globe. London is a city in crisis. Hospitals begin to fill with the dead and dying, but Stevie Flint is convinced that the sudden death of her boyfriend Dr Simon Sharkey was not from natural causes. As roads out of London become gridlocked with people fleeing infection, Stevie's search for Simon's killers takes her in the opposite direction, into the depths of the dying city and a race with death.

A Lovely Way to Burn is the first outbreak in the Plague Times trilogy. Chilling, tense and completely compelling, it's Louise Welsh writing at the height of her powers.

About this title

About the Author

Louise Welsh is the author of five highly acclaimed novels including The Cutting Room and, most recently, The Girl on the Stairs. She has been the recipient of several awards. A Lovely Way to Burn is the first novel in the Plague Times trilogy.

Visit Louise's website for more information: www.louisewelsh.com

Review

Gripping new dystopian thriller . . . Welsh has already proven her prowess as a controlling mistress of creepily suspenseful fiction with acclaimed chillers such as The Cutting Room and The Girl on the Stairs. This is an ambitious departure, being the first in a proposed Plague Times trilogy. It succeeds on several counts. It is a propulsive read, written in lean sentences and snappy cliffhanging chapters . . . Most impressive of all is the Scottish writer's evocation of a London that, with a Dickensian swagger, emerges as a pulsating untameable beast in its own right―Metro

I read it in two sittings, pausing only to sleep and dream about it. Gripping, perfectly paced and beautifully written―Erin Kelly, author of The Poison Tree

Louise Welsh rarely repeats herself, a quality to celebrate in a crime novelist. A Lovely Way to Burn is a dystopian thriller set in an all-too-plausible version of contemporary London. Welsh puts her own distinctive mark on it . . . this intelligent thriller creates an alarmingly convincing picture of London on the brink of disintegration; it reminds us how fragile we are―Andrew Taylor, The Spectator

Welsh weaves thoughtful, emotional themes into a thriller plot - and does it very well . . . A Lovely Way to Burn is the first in a promised trilogy, and if Welsh can keep up the quality of writing and create an effective arc, future writers of apocalypse may indeed turn to her to see how it's done―Killing Time Crime

Welsh skilfully presents London, initially as it is now, but rapidly descending into a plague-gripped dystopia . . . I appreciate a book that affects me . . . the relentlessly taut suspense of A Lovely Way to Burn still lingers on my psyche. Such an apocalyptic crisis does not seem improbable and here's hoping freakishly foul weather and tube strikes are not an omen of things to come―Stylist

Welsh plays brilliantly on our worst fears, and the pace never lets up. Seriously scary―The Times

Welsh constructs an intelligent mystery within the pages of A Lovely Way to Burn . . . It's close enough to what we know to be utterly terrifying and that was part of its hold on me. Welsh has taken our everyday lives, given them a twist, and put them in the background of an intriguing, addictive novel―Girlreporter

We've come to expect lots of good things from Welsh, including a brilliant sense of location. She doesn't disappoint with her images of London breaking down. As ever, the writing is fluid, the dynamic taut and through the control of such small telling moments, Welsh deftly breathes life into her characters. Only an accomplished writer knows exactly when to let the reader fill in the gaps. Stevie is a gusty, gripping protagonist, beautifully drawn . . . Welsh has taken our everyday lives, given them a twist, and no supernatural manifestation of our darkest hours is any match for what real human beings can do to each other when mankind loses its humanity. This is just first part of a trilogy. Scary, shocking and touching by turns, this apocalyptic thriller will enthral. I haven't been so buried in a book in a while―Irish Independent

This is the first in a trilogy from the award-winning short-story and thriller writer; a scary vision of London falling apart that's addictively readable―Saga

This is can't put down good―Candis

About this edition

• Publisher: John Murray
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 184854653X
• ISBN 13: 9781848546530
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 358