Title: Burn
Author: Danae Samson
Genre: Thriller / Suspsense
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4,5 stars
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Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
From the pen of Danae Samson, author of the terrifying debut, LAMENT HILL, comes her follow-up novel, BURN: The Casual Slaughters of Simon Green.
Violence comes to the small Californian college community of Riverhearst as a group of students and teachers are forced to confront a sociopathic killer targeting students. But what is more frightening is that this killer appears to be one of their own…
Prepare to experience the neuroses and the casual slaughters of Simon Green.
Prepare to experience the horror of a town BURN!
The college of Riverhearst is the target of a serial killer. Four students will die at his hands, he promises. Even though college knows about the treat, they think it’s a stupid practical prank, until the bodies start showing up. The first body is Christie Wilkens, is found soon after. Police investigates the case, but the only lead they’ve got so far is that Christie had an affair with her professor.
Simon Green has always been troubled. Now he wants to show others’ impurities as well. Starting with Christie Wilkens, and then crossing off others who were also having an affair with their professors, like Kelly, Tiffany and Mel. However, Simon’s plans don’t always work out, and sometimes even the most well-thought-out plan can backfire. He’ll have to be very careful if he wants to murder all of them and get his message across.
The book is told mostly from Simon’s POV. He’s a murderer, a violent man, and obviously very troubled. His attitude to women is despicable. However, he makes for an intriguing main character. There are tons of books where the detectives try to solve the murder, but here the perspective switched from the professors who are troubled by what’s happening, to the detectives working the case, to the killer committing the murders. I enjoyed the switch of perspectives. Simon’s POV was my favorite, because it allowed a clear view in the mind of a psychopath.
The plot was fast-paced and strong. I didn’t always know what was going to happen next – it reads pretty much like an updated, improved version of CSI, or maybe a college-level version of Dexter. The characters were interesting, especially Simon and the professors – in particular John Lewis – and the writing was great as well.
An excellent read for fans of suspense novels and thrillers.
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