Published reviews of Burn, Baby, Burn
Burn, Baby, Burn is an accomplished and challenging work of great imagination. The style of writing and the nature of the story made me compare it very favourably with the early novels of Val McDermid. It also bears a comparison with the work of Mark Billingham one of Britain’s finest new crime writers. The character of Donna O’Prey is attractive and complex. The delight is in the very ambivalence of her nature. She is both timid and assertive, an obvious contradiction, but one that succeeds in drawing the reader into believing in her role. She is amusing and feisty and I believe readers would identify closely with her. Her youth and the innocence it suggests works well as a contrast with the evil of Marcus. Throughout the story she continues to surprise and entertain the reader by the diverse sides of her character that are gradually revealed. I believe the author has, in Donna O’Prey, constructed a character whose success in this story could easily be replicated in a series of novels. Without looking too far ahead, she is a character who could transfer well to another medium such as television. Marcus, the sociopath whose murderous rampage is the core of the novel, is also a character who has been crafted very well indeed. The author has managed to create a villain of considerable complexity and menace. Readers would, I believe, turn the pages faster as the hunt for Marcus develops. His constant intrusion into the novel by the means of small vignette passages is well paced and effective. Those scenes that feature his homicidal violence are exceptionally well written and as fine as anything that I have encountered in a crime novel. The author has managed to achieve just the right balance between the violence and mayhem caused by Marcus and the detail of Donna’s search to uncover him. This is very important to achieve in this type of crime novel and compares favourably with accomplished writers of the level of Harlan Coben. The author manages to evoke the settings perfectly. The scenes on the council estate are a good example of this, but examples abound throughout. Donna’s visit to the house where Marcus’s mother lives was stylish, atmospheric and written at just the right pitch. This ability to accurately convey both setting and mood is one of the strengths of this novel and would, I believe, convince any reader. The style of writing is very visual and the author has mastered the ability to describe murder in the most graphic way. This ability reminded me very strongly of Val McDermid who, in many of her most successful novels, has included murder scenes of considerable gore. Readers of this type of crime novel expect a high level of realism in the description of the crime itself, but are quick to shy away from those novels where murder degenerates into horror. Many readers have commented to me that they wish the violence to be realistic, but not reach the almost comic book levels that we see in works such as ‘Hannibal’ by Thomas Harris. Burn, Baby, Burn delivers, dare I say, just the right level of violent scenes to entertain, but more importantly, convince the reader. The novel is exceptionally well `paced in its construction and delivery. The story unfolds in a clear and thoughtful way. Characters are introduced to us gradually and develop fully as the story progresses. A good example would be Donna’s partner Dexter who works very well as both a foil and a complement to the character of Donna. He works very effectively as a cynical and world-weary counterbalance to much of the naivety that we witness in Donna. The author’s attention to detail has created a story that runs seamlessly from start to finish, but with passages of exceptional vividness that would keep a reader hurrying to read on. Throughout Burn, Baby, Burn there are several twists to the plot that I found very innovative and entertaining. The ‘unbelievable’ savagery of Marcus is vividly written and explanations for it gradually revealed. The greatest twist in the novel comes, as one would expect, right at the end. I, for one, failed to see it coming and believe most readers would also be taken by surprise. Burn, Baby, Burn compares very favourably with many other crime novels that are currently on sale. It is modern, immediate and would offer the reader a chilling yet believable murder tale.
-Golgonooza review of Burn, Baby, Burn
“Jake Barton is a first time novelist who has enjoyed a number of professions from grape-picking to teaching and Burn, Baby, Burn is his first attempt at full length fiction – and what a promising start! Jake’s novel is an edgy thriller which moves at a furious yet extremely well controlled pace. His characterisation is superb – his main protagonist , a female private eye, is sharp and sassy, his other characters equally well drawn and the dialogue is slick and snappy. Burn, Baby, Burn also manages to combine the macabre, ‘noire-ish’ elements associated with the genre with dry and very black humour, a combination which we think makes Burn, Baby, Burn potentially a very commercial and saleable piece of writing. Unsurprisingly it has proved extremely popular with the paperbackwriters readership. It is currently the most downloaded/read piece of work on this website – deservedly so.”
paperbackwriters.co.uk
